Elsen, I. Hartung, F. Horn, U. Kampmann, M. Peters, L. (2001). Streaming technology in 3G mobile communication systems. Ericsson Eurolab. Retrived May 2010. From: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.23.9376&rep=rep1&type=pdf
^this article gave me great insight on how the streaming technology in 3G phones work.
Bowan, L. (2001). Ericsson’s Service Netowrk: A ‘Melting Pot’ for Creating and Delivering Mobile Internet Service,” Ericsson Rev., 78(2). 62-67.
^this article gave me more information regarding internet services in mobile phones
Frenger, P.; Parkvall, S.; Dahlman, E.; (2001). Ericsson Radio Syst. Vehicular Technology Conference.3.1829 - 1833
unknown author. (2010, May 1). HSDPA for High-Speed Broadband in Mobile Phones. A Mobile Phone Comparison Site.Retrieved May 2010, from A Mobile Phone Comparison Site. http://www.missphones.co.uk/article/hsdpa-highspeed-broadband-mobile-phones/
^this website was really good in introducing some of the features which 3G cell phones have
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
A Pakistan Case...
Gao,P; Rafiq,A. (2009). The transformation of the mobile telecommunications industry in Pakistan: A developing country perspective. Telecommunications Policy. 33(5-6). 309-323.
^ I came across a very interesting paper which talks about how mobile telecommunications market has transformed in Pakistan. In this paper they mention how government institutions, network and service providers and users use this technology to help Pakistan grow.
The mention the challenges (social factors) that Pakistan faced and they case studied on the evidence that apro-competition policy for mobile telecommunications development in developing countries.
^ I came across a very interesting paper which talks about how mobile telecommunications market has transformed in Pakistan. In this paper they mention how government institutions, network and service providers and users use this technology to help Pakistan grow.
The mention the challenges (social factors) that Pakistan faced and they case studied on the evidence that apro-competition policy for mobile telecommunications development in developing countries.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Phones vs. Laptop
Negroponte, N; Quadir,I. (2009). Phone vs. Laptop: Which Is a More Effective Tool for Development? Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization Winter 2009. 4(1) 25-31.
^this article talks about how cell phones are better (economically speaking) compared to laptops. (more details are discussed in my research paper)
Donner, J. (2009). Blurring Livelihoods and Lives
The Social Uses of Mobile Phones and Socioeconomic Development. Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization Winter 2009. 4(1) 91-101.
^this article discusses the advancements in Cell Phones (specifically 3G), which mentions expensive data plans and might not be available for everyone.
^this article talks about how cell phones are better (economically speaking) compared to laptops. (more details are discussed in my research paper)
Donner, J. (2009). Blurring Livelihoods and Lives
The Social Uses of Mobile Phones and Socioeconomic Development. Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization Winter 2009. 4(1) 91-101.
^this article discusses the advancements in Cell Phones (specifically 3G), which mentions expensive data plans and might not be available for everyone.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
China's Status Quo
I found a journal which talks about China's Status Quo:
Johnson, AI. (2003). Is China a Status Quo Power? International Security. Spring 2003-27(4)5–56.
^This was not really useful because it talks about China's Status Quo on the International Stage. But I will save it because it looks like I could use it for later
Tu, WM. (2005). Cultural China: the periphery as the center. Daedalus. Fall 2005 134(4)145-167
^This journal talked a bit of how the 5000 year history in China has affected and created the status quo status on its citizens today. I will use this in my proposal to support the status quo of citizens and government relationship.
Johnson, AI. (2003). Is China a Status Quo Power? International Security. Spring 2003-27(4)5–56.
^This was not really useful because it talks about China's Status Quo on the International Stage. But I will save it because it looks like I could use it for later
Tu, WM. (2005). Cultural China: the periphery as the center. Daedalus. Fall 2005 134(4)145-167
^This journal talked a bit of how the 5000 year history in China has affected and created the status quo status on its citizens today. I will use this in my proposal to support the status quo of citizens and government relationship.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Thesis statement sorted out
I finished writing a rough draft of my Research paper proposal, so I could ask Laura to look at it.
I went to see Laura once again, for our brainstorming session, she wanted to get my topic straight out, so I could have a more firm, concrete thesis statement that Prof Chan was looking for.
I am in the process of writing my newly revised Research paper proposal.
I went to see Laura once again, for our brainstorming session, she wanted to get my topic straight out, so I could have a more firm, concrete thesis statement that Prof Chan was looking for.
I am in the process of writing my newly revised Research paper proposal.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
A look at China's consumers
Qingfei Min , Shaobo Ji, A meta-analysis of Mobile Commerce Research in China (2002 2006), International Journal of Mobile Communications, v.6 n.3, p.390-403, March 2008
In an article I read called: A meta-analysis of Mobile Commerce Research in China (2002 2006)
They talk about how China has the largest network of mobile phone users in the world, a research was was conducted to see this phenomenon.
Dai,H; Palvi, PC. (2009)Mobile commerce adoption in China and the United States: a cross-cultural study. Communications of the ACM,40(4)43-61
in Mobile commerce adoption in China and the United States: a cross-cultural study, they talk more about the cultural settings of both China and US: both consumers enjoy privacy, innovativeness, value-added, usefulness, ease of use and compatibility.
Chinese consumers have a higher concern for m-commerce costs.
This article is relevant to my research in a sense that I can understand how Chinese behave and what they expect when they are using phones, they are nonetheless different from us, however, I have a concern is that if more cell phones are put into different rural areas, there might be a need to "train" and "teach" villagers how to use those different features in order for them to find those mobile devices: useful and easy to use.
In an article I read called: A meta-analysis of Mobile Commerce Research in China (2002 2006)
They talk about how China has the largest network of mobile phone users in the world, a research was was conducted to see this phenomenon.
Dai,H; Palvi, PC. (2009)Mobile commerce adoption in China and the United States: a cross-cultural study. Communications of the ACM,40(4)43-61
in Mobile commerce adoption in China and the United States: a cross-cultural study, they talk more about the cultural settings of both China and US: both consumers enjoy privacy, innovativeness, value-added, usefulness, ease of use and compatibility.
Chinese consumers have a higher concern for m-commerce costs.
This article is relevant to my research in a sense that I can understand how Chinese behave and what they expect when they are using phones, they are nonetheless different from us, however, I have a concern is that if more cell phones are put into different rural areas, there might be a need to "train" and "teach" villagers how to use those different features in order for them to find those mobile devices: useful and easy to use.
Friday, April 16, 2010
A look at Singapore's censorship
Peng Hwa Ang and Berlinda Nadarajan (1996). Censorshop Internet: AS. Communications of the ACM. June 1996. 39(6). 72-78
In this article, they are targeting the Singapore government, in this article, the main question they as is: How does one society reconcile its efforts to censor some material with
the desire to benefit from the immense amount information all societies
are able to share with one another?
in this article they state that the Singapore government is well informed that they cannot do much to censor because this can impact the workings of the internet and disturb the faith of users. Even keeping these in mind, the Singapore government will not give up without a fight.
They mention that the main objective to censorship is to control access and only allowing certain materials to get past users. (such as pornographic material and "misinformation" that could create a political debate)
The inter ministry committee on electronic information services were create to study technical and legal issues to review regulations of new media such as the internet.
