Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
New spin off blog
Androids in Africa
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
APT STAIRS finishes up
As the project has now finished, I will be moving onto my next project, which means I will be leaving the Bloomsbury Colleges. I would like to thank everybody involved in the project and a huge thank you to the APT STAIRS team for being such a great team to work for. It has been a successful project that I was proud to be a part of and hope to stay in contact with you all.
Wishing you all the best and a great new year ahead with the next APT projects.
Caroline (APT STAIRS Project Officer)
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
APT is blogged by Google
http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2009/12/connecting-google-apps-education.html
Saturday, November 21, 2009
New African mobile surveillance and feedback project
Mobile technologies are now increasingly being used across Africa for everything from phone to SMS texting. This is associated with widespread access to affordable mobile networks and handsets. In many cases this technology has overtaken the use of landline phones, radio and internet for communication in rural communities. Innovative examples of the potential of these mobile devices including the ability to make small SMS payments, receiving text alerts of market prices or receiving medication reminders for TB treatment.
The recent development and access to second generation mobile devices offers significant new opportunities for disease surveillance and prevention. The handsets now have accurate geo spatial sensing which enables accurate tracking of location and linking to text, image and data. The potential to insert memory cards means that not only can the devices temporarily capture data off line where a network is poor. This additional memory means that the handsets can be populated with appropriate disease extensions and support material in video, audio and textual format which the operator can refer to in the field.
There are already Open Source tools available for the Android platform which can be relatively simply be engineered to enable disease data collection. Data entry can be using a pen device, a keypad or touch screen and GPS settings are captured automatically. This data can then be transmitted through a GPRS or low bandwidth network to a central server where it can be analyses, mapped and modelled almost immediately after the data has been collected. The field worker can then be referred to information on the handset memory in the local language for example with advice on suitable biosecurity measure to adopt.
This initiative therefore aims to explore the opportunities provided by these mobile technologies to enhance disease surveillance in the human and animal health sectors, reporting and feedback in Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya/Uganda. It will draw on the extensive experience of its partners working in the field in South-east Asia and Southern/Eastern Africa, university based research and development expertise and the insight and experience provided by Google and other technology providers.
The project has been generously funded by the Rockefeller Foundation through the Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance (http://www.sacids.org/) with an initial Tanzanian planning workshop in January 2010.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Videos from Africa
In the interim, here is a video we shot earlier - the first video on the web of a calf with East Coast Fever filmed in Zanzibar by Andrew Hagner and the RVC Undergraduate Research Team.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Androids for Africa at Hanheld 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Final APT STAIRS Event
The APT Team will be presenting their findings and sharing their experiences followed by a workshop on the future of online collaborative technologies, plus guest speakers from JISC and Bloomsbury.
To reserve a place at the event please register here.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Podcasted!
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/sddu/podcast/
Friday, September 11, 2009
Taking APT to Africa
Award-winning status!
The team was also delighted to have been awarded best poster at the conference. To view the poster, click on the image on the left to zoom in. Special thanks to Caroline Bell, the poster's designer.
e-Cases presented at AMEE, Malaga!
Chris Trace, from the Royal Veterinary College, gave a ten minute presentation to a packed room. He then answered questions from the delegates for a further five minutes. The project was well-received by the medics there present, and seemed to spark some interest!
The presentation that Chris gave and a summary sheet on the e-Cases project can be found by clicking here
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Presentation at UCISA
They presented on the approach taken in Bloomsbury to introduce online collaboration amongst users, along with providing examples of how online tools were utilised to reach the needs for staff and students.
The presentation concluded with a discussion on the future opportunities offered by working in the 'cloud' together, mentioning the potential project APT for Africa.
To view the presentation in Google Docs, click here.
Article published in the Higher Education Academy
Monday, June 29, 2009
Looking beyond the Google search engine
Google Suggest
Google 'show options'
Google Scholar
Google Advanced (search by file type)
Google Wave
Google Labs
Google Reader
Google Docs
For more explanation on these tools, click here
Thursday, June 25, 2009
APT Extension Project seminar/workshop
The seminar involved an introduction to the Bloomsbury consortium, shared experiences from the APT project on applying social tools in educational contexts, followed by an interactive workshop in Google Docs.
The event attracted learning technologists, managers, teachers, directors, advisers from across a wide range of university's in London, where discussions were held about how collaborative tools might be used to enhance learning, teaching and working in their institutions.
For more information about APT Extension, and other projects that have emerged from the APT Project, please visit our APT Continuation Projects web page.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Google I/O Conference
Friday, May 29, 2009
Useful APT Links
Monday, May 25, 2009
APT for Africa
Our first initiative aims to explore the opportunities provided by mobile technologies to enhance animal disease surveillance, reporting and feedback in Africa. It will draw on the extensive experience of its partners working in the field, university based research and development expertise and the insight and experience provided by Google and other technology providers.
Development Model
The APT for Africa initiative builds on the JISC funded EMERGE programme and the Users and Innovation Development Model. This model has been adapted by the Bloomsbury Colleges to help create and implement a step based introduction to Appropriate and Practical Technology. This has been used to introduce a range of Google tools into teaching and research with significant success (www.bloomsbury.ac.uk/apt ). The intention is now to extend this approach to enable collaboration with partners in livestock and wider development arena .
Partners
The following partners are associated with this initiative:
London International Development Centre – coordinates the development activities of all 6 Bloomsbury Colleges
Souther African Centre for Disease Surveillance – has a remit to promote One Health including animal disease surveillance
Bloomsbury Learning Environment – experience of working with the UIDM model in collaboration with Google
London Knowledge Lab – extensive R and D experience in the use of mobile technologies
Vetaid – an animal health NGO with extensive experience in East Africa
Google.org – provided support for SACIDS and the use of mobile technologies in the field
JISC – government agency which provides support for the UIDM
Novoda – Android software developer
Application
Using the UIDM methodology, the partners will work with key stakeholders in animal health to identify appropriate and practical mobile innovations. In particular this could focus on the following areas:
Use of mobile phone devices to capture GPS based disease data by field staff for surveillance purposes
Disease, population, environment and vaccination monitoring using mobile devices
Decision, practical and professional support for front line staff from central offices
Access to location/context sensitive disease/treatment information in text/audio/video format
Local language based resources to support extension, education and advisory services
Developing new mobile communities of practice to share experience and support
Providing cross disciplinary services as part of the One Health agenda
These approaches will be trialled in a number of settings including:
Zanzibar – RVC student research project on East Coast Fever monitoring working with London Knowledge Lab
Arusha – Vetaid project with Community Animal Health Workers on disease surveillance
SACIDS – government veterinary surveillance programmes funded by Google and Rockefeller
Nairobi Veterinary School - educational programs on ECF working with British Council
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Stairway to online collaboration
Friday, April 17, 2009
Presenting in Barcelona
Thursday, April 16, 2009
APT STAIRS back in the Guardian
The article explains one of our demonstrator projects in detail and the benefits of using collaborative tools in the classroom. To read the 'Teach the Teachers' article please click here.
Friday, March 27, 2009
APT STAIRS demo at the JISC Conference 2009
This diagram illustrates the technological gap - observed in Bloomsbury - between students and staff (represented in this cartoon as Lecturers). Simple technology, such as GoogleDocs, can be used to bridge the gap at level (1). As users develop their abilities and advance the staircase, they can try out more challenging tools.
Read more about the JISC Conference 2009 here.