A big thank you to members of the 4iP delicious network for bringing to our attention so many sites and services that contain elements of what 4iP is all about. From hereon in, we’re planning to summarise regularly what you’ve found for us, and also provide links to specific projects of interest in the ‘Be inspired’ section of the website.
If you have suggestions, we have various ways for you to get in touch. More details here.
Sharing ideas, pooling resources
So what’s new? Well, recently, you’ve clearly been showing interest in projects that allow people to share ideas and to pool skills and resources. the_pied_pipes, for example, steered up towards crowdspring adding the note: “perhaps an idea for how public service projects can be filtered, made better, before commissioning stage even begins?”.
Other links that fell into this category were ideablob and amazee which mattweston describes as “web2.0ish collaboration platform for social entrepreneurs / NGOs”.
Easy access to public data
Projects that make better use of public data sets, as well as making statistics more accessible and meaningful, is clearly something 4iP could support. Thanks to philip_sheldrake for highlighting gapminder which, as he puts it, is all about “making sense of the world by having fun with statistics!”
Philip further demonstrates his fascination with all things statistical by bookmarking widgenie, a neat online tool for creating and sharing visualisations based on your own data sets.
For a really beautiful example of how data visualisation might make people think differently about the world about them, check out RealTimeRome the MIT SENSEable City Lab’s contribution to the 2006 Venice Biennale, directed by professor Richard Burdett. (thanks to danbri for this one). The installation “aggregated data from cell phones, buses & taxis in Rome to better understand urban dynamics in real time: by revealing the pulse of the city, the project aims to show how technology can help individuals make more informed decisions about their environment.“
Via Twitter, markrock mentioned a couple of projects that rely in various ways on access to data. maps.met.police.uk is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to thinking of ways people might share and use crime data. Mark’s also linked to vimeo.com/1561578, a video presentation about Firefox Ubiquity, a tool for creating and embedding mash-ups wherever and whenever you want to using plain English. It’s mind-boggling but also inspiring.
So what would you do with a tool like this?
Alan Cameron on Tue, October 28, 2008 at 9:21 said:
New ways of presenting data visually are to be welcomed, giving wider access and understanding to the wider public of a range of information. I’ll be honest, I haven’t got a clear understanding at all of what 4iP is all about. Keen to learn more.
I’m involved in setting up Video Conferencing systems for schools in Dumfries & Galloway Council and we’ve seen amazing results through Learning & Teaching programmes of work over ISDN6. About to ‘migrate’ to IP.
Alan Cameron on Tue, October 28, 2008 at 10:12 said:
Another thought…..
Could 4iP be an excellent medium for ‘pupil voice’ to be heard? An excellent event yesterday in Dumfries run by the local NHS Health Board gave young people from schools in Dumfries & Galloway a forum for their views on the future of NHS services to be heard. Could 4iP meet these needs of allowing school pupils and other groups to be heard and valued? And for them to share their views with each other?
Blog at http://www.upbeat.edublogs.org
Tim Wright on Tue, November 04, 2008 at 10:57 said:
Thanks Alan. I’ve just been guiding my sixteen-year old through the long-winded business of getting his injured hand looked at by an NHS consultant.
It made me realise how daunting this process can be for a boy of his age and how easily he might have given up if someone else hadn’t been with him.
A lot of young men in particular I think only need one negative or nerve-wracking encounter with the NHS to put them off going to see doctors in later life even when they’re quite ill. So some kind of forum or easy introduction to the public health system that could re-inforce a sense of entitlement and reduce any fears of embarrassment or humiliation would be really beneficial.
I’ll add your link to the 4ip delicious account btw. Thanks for sharing.
timw
David Brown on Tue, November 04, 2008 at 1:42 said:
Comment for Alan Cameron:
Alan, You might be interested to hear about a project that I was involved with a while back:
http://www.headsup.org.uk
The site enables ‘pupil voices’ to be heard by politicians. I understand that the website has had quite a bit of coverage in the national press, but I’m unsure how widely it’s used by pupils.
Hope this is of interest.
Dave
need bad credit loan on Fri, February 05, 2010 at 11:44 said:
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