They had showed an example of how the Singapore government had made use of the Internet (through a web page: http://www.sg/ This was designed so that youth can explain and defend the party's view and create rationale for certain policies.
The ministry of information and the arts was planning to issue official responses on the Internet, just as it gives formal replies in the press. However, such responses will be selective, that is, only when the issue is significant and relevant to the ministry. (in which information is being censored)
This Singapore case study shows that just like China, they want to control information and at the same time reap the benefits of the information age.
In this article, they are targeting the Singapore government, in this article, the main question they as is: How does one society reconcile its efforts to censor some material with
the desire to benefit from the immense amount information all societies
are able to share with one another?
in this article they state that the Singapore government is well informed that they cannot do much to censor because this can impact the workings of the internet and disturb the faith of users. Even keeping these in mind, the Singapore government will not give up without a fight.
They mention that the main objective to censorship is to control access and only allowing certain materials to get past users. (such as pornographic material and "misinformation" that could create a political debate)
The inter ministry committee on electronic information services were create to study technical and legal issues to review regulations of new media such as the internet.
They had showed an example of how the Singapore government had made use of the Internet (through a web page: http://www.sg/ This was designed so that youth can explain and defend the party's view and create rationale for certain policies.
The ministry of information and the arts was planning to issue official responses on the Internet, just as it gives formal replies in the press. However, such responses will be selective, that is, only when the issue is significant and relevant to the ministry. (in which information is being censored)
This Singapore case study shows that just like China, they want to control information and at the same time reap the benefits of the information age.
Final Project Report
Christian- Know How to Discern App Final Project Report
1. Brief Description:
My Senior Project, "Christian- Know how to Discern App" is an app for iPhone/iPod touch. It serves as a reminder and as a reference tool for youth who have just been converted to becoming a Christian. The project’s concept is to help Christians be aware of their responsibilities and to know what is right and wrong based on Christian moral belief.
My target audience is youth who are between the ages of eighteen to thirty years old because it is easier for members in this age range to buy an iPod Touch/iPhone and the content is also more appropriate for them (please see my final project proposal under target audience for more details).
During the New Media Senior Project course, I was able to set clear goals for this app and create the design and content aspects of this app. Because of the lack of technical skills and limited resources, I was unable to create an actual app during this course, instead, a flash mock-up was created. This project will continue after I graduate when I could get a hold of technical savvy people who possess the skills to create an app.
The App will consist of two main components: design and content. The design of this app is customized to fit the usability for youth (young adults). All content used in this app are/will be taken from “qualified” Reverends and Pastors who have graduated or are part of Christian congregations. (e.g. Professors and Reverends who are teaching in Tyndale College and Seminary; pastors and reverends who have graduated from Tyndale College and Seminary or other qualified schools; and pastors and reverends from different congregations: Baptist, Presbyterian, Alliance, etc).
The final version of the project will be a mock up and flash prototype to show how the app will look and function. There is also an accompanying photo gallery that goes along with this "app", but only the main scenes are shown.
2. Research and Evaluation:
The idea of this project struck me while I was working with “baby Christians”, I can see their challenges and how they are still unsure of what to believe and behave because of the vast information that hits them from different Christian cults when they are on the internet. During first semester when we had to come up with a senior project idea, an idea struck me that religion and technology can be combined, by using technology to transport ideas. I decided to start my research at current apps but unfortunately, I only found a few Christian-related apps, they (the Holy Bible App) were aimed at strong Christians who already have a deep understanding of Christian values, and already understand discernment. And others (Spurgeon’s Daily Help app
), were aimed at reflections rather than discernment.
My next approach was to do research with journal articles related to religion and technology, youth Christianity and community, and Mobile and applications, I took these directions because they relate to my overall theme, I was able to grasp lots of ideas regarding my project from these different articles. From Kong L’s Religion and technology: refiguring place, space, identity and community I was able to view how religion had made use of technology throughout the ages, from Roehlkepartain, Eugene C. and Scales, Peter C. 1995. Youth Development in Congregations: An Exploration of the Potential and Barriers, I learned that youth enjoy communicating with each other, and it is important to have communities in order to have a spiritual growth a development “life”, I decided to add in a forum and questions area on my app in order for users to interact with each other and pastoral bodies. (more info can be found in my final project proposal)
J. Neilson’s survey for Usability for Teens shows adults enjoy scrolling and reading (compared to the teens and kids group), this allows me to put more text on each screen allowing them to scroll more (and with bigger font helping them to see better).
J. Neilson's Usability for Teens
Animation
and
sound effects
Mine sweeping
for links
Advertising Scrolling Reading
Kids
Teens
Adults
Enjoyable, interesting, and appealing, or users can easily adjust to it.
Users might appreciate it to some extent, but overuse can be problematic.
Users dislike it, don't do it, or find it difficult to operate.
A survey was conducted (both verbally and written) towards forty targeted audience to see how they felt about this app. Majority of the group were happy to use this app and provided suggestions and comments to improve the app. (details could be found in the last section of the progress reports).
A short usability test was done as well (using the mockup/prototype and screenshots) to see if there were any problems the targeted users had when using the navigation on the app. Users had no problems with the navigation as the app had a simple interface and used the standard international symbols as icons.
During the final presentation, I had also gotten suggestions from Prof. Leslie Chan and other peers regarding this app. Prof. Leslie Chan suggested that the app should have a liable source so people can reference back to the source, this has been fixed in the alpha version.
Because there is no existing equivalent to the app in this project, it is difficult to evaluate my project’s success with existing apps, but if compared with the goals of the project it is successful in a sense that it has achieved (or has the components to achieve) what was proposed. Users are able to interact with this app and learn from “daily reminders” so they may learn to hold reflections, reminders, and devotion with the statement which would help them be more firm and contain more knowledge on Discerning. This app also provides a small community for users to interact helping them learn and discuss issues as well. The simple interface which is user friendly enables users to use this app easily without having to learn how to “use it”. Moreover, the deliverables proposed have all be been.
3. Methodology:
For this project, I have chosen to create an app to help users conveniently access information to help them as a reference tool. However, due to limited resources and skills, I was unable to create an actual app, instead I created screenshots and a flash mock-up of the design and content (with the help of pastoral staff) of the app to get a sense of how the app would look if it were on an ipod touch/iPhone. In order to enhance the visuals, I put the screen shots in a flash gallery on a website. I also created a mock up with flash to show how the app would work and function if it were in a ipod touch/iPhone.
4. Technical and other Challenges:
The components (design and content) were created using Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Adobe Illustrator CS3 to get the desirable design. I found it difficult to make appointments with Reverends and Pastors as they are constantly busy, but after a few weeks of unsuccessful appointments, I managed to get their advice and knowledge for the content pieces.
Technical challenge was another big issue, originally I wanted to create a real app, but after much research I found it much difficult than anticipated, there are certain programs needed to create and apps ran on a different programming language which I am unfamiliar with. While creating a photo gallery, I ran into different problems, I had originally chosen to create a flash photo gallery using Actionscript 3.0, but there problems with certain Actions and buttons, thus, I changed to using MX (which is an older version of Flash coding). But luckily, in the end, I was able to manage creating a photo gallery. On my Prototype, which is also flash-based, I ran into issues with Actionscript 3.0, buttons, movie clips and scenes did not comply with each other, and there were problems with different frames. It took me over five hours to fix errors and solve problems with each scene for the mock-up to finally work. The Mockup/Prototype can create a similar effect to show how the app would look on an iPod Touch/iPhone’s screen.
5. Relations to ePortfolio: link
Both my project and Eportfolio were both designed towards the audience, so there are design aspects in both of them. As I enjoy playing with technological gadgets, my interest is to become a Project Manager in an IT company. Since this senior project used Project Management strategies to complete, all deliverables and milestones were met, I could use this as an achievement on my EPortfolio as an example of project management skills. This project will be put in my visual works to show I could make use of ICTs to spread information different from others as this would prove my ability to keep up with trends to communicate.
6. Relations to New Media
This App has an important place in New Media as it ties the relationship between technology and religion. The rapid pace of technology has left religion abandoned on the most primitive places of New Media, this app is to show church leaders and organizations that Religion is able to pick up speed with New Media so they could make use of New Media as their tool to spread gospels and to create conveniences to communicate with one another and with others (who are not Christians).
7. Future of "Know how to Discern App"
As mentioned, this App is still in progress, there are still technical pieces to be created, I hope this app will progress to becoming a tool available not only to iPhones/iPod Touches but also to other hand held devices (such as: cell phones, Blackberries, etc). I also hope that there will be more functions for this app as well (such as: quizzes for the user every month to test their knowledge on what they read, etc).
8. Bibliography:
Castells M., Fernández–Ardévol M., Jack Linchuan Qiu JL, and Araba Sey A., (2007). Mobile communication and society: a global perspective. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
Dempsey, L. (2009).Always On: Libraries in a world of permanent connectivity. Retrieved from: http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0tbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/2291/2070.
Geldof, M (2007). Usability and Internationalization. Global and Local User Interfaces. 4560.
Kong, L. (2001). Religion and technology: refiguring place, space, identity and community. The Royal Geographical Society, 33(4), 01-10.
Neilson, J. (2007). Usability of Websites for Teenagers Retrieved from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/teenagers.html
Roehlkepartain, Eugene C. and Scales, Peter C. 1995. Youth Development in Congregations: An Exploration of the Potential and Barriers. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.
Santiago, L. (2009). Bible Verses (free) (Version 1.01) [application]. Available from the Apple iTunes App store.
Smith, Christian and Melinda Denton. 2005. Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. NY: Oxford University Press.
Smith, Christian 2003. “Religious Participation and Parental Moral Expectations and Supervision of American Youth.” Review of Religious Research 44: 414-424.
Spurgeon, C. (2009). 43rd Element, LLC: Daily Help Devotional. (version 1.2.4) [application]. Available from the Apple iTunes App store.
Unknown developer, (2008). Webworks and Applications: Go Green (Version 1.01) [application]. Available from the Apple iTunes App store.
Unknown developer, (2009). Webworks and Applications: 9500+ Cool Facts (Version 1.0) [application]. Available from the Apple iTunes App store
9. websites:
ALPHA VERSION: Mock up/Prototype: http://individual.utoronto.ca/stephanie_ng/flash_gallery/ChristianAppPrototype_Interact.swf
the prototype is functional and works like an app so a user can interact with it, a user may play with this to get a feel of how the app works (except for: forums and questions section, all sections work) (click on the app icon to advance into the app)
screenshots: http://individual.utoronto.ca/stephanie_ng/flash_gallery/photogallery.swf
screenshots walks you through the app, as how a user would use it to interact, please press the next button (located on the lower right corner) to advance to a new scene.
Stephanie Ng- Final Project Report
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1. Brief Description:
My Senior Project, "Christian- Know how to Discern App" is an app for iPhone/iPod touch. It serves as a reminder and as a reference tool for youth who have just been converted to becoming a Christian. The project’s concept is to help Christians be aware of their responsibilities and to know what is right and wrong based on Christian moral belief.
My target audience is youth who are between the ages of eighteen to thirty years old because it is easier for members in this age range to buy an iPod Touch/iPhone and the content is also more appropriate for them (please see my final project proposal under target audience for more details).
During the New Media Senior Project course, I was able to set clear goals for this app and create the design and content aspects of this app. Because of the lack of technical skills and limited resources, I was unable to create an actual app during this course, instead, a flash mock-up was created. This project will continue after I graduate when I could get a hold of technical savvy people who possess the skills to create an app.
The App will consist of two main components: design and content. The design of this app is customized to fit the usability for youth (young adults). All content used in this app are/will be taken from “qualified” Reverends and Pastors who have graduated or are part of Christian congregations. (e.g. Professors and Reverends who are teaching in Tyndale College and Seminary; pastors and reverends who have graduated from Tyndale College and Seminary or other qualified schools; and pastors and reverends from different congregations: Baptist, Presbyterian, Alliance, etc).
The final version of the project will be a mock up and flash prototype to show how the app will look and function. There is also an accompanying photo gallery that goes along with this "app", but only the main scenes are shown.
2. Research and Evaluation:
The idea of this project struck me while I was working with “baby Christians”, I can see their challenges and how they are still unsure of what to believe and behave because of the vast information that hits them from different Christian cults when they are on the internet. During first semester when we had to come up with a senior project idea, an idea struck me that religion and technology can be combined, by using technology to transport ideas. I decided to start my research at current apps but unfortunately, I only found a few Christian-related apps, they (the Holy Bible App) were aimed at strong Christians who already have a deep understanding of Christian values, and already understand discernment. And others (Spurgeon’s Daily Help app
), were aimed at reflections rather than discernment.
My next approach was to do research with journal articles related to religion and technology, youth Christianity and community, and Mobile and applications, I took these directions because they relate to my overall theme, I was able to grasp lots of ideas regarding my project from these different articles. From Kong L’s Religion and technology: refiguring place, space, identity and community I was able to view how religion had made use of technology throughout the ages, from Roehlkepartain, Eugene C. and Scales, Peter C. 1995. Youth Development in Congregations: An Exploration of the Potential and Barriers, I learned that youth enjoy communicating with each other, and it is important to have communities in order to have a spiritual growth a development “life”, I decided to add in a forum and questions area on my app in order for users to interact with each other and pastoral bodies. (more info can be found in my final project proposal)
J. Neilson’s survey for Usability for Teens shows adults enjoy scrolling and reading (compared to the teens and kids group), this allows me to put more text on each screen allowing them to scroll more (and with bigger font helping them to see better).
J. Neilson's Usability for Teens
Animation
and
sound effects
Mine sweeping
for links
Advertising Scrolling Reading
Kids
Teens
Adults
Enjoyable, interesting, and appealing, or users can easily adjust to it.
Users might appreciate it to some extent, but overuse can be problematic.
Users dislike it, don't do it, or find it difficult to operate.
A survey was conducted (both verbally and written) towards forty targeted audience to see how they felt about this app. Majority of the group were happy to use this app and provided suggestions and comments to improve the app. (details could be found in the last section of the progress reports).
A short usability test was done as well (using the mockup/prototype and screenshots) to see if there were any problems the targeted users had when using the navigation on the app. Users had no problems with the navigation as the app had a simple interface and used the standard international symbols as icons.
During the final presentation, I had also gotten suggestions from Prof. Leslie Chan and other peers regarding this app. Prof. Leslie Chan suggested that the app should have a liable source so people can reference back to the source, this has been fixed in the alpha version.
Because there is no existing equivalent to the app in this project, it is difficult to evaluate my project’s success with existing apps, but if compared with the goals of the project it is successful in a sense that it has achieved (or has the components to achieve) what was proposed. Users are able to interact with this app and learn from “daily reminders” so they may learn to hold reflections, reminders, and devotion with the statement which would help them be more firm and contain more knowledge on Discerning. This app also provides a small community for users to interact helping them learn and discuss issues as well. The simple interface which is user friendly enables users to use this app easily without having to learn how to “use it”. Moreover, the deliverables proposed have all be been.
3. Methodology:
For this project, I have chosen to create an app to help users conveniently access information to help them as a reference tool. However, due to limited resources and skills, I was unable to create an actual app, instead I created screenshots and a flash mock-up of the design and content (with the help of pastoral staff) of the app to get a sense of how the app would look if it were on an ipod touch/iPhone. In order to enhance the visuals, I put the screen shots in a flash gallery on a website. I also created a mock up with flash to show how the app would work and function if it were in a ipod touch/iPhone.
4. Technical and other Challenges:
The components (design and content) were created using Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Adobe Illustrator CS3 to get the desirable design. I found it difficult to make appointments with Reverends and Pastors as they are constantly busy, but after a few weeks of unsuccessful appointments, I managed to get their advice and knowledge for the content pieces.
Technical challenge was another big issue, originally I wanted to create a real app, but after much research I found it much difficult than anticipated, there are certain programs needed to create and apps ran on a different programming language which I am unfamiliar with. While creating a photo gallery, I ran into different problems, I had originally chosen to create a flash photo gallery using Actionscript 3.0, but there problems with certain Actions and buttons, thus, I changed to using MX (which is an older version of Flash coding). But luckily, in the end, I was able to manage creating a photo gallery. On my Prototype, which is also flash-based, I ran into issues with Actionscript 3.0, buttons, movie clips and scenes did not comply with each other, and there were problems with different frames. It took me over five hours to fix errors and solve problems with each scene for the mock-up to finally work. The Mockup/Prototype can create a similar effect to show how the app would look on an iPod Touch/iPhone’s screen.
5. Relations to ePortfolio: link
Both my project and Eportfolio were both designed towards the audience, so there are design aspects in both of them. As I enjoy playing with technological gadgets, my interest is to become a Project Manager in an IT company. Since this senior project used Project Management strategies to complete, all deliverables and milestones were met, I could use this as an achievement on my EPortfolio as an example of project management skills. This project will be put in my visual works to show I could make use of ICTs to spread information different from others as this would prove my ability to keep up with trends to communicate.
6. Relations to New Media
This App has an important place in New Media as it ties the relationship between technology and religion. The rapid pace of technology has left religion abandoned on the most primitive places of New Media, this app is to show church leaders and organizations that Religion is able to pick up speed with New Media so they could make use of New Media as their tool to spread gospels and to create conveniences to communicate with one another and with others (who are not Christians).
7. Future of "Know how to Discern App"
As mentioned, this App is still in progress, there are still technical pieces to be created, I hope this app will progress to becoming a tool available not only to iPhones/iPod Touches but also to other hand held devices (such as: cell phones, Blackberries, etc). I also hope that there will be more functions for this app as well (such as: quizzes for the user every month to test their knowledge on what they read, etc).
8. Bibliography:
Castells M., Fernández–Ardévol M., Jack Linchuan Qiu JL, and Araba Sey A., (2007). Mobile communication and society: a global perspective. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
Dempsey, L. (2009).Always On: Libraries in a world of permanent connectivity. Retrieved from: http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0tbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/2291/2070.
Geldof, M (2007). Usability and Internationalization. Global and Local User Interfaces. 4560.
Kong, L. (2001). Religion and technology: refiguring place, space, identity and community. The Royal Geographical Society, 33(4), 01-10.
Neilson, J. (2007). Usability of Websites for Teenagers Retrieved from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/teenagers.html
Roehlkepartain, Eugene C. and Scales, Peter C. 1995. Youth Development in Congregations: An Exploration of the Potential and Barriers. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.
Santiago, L. (2009). Bible Verses (free) (Version 1.01) [application]. Available from the Apple iTunes App store.
Smith, Christian and Melinda Denton. 2005. Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. NY: Oxford University Press.
Smith, Christian 2003. “Religious Participation and Parental Moral Expectations and Supervision of American Youth.” Review of Religious Research 44: 414-424.
Spurgeon, C. (2009). 43rd Element, LLC: Daily Help Devotional. (version 1.2.4) [application]. Available from the Apple iTunes App store.
Unknown developer, (2008). Webworks and Applications: Go Green (Version 1.01) [application]. Available from the Apple iTunes App store.
Unknown developer, (2009). Webworks and Applications: 9500+ Cool Facts (Version 1.0) [application]. Available from the Apple iTunes App store
9. websites:
ALPHA VERSION: Mock up/Prototype: http://individual.utoronto.ca/stephanie_ng/flash_gallery/ChristianAppPrototype_Interact.swf
the prototype is functional and works like an app so a user can interact with it, a user may play with this to get a feel of how the app works (except for: forums and questions section, all sections work) (click on the app icon to advance into the app)
screenshots: http://individual.utoronto.ca/stephanie_ng/flash_gallery/photogallery.swf
screenshots walks you through the app, as how a user would use it to interact, please press the next button (located on the lower right corner) to advance to a new scene.
Stephanie Ng- Final Project Report
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Monday, April 12, 2010
Another meeting with Prof Chan
I went to meet with Prof Chan again to have a more "concrete" thesis statement, he gave me some advice.
Later I went to the writing centre and got acquainted with another writing instructor: Laura, she helped me revised my previous thesis statement with Prof Chan's suggestions.
Later I went to the writing centre and got acquainted with another writing instructor: Laura, she helped me revised my previous thesis statement with Prof Chan's suggestions.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Maggie's last day
After several meetings with Maggie from the Writing Centre, we came up with a thesis statement:
Third generation technology creates a better relationship between the
PRC government and the Chinese because it enables better communication.
below would be my arguments:
Both sides benefit:
- the government can spread out news and information more effectively
- the government can create an urbanized company
- 3G cell phones can help China step out of the 3rde world status
- Citizens have more ways to communicate conveniently
- Citizens can gather and receive information which helps them be more
knowledgeable.
there is still some touching up for the Thesis statement
Third generation technology creates a better relationship between the
PRC government and the Chinese because it enables better communication.
below would be my arguments:
Both sides benefit:
- the government can spread out news and information more effectively
- the government can create an urbanized company
- 3G cell phones can help China step out of the 3rde world status
- Citizens have more ways to communicate conveniently
- Citizens can gather and receive information which helps them be more
knowledgeable.
there is still some touching up for the Thesis statement
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Reports on Cell phone usage in China
Sangwan, Sunanda and Pau, L. F., Diffusion of Mobile Phones in China (14 2005, 10). ERIM Report Series Reference No. ERS-2005-056-LIS. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=828177
(6989.pdf)
unknown author. (2009).China Mobile Ltd.(CHL) Investment Recommendation BUY
uiowa.edu [PDF]
KS Statistics, V Models - EPS, 2007 - tippie.uiowa.edu
(CHL_fa09.pdf)
(6989.pdf)
unknown author. (2009).China Mobile Ltd.(CHL) Investment Recommendation BUY
uiowa.edu [PDF]
KS Statistics, V Models - EPS, 2007 - tippie.uiowa.edu
(CHL_fa09.pdf)
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Censorship
Hachigian, N. (2001)China's Cyber-Strategy. Foreign Affairs, Council on Foreign Relations. 80(2). 118-133. Retrieve at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20050069 .Retrieve on February 2010.
China's Strategy on Internet
Qiu, JL. (2000). Virtual Censorship in China: Keeping the Gate between the cyberspaces. International Journal of Communications Law and Policy. 4. 1-25
This article talks about China's strategy on internet usage while highlighting cell phone usage. (both paralleling each other)
This article talks about China's strategy on internet usage while highlighting cell phone usage. (both paralleling each other)
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Progress Report
Due February 24.
following my proposal, I am creating a Christian Moral App which will be used to help Youth Christians be able to discern what is right from wrong based on their Christian belief.
Progress:
Design:
the design's style has been pinpointed. But there are still some modifications to be made before prototypes are drawn and designed.
Content:
Since the proposal of my project, I have began looking for church pastors, reverands and mature christians to help with this project.
Last week, I was able to book an appointment with my church Senior Reverand, and he has agreed to provide some feedback regarding some tough questions. The method he said he will be using will be with Christian Faith Discernment.
I have set up a few questions to ask (which can be found below). The Senior reverand at my church had asked me to think about those questions from a Christian perspective first.
I have also asked a few fellow mature Christians to help with this discerning of right and wrong from a Christian perspective. I am also able to answer these questions (before giving these to pastors and reverands to look at) as I was born to a Christian family and have been an "official Christian" for 6-7 years, because of this I do have some knowledge and understanding of "the Christian perspective". There will also be bible verses to support the arguments as well.
The Bible verses for the theme for this "Discerning" Christian App:
"Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive.
1 Corinthians 10:23
"Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything.
1 Corinthians 6:12
Questions:
Investment:
1. What’s the difference between long term investment and day-trading? Are we only allowed to make long term investment?
There are those who oppose investment in the stock market, they believe that it is a form of gambling. Because since stocks are brought in the hope (not guarantee) that they will increase in value, since there are risks involved, hence it is a form of gambling.
First of all, every financial decision involves risk (Even saving account in the bank). Therefore we have to understand the fundamental differences between legitimate investments and gambling. Investment is the hope of gaining a profit through a period of time and requires wise decision making over luck. Whereas gambling is the hope of gaining a profit instantly and requires luck over wise decision making and effort.
Proverbs 28:20 says “a faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.” This speaks against the “get-rich-quick” mentality. Looking at investment as a long-term plan for the future is good planning, but trying to make a fortune overnight is not. Therefore day-trading is like a form of gambling.
Why does God displease about the eagerness to get rich? Simply because it opens up a gateway towards temptation and into many harmful and foolish lust of material desires (1 Tim: 9). As Jesus said in Luke 16: 13, you cannot serve two masters (God and money) at the same time. This mentality will drive you further from God.
written by Patrick Choy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
update on February 28 2010
2. With the mentality of gaining money you must not invest as this is not pleasing to God.
In God's eye, gaining money is not a problem. (He even bless people with material goods in the bible). But in contrast, the over desire or reliance on money is not pleasing to God. The core issue of money (or material goods) is that it drives us away from the love of God towards the love of material goods. Another two things to consider is the way of how we make the money and how we spend the money.
3. As long as you can bear the risk of investing, investment (even day-trading) is totally ok.
Risk is only one of the factors put into the consideration of investing. There are other factors that should also be considered. Such as the motivation of investing, the way how you invest, and would investing harm other people etc.
Another thing is that, our view on money is essential in making EVERY decision that involves money. For example, you might think that losing money on investment is like wasting money and people waste money all the time by purchasing something worthless. But the bible’s teaching tells us not to waste money, but use it for good (E.g. helping the needy).
Because Easter is approaching, reverands and pastors are busy, so the remaining bits of the content would be slightly delayed.
4. If I gain money, can I immediately release that stock? Would this become "gambling"?
5. If you have information that a stock will go up, is it ok if you invest with the intention of buying and releaseing immediately (day-trading). Does this count as "gambling"?
Clubbing:
1) Can Christians go clubbing?
- it is ok for Christians to go clubbing, however you need to remember to set a Christian example, drink reasonably know your limits. Most would say it is not that good for Christians to go clubbing because it creates a bad testimony and could affect other's perspective against the Christianity image.
2) Is it okay to be in an environment with music that has anti-Christian values (since we are already bombarded by these messages/songs everyday, it doesn't make a difference...)?
3) Is drinking alcohol in club settings okay?
4) Can Christians engage in a tight dance with an opposite sex at a night club?
Bible Interpretation:
1. Who hardened Pharaoh’s heart?
2. What is the unforgivable sin?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Updated March 3rd, 2010
The Ten Commandments:
The Ten Commandments
(this is the "original" most commonly used New International Version)
1 And God spoke all these words:
2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 "You shall have no other gods before [a] me.
4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
13 "You shall not murder.
14 "You shall not commit adultery.
15 "You shall not steal.
16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
The Modern version based on "The Message" Version of the Holy Bible:
1-2 God spoke all these words: I am God, your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
out of a life of slavery.
3 No other gods, only me.
4-6 No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. Don't bow down to them and don't serve them because I am God, your God, and I'm a most jealous God, punishing the children for any sins their parents pass on to them to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation of those who hate me. But I'm unswervingly loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments.
7 No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter; God won't put up with the irreverent use of his name.
8-11 Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don't do any work—not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day.
12 Honor your father and mother so that you'll live a long time in the land that God, your God, is giving you.
13 No murder.
14 No adultery.
15 No stealing.
16 No lies about your neighbor.
17 No lusting after your neighbor's house—or wife or servant or maid or ox or donkey. Don't set your heart on anything that is your neighbor's.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
update March 9 2010
Design:
first set of designs
content:
- some content still needs to be written and proofread by pastorial figures
- answers to questions will continuously be updated
technical:
as predicted in my proposal, I am having a hard time finding flash tutorials to make the flash prototype of this app.
Research on usability:
Geldof, M (2007). Usability and Internationalization. Global and Local User Interfaces. 4560.
I was able to read a few chapters from this book and have learned about the challenges that each country faces regarding usability and technology interfaces. The below website gives the same idea of what this book mentioned but it has a cleaner explanation.
Neilson, J. (2007). Usability of Websites for Teenagers Retrieved from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/teenagers.html
based on the above website, by Jakob Neilson, who is an expert in web usability, the article is beneficial to me in a sense that I am able to grasp the concept, this is about a website's usability for teens, and I am creating an app, but through this article, I was able to learn a few things regarding usability:
1. teens like to look at "cool-looking" graphics (which help me determine my design for this app)
2. they like relatively modest and clean design (which means my app cannot have too many fancy visual elements)
3. teens have a low patience level, they do not like to wait (apps are good in a sense compared to websites is that their content loads faster)
4. teens do not like to read a lot nor like tiny fonts (concepts must be straight to the point, content will be chunked here so the message is direct and up to the point, there will be an available link to a longer version for those who want to read more )
I found this chart of the website which I found really useful when I am creating this app:
Animation
and
sound effects
Mine sweeping
for links
Advertising Scrolling Reading
Kids
Teens
Adults
Key:
Enjoyable, interesting, and appealing, or users can easily adjust to it.
Users might appreciate it to some extent, but overuse can be problematic.
Users dislike it, don't do it, or find it difficult to operate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Testing/Usability survey- a summary
A Survey & interview was conducted these past semester and the app usability these past two weeks (towards the target audience):
I was only able to reach out to 30 (who had an iPod touch or iPhone or a smart phone), all surveys and interview processes were taken and recorded in a church setting.
design &
1. what is your favourite colour?
answers received: purple, red, blue, pink, black, sleek looking colours, metallic
2. for applications what is your favourite styles?
answers received: anything that looks "cool" (after talking to that person "cool" means sleek), not too colourful ones,
3. Do you know the ten commandments? can you tell me what they are?
- yes (10 Christians were able to prove the correct list)
- 20 were not able to, they struggled trying to memorize all of them at once
4. Do you think you have enough Christian moral values? why? why not?
yes- I think I know enough (13)
interviewer: can you answer some of these questions? (shows question sheet based on previous)
result: they were able to answer some but were not able to provide good explanations as to why that is the answer
no- I think I know some but I cannot say I know enough, there are some uncertainties with some (5)
no- I am not familiar with them at all, cause when I first converted my church did not provide any training in this area) (7)
no- I don't have many CHristian friends who I could share these things with... (4)
no- one can never learn enough of these cause these scenarios and situations change constantly (1)
5. Where do you go if you have a moral question you cannot answer:
- ask Pastoral staff (Reverands & pastors, church friends)
- don't know
- read the Bible
6. Is the Bible easy to interepretate?
- no (29)- the language is hard, the situations seems kind of... weird, the setting is different from mine's, its hard to relate the bible stories with my "real" life
-yes(1)- how hard can it be?
7. What is your favourite app? and why?
- facebook, Mafia Wars,wikipedia, Go Green!
- I can interact with others with these apps
- I can learn from wikipedia, it is a good reference guide and it is convinent to bring around, (some with iPod touches complained that the wikipedia app didn't work without wifi, and that could be very "frustrating" and "annoying")
- they are free
- I could get something out from them
- they constantly update themselves
Usability:
explain how the app works:
would you be interested?
yes (28)-that would be awesome! they should have more of these in the app store
no (2) - its too much to do, just go and ask a pastor cause you know there's something called emailing
(I explained to the two "no" people that sometimes you cannot email and get an immediate answer because pastoral staff are usually busy so they changed their answers to "maybe")
what do you think these pictures mean?
All of them got them right
if I were to access the ten commandments where would I go?
- they all got them right
other notes:
some were confused as to how the random generator can generate different "morals of the day" without a wifi connection (which I explained that these were all predownloaded with the app, and each update that happens every 2 weeks will give them new ones to collect)
some complained and were afraid they would need to read a lot of stuff so in order to accommodate: I have chunked out the answers so they were shorter and than provide a section for a longer version of the answer in case they needed a deeper and more throughout explanation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
name, design and other updates
in order for the app to be more "Christianize" the name has been changed to the "Christian- Know How to Discern App" As discern is the correct name for this type of activity.
all the "scenes" for each have been designed, you can see the designs from the swf file below.
technical, I have been having problems with the technical, am trying to fix up the glitches in the actionscript (using actionscript 3.0)
the glitch version has been posted here: Christian app.swf the first buttons work, but somehow there is an undefined problem and would not link to the "forum", daily, library, etc.
thus in this version, I've decided to export all the scenes to a movie clip, however, there seems to be more problems: Christian appv2.swf as none of the buttons work and the scenes just jump from place to place.
following my proposal, I am creating a Christian Moral App which will be used to help Youth Christians be able to discern what is right from wrong based on their Christian belief.
Progress:
Design:
the design's style has been pinpointed. But there are still some modifications to be made before prototypes are drawn and designed.
Content:
Since the proposal of my project, I have began looking for church pastors, reverands and mature christians to help with this project.
Last week, I was able to book an appointment with my church Senior Reverand, and he has agreed to provide some feedback regarding some tough questions. The method he said he will be using will be with Christian Faith Discernment.
I have set up a few questions to ask (which can be found below). The Senior reverand at my church had asked me to think about those questions from a Christian perspective first.
I have also asked a few fellow mature Christians to help with this discerning of right and wrong from a Christian perspective. I am also able to answer these questions (before giving these to pastors and reverands to look at) as I was born to a Christian family and have been an "official Christian" for 6-7 years, because of this I do have some knowledge and understanding of "the Christian perspective". There will also be bible verses to support the arguments as well.
The Bible verses for the theme for this "Discerning" Christian App:
"Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive.
1 Corinthians 10:23
"Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything.
1 Corinthians 6:12
Questions:
Investment:
1. What’s the difference between long term investment and day-trading? Are we only allowed to make long term investment?
There are those who oppose investment in the stock market, they believe that it is a form of gambling. Because since stocks are brought in the hope (not guarantee) that they will increase in value, since there are risks involved, hence it is a form of gambling.
First of all, every financial decision involves risk (Even saving account in the bank). Therefore we have to understand the fundamental differences between legitimate investments and gambling. Investment is the hope of gaining a profit through a period of time and requires wise decision making over luck. Whereas gambling is the hope of gaining a profit instantly and requires luck over wise decision making and effort.
Proverbs 28:20 says “a faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.” This speaks against the “get-rich-quick” mentality. Looking at investment as a long-term plan for the future is good planning, but trying to make a fortune overnight is not. Therefore day-trading is like a form of gambling.
Why does God displease about the eagerness to get rich? Simply because it opens up a gateway towards temptation and into many harmful and foolish lust of material desires (1 Tim: 9). As Jesus said in Luke 16: 13, you cannot serve two masters (God and money) at the same time. This mentality will drive you further from God.
written by Patrick Choy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
update on February 28 2010
2. With the mentality of gaining money you must not invest as this is not pleasing to God.
In God's eye, gaining money is not a problem. (He even bless people with material goods in the bible). But in contrast, the over desire or reliance on money is not pleasing to God. The core issue of money (or material goods) is that it drives us away from the love of God towards the love of material goods. Another two things to consider is the way of how we make the money and how we spend the money.
3. As long as you can bear the risk of investing, investment (even day-trading) is totally ok.
Risk is only one of the factors put into the consideration of investing. There are other factors that should also be considered. Such as the motivation of investing, the way how you invest, and would investing harm other people etc.
Another thing is that, our view on money is essential in making EVERY decision that involves money. For example, you might think that losing money on investment is like wasting money and people waste money all the time by purchasing something worthless. But the bible’s teaching tells us not to waste money, but use it for good (E.g. helping the needy).
Because Easter is approaching, reverands and pastors are busy, so the remaining bits of the content would be slightly delayed.
4. If I gain money, can I immediately release that stock? Would this become "gambling"?
5. If you have information that a stock will go up, is it ok if you invest with the intention of buying and releaseing immediately (day-trading). Does this count as "gambling"?
Clubbing:
1) Can Christians go clubbing?
- it is ok for Christians to go clubbing, however you need to remember to set a Christian example, drink reasonably know your limits. Most would say it is not that good for Christians to go clubbing because it creates a bad testimony and could affect other's perspective against the Christianity image.
2) Is it okay to be in an environment with music that has anti-Christian values (since we are already bombarded by these messages/songs everyday, it doesn't make a difference...)?
3) Is drinking alcohol in club settings okay?
4) Can Christians engage in a tight dance with an opposite sex at a night club?
Bible Interpretation:
1. Who hardened Pharaoh’s heart?
2. What is the unforgivable sin?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Updated March 3rd, 2010
The Ten Commandments:
The Ten Commandments
(this is the "original" most commonly used New International Version)
1 And God spoke all these words:
2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 "You shall have no other gods before [a] me.
4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
13 "You shall not murder.
14 "You shall not commit adultery.
15 "You shall not steal.
16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
The Modern version based on "The Message" Version of the Holy Bible:
1-2 God spoke all these words: I am God, your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
out of a life of slavery.
3 No other gods, only me.
4-6 No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. Don't bow down to them and don't serve them because I am God, your God, and I'm a most jealous God, punishing the children for any sins their parents pass on to them to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation of those who hate me. But I'm unswervingly loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments.
7 No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter; God won't put up with the irreverent use of his name.
8-11 Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don't do any work—not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day.
12 Honor your father and mother so that you'll live a long time in the land that God, your God, is giving you.
13 No murder.
14 No adultery.
15 No stealing.
16 No lies about your neighbor.
17 No lusting after your neighbor's house—or wife or servant or maid or ox or donkey. Don't set your heart on anything that is your neighbor's.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
update March 9 2010
Design:
first set of designs
content:
- some content still needs to be written and proofread by pastorial figures
- answers to questions will continuously be updated
technical:
as predicted in my proposal, I am having a hard time finding flash tutorials to make the flash prototype of this app.
Research on usability:
Geldof, M (2007). Usability and Internationalization. Global and Local User Interfaces. 4560.
I was able to read a few chapters from this book and have learned about the challenges that each country faces regarding usability and technology interfaces. The below website gives the same idea of what this book mentioned but it has a cleaner explanation.
Neilson, J. (2007). Usability of Websites for Teenagers Retrieved from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/teenagers.html
based on the above website, by Jakob Neilson, who is an expert in web usability, the article is beneficial to me in a sense that I am able to grasp the concept, this is about a website's usability for teens, and I am creating an app, but through this article, I was able to learn a few things regarding usability:
1. teens like to look at "cool-looking" graphics (which help me determine my design for this app)
2. they like relatively modest and clean design (which means my app cannot have too many fancy visual elements)
3. teens have a low patience level, they do not like to wait (apps are good in a sense compared to websites is that their content loads faster)
4. teens do not like to read a lot nor like tiny fonts (concepts must be straight to the point, content will be chunked here so the message is direct and up to the point, there will be an available link to a longer version for those who want to read more )
I found this chart of the website which I found really useful when I am creating this app:
Animation
and
sound effects
Mine sweeping
for links
Advertising Scrolling Reading
Kids
Teens
Adults
Key:
Enjoyable, interesting, and appealing, or users can easily adjust to it.
Users might appreciate it to some extent, but overuse can be problematic.
Users dislike it, don't do it, or find it difficult to operate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Testing/Usability survey- a summary
A Survey & interview was conducted these past semester and the app usability these past two weeks (towards the target audience):
I was only able to reach out to 30 (who had an iPod touch or iPhone or a smart phone), all surveys and interview processes were taken and recorded in a church setting.
design &
1. what is your favourite colour?
answers received: purple, red, blue, pink, black, sleek looking colours, metallic
2. for applications what is your favourite styles?
answers received: anything that looks "cool" (after talking to that person "cool" means sleek), not too colourful ones,
3. Do you know the ten commandments? can you tell me what they are?
- yes (10 Christians were able to prove the correct list)
- 20 were not able to, they struggled trying to memorize all of them at once
4. Do you think you have enough Christian moral values? why? why not?
yes- I think I know enough (13)
interviewer: can you answer some of these questions? (shows question sheet based on previous)
result: they were able to answer some but were not able to provide good explanations as to why that is the answer
no- I think I know some but I cannot say I know enough, there are some uncertainties with some (5)
no- I am not familiar with them at all, cause when I first converted my church did not provide any training in this area) (7)
no- I don't have many CHristian friends who I could share these things with... (4)
no- one can never learn enough of these cause these scenarios and situations change constantly (1)
5. Where do you go if you have a moral question you cannot answer:
- ask Pastoral staff (Reverands & pastors, church friends)
- don't know
- read the Bible
6. Is the Bible easy to interepretate?
- no (29)- the language is hard, the situations seems kind of... weird, the setting is different from mine's, its hard to relate the bible stories with my "real" life
-yes(1)- how hard can it be?
7. What is your favourite app? and why?
- facebook, Mafia Wars,wikipedia, Go Green!
- I can interact with others with these apps
- I can learn from wikipedia, it is a good reference guide and it is convinent to bring around, (some with iPod touches complained that the wikipedia app didn't work without wifi, and that could be very "frustrating" and "annoying")
- they are free
- I could get something out from them
- they constantly update themselves
Usability:
explain how the app works:
would you be interested?
yes (28)-that would be awesome! they should have more of these in the app store
no (2) - its too much to do, just go and ask a pastor cause you know there's something called emailing
(I explained to the two "no" people that sometimes you cannot email and get an immediate answer because pastoral staff are usually busy so they changed their answers to "maybe")
what do you think these pictures mean?
All of them got them right
if I were to access the ten commandments where would I go?
- they all got them right
other notes:
some were confused as to how the random generator can generate different "morals of the day" without a wifi connection (which I explained that these were all predownloaded with the app, and each update that happens every 2 weeks will give them new ones to collect)
some complained and were afraid they would need to read a lot of stuff so in order to accommodate: I have chunked out the answers so they were shorter and than provide a section for a longer version of the answer in case they needed a deeper and more throughout explanation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
name, design and other updates
in order for the app to be more "Christianize" the name has been changed to the "Christian- Know How to Discern App" As discern is the correct name for this type of activity.
all the "scenes" for each have been designed, you can see the designs from the swf file below.
technical, I have been having problems with the technical, am trying to fix up the glitches in the actionscript (using actionscript 3.0)
the glitch version has been posted here: Christian app.swf the first buttons work, but somehow there is an undefined problem and would not link to the "forum", daily, library, etc.
thus in this version, I've decided to export all the scenes to a movie clip, however, there seems to be more problems: Christian appv2.swf as none of the buttons work and the scenes just jump from place to place.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
seventeenth to twentieth
seventeenth source
Harwit, E. (2004). Spreading telecommunications to developing areas in China: Telephones, the internet and the digital divide. China Quarterly December:1010-1030.
^ this article talks about the challenges to spread cell phones, however mentions that the pRC government will be willing to close this digital divide gap because it shows they are advance in science and technology (something they want the world to know about)
eighteenth source
Donner, J. (2007). Research Approaches to Mobile Use in the Developing World:
A Review of the Literature. Literature Review. 1-41.
^ this article mentions how some of the developing world uses cell phones.
nineteenth source
Dong, Y.; Li, M. (2004). Mobile Communications in China. International Journal of Mobile Communications (IJMC), 2(4),
twentieth source
Lai, F. Griffin, M. & Babin, BJ. (October 2009), How quality, value, image, and satisfactoin create loyalty at a Chinese telecom. Journal of Business Research, 62(10), 980-986
^ this article analyzes how cell phones are packaged to have a better demand, it doesn't related much to my article but does mentions functions that 3G phones have.
Harwit, E. (2004). Spreading telecommunications to developing areas in China: Telephones, the internet and the digital divide. China Quarterly December:1010-1030.
^ this article talks about the challenges to spread cell phones, however mentions that the pRC government will be willing to close this digital divide gap because it shows they are advance in science and technology (something they want the world to know about)
eighteenth source
Donner, J. (2007). Research Approaches to Mobile Use in the Developing World:
A Review of the Literature. Literature Review. 1-41.
^ this article mentions how some of the developing world uses cell phones.
nineteenth source
Dong, Y.; Li, M. (2004). Mobile Communications in China. International Journal of Mobile Communications (IJMC), 2(4),
twentieth source
Lai, F. Griffin, M. & Babin, BJ. (October 2009), How quality, value, image, and satisfactoin create loyalty at a Chinese telecom. Journal of Business Research, 62(10), 980-986
^ this article analyzes how cell phones are packaged to have a better demand, it doesn't related much to my article but does mentions functions that 3G phones have.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
eleventh to sixteenth source
eleventh source:
Hu, JL, ; Hsu, YH. (Nov. 2007). Effects of china's communication industry policy on domestic cellphone manufacturers. Technology in Society, 29(4), 483-489.
^this source mentions how policies influence cell phone manufacturers into including services to meet demands.
twelfth source:
Angresano, J. (Aug. 2005). China's development strategy: A game of chess that countered orthodox development advice. Journal of Socio-Economics, 34(4), 471-498
thirteenth source:
Loo, B.P.Y. (2004) Telecommunications reforms in China: towards an analytical framework. Telecommunications Policy. 28(1), 697-714.
this article mentions who should be involved and what problems arise when putting telecommunications in developing areas
fourteenth source
Passerini, K, Patten, K, Bartolacci MR, Fjermestad, J. (Oct. 2007). Reflections and trends in the expansion of cellular wireless services in the U.S. and China. Communications of the ACM, 50(10), 25-28.
fifteenth source:
Wu, W., Chen, Q., Yu, B., He, H. (May 2008) Effects of management innovation on telecommunication industry system. WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on SYSTEMS, 7(5), 455-465.
^ manufacturer driven... not really related to my paper's topic (updated: April 15)
sixteenth source:
Faforet, S. and Li, X. (2005) 'Consumers' attitudes towards online and mobile banking in China', Int. J. Bank Marketing, 23, 362-380.
^ this source talks about mobile banking in China and what are people reactions
Hu, JL, ; Hsu, YH. (Nov. 2007). Effects of china's communication industry policy on domestic cellphone manufacturers. Technology in Society, 29(4), 483-489.
^this source mentions how policies influence cell phone manufacturers into including services to meet demands.
twelfth source:
Angresano, J. (Aug. 2005). China's development strategy: A game of chess that countered orthodox development advice. Journal of Socio-Economics, 34(4), 471-498
thirteenth source:
Loo, B.P.Y. (2004) Telecommunications reforms in China: towards an analytical framework. Telecommunications Policy. 28(1), 697-714.
this article mentions who should be involved and what problems arise when putting telecommunications in developing areas
fourteenth source
Passerini, K, Patten, K, Bartolacci MR, Fjermestad, J. (Oct. 2007). Reflections and trends in the expansion of cellular wireless services in the U.S. and China. Communications of the ACM, 50(10), 25-28.
fifteenth source:
Wu, W., Chen, Q., Yu, B., He, H. (May 2008) Effects of management innovation on telecommunication industry system. WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on SYSTEMS, 7(5), 455-465.
^ manufacturer driven... not really related to my paper's topic (updated: April 15)
sixteenth source:
Faforet, S. and Li, X. (2005) 'Consumers' attitudes towards online and mobile banking in China', Int. J. Bank Marketing, 23, 362-380.
^ this source talks about mobile banking in China and what are people reactions
tenth source
Li, B., Xie, D., Zhu, W.(2005, January) Recent advances on TD-SCDMA in China. IEEE Communications Magazine 30-37. Retrieved January 22, 2010
url: http://www.ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/35/30130/01381872.pdf
url: http://www.ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/35/30130/01381872.pdf
Friday, January 29, 2010
fifth to ninth source
fifth source:
Fan, Z. (April. 2000). China Unicom fights against delinquent accounts. Qilu Night.
sixth source:
this article talks about how the Chinese government works with China Unicom to fight against unpaid accounts
-Lu, J. & Weber, I. (December 2007) State, power and mobile communication: a
case study of China Source: NEW MEDIA & SOCIETY, 9 (6): 925-944.
this article was really useful to read cause it gave a brief introduction on how the government in China uses mobile technology to spread information.
seventh source:
-He, Z. (2008). SMS in China: A major carrier of the nonofficial discourse universe Source: INFORMATION SOCIETY, 24 (3): 182-189.
eighth source:
Latham, K. (June 2007)Sms, communication, and citizenship in China's
information society Source: CRITICAL ASIAN STUDIES, 39 (2): 295-314.
ninth source:
-Wang, Y; Jiang, W, Carrasquero, JV; Welsch, F; Oropeza, A. (2004) SMS usage and
its implication of political participation in mainland China Source: International
Conference on Politics and Information Systems: Technologies and Applications, 2:
272-277.
mentions how SMS can be used
Fan, Z. (April. 2000). China Unicom fights against delinquent accounts. Qilu Night.
sixth source:
this article talks about how the Chinese government works with China Unicom to fight against unpaid accounts
-Lu, J. & Weber, I. (December 2007) State, power and mobile communication: a
case study of China Source: NEW MEDIA & SOCIETY, 9 (6): 925-944.
this article was really useful to read cause it gave a brief introduction on how the government in China uses mobile technology to spread information.
seventh source:
-He, Z. (2008). SMS in China: A major carrier of the nonofficial discourse universe Source: INFORMATION SOCIETY, 24 (3): 182-189.
eighth source:
Latham, K. (June 2007)Sms, communication, and citizenship in China's
information society Source: CRITICAL ASIAN STUDIES, 39 (2): 295-314.
ninth source:
-Wang, Y; Jiang, W, Carrasquero, JV; Welsch, F; Oropeza, A. (2004) SMS usage and
its implication of political participation in mainland China Source: International
Conference on Politics and Information Systems: Technologies and Applications, 2:
272-277.
mentions how SMS can be used
Thursday, January 28, 2010
fourth source
Zhang, X. & Prybutok, V. R. (2005). How the mobile communication markets differ in China, the U.S., and Europe. Communications of the ACM, 28(3), 111-114. Retrieved January 25, from
http://delivery.acm.org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/10.1145/1050000/104767
8/p111-zhang.html?key1=1047678&key2=4570274621&coll=GUIDE&dl=GUI
DE&CFID=75378844&CFTOKEN=25062902 Scholar Portal (via UofToronto).
this source mentions the differences in mobile communications in China, Europe and US as they each have different
they also mention that China is conservative when it comes to implementing 3G technology because of the problems which raised in Europe
http://delivery.acm.org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/10.1145/1050000/104767
8/p111-zhang.html?key1=1047678&key2=4570274621&coll=GUIDE&dl=GUI
DE&CFID