1. Community Consultation and Learning
Many non-profit organizations are beginning to use mobile technology to help
improve outcomes in their community consultation and learning programs, especially in
remote and hard-to-reach areas. For this category we had speakers from VOTO Mobile,
Workbay and World Vision Canada showcase the ways that they are using mobile
technology to facilitate learning, enhance reporting and help improve education and
health outcomes within communities.
Case Studies
VOTO Mobile, VOTO Mobile
VOTO Mobile is a Ghana-based social enterprise that
works to amplify the voices of the under-heard. VOTO
Mobile uses mobile technology to conduct surveys
that target people who live in rural and remote
communities around the globe so that governments
and NGOs are better able to serve these populations.
The platform also acts as an effective tool for mobile
learning, as VOTO Mobile is able to provide mobile
users with the information they need to make
positive decisions in health, hygiene, agriculture, and
education. Messages can be delivered either as an SMS (text message), or as a voice
message — an especially useful feature in areas where there are low literacy rates.
Meno Ya Win Maternal Support Worker Program, Workbay.net
In partnership with Confederation College and Sioux
Lookout hospital, Workbay.net helped to create a
program that leverages mobile learning to train
maternal support workers in northwestern Ontario.
Many expectant mothers in this region live in 'fly-in
only' communities and do not have access to the vital
services and support that they need prior-to and after
giving birth. The program, designed by Workbay.net,
uses different subject cards with QR Codes and mobile
tablets to help train at least one local maternal support worker in each of the 28 First
Nation communities in the region. Using the skills that they learn, these local maternal
support workers are able to fill the service deficit by preparing expectant mothers before
they leave for the hospital, and providing any support they need in caring for the new
babies when they return home. The program has proven to be extremely successful and is
the first of its kind in Ontario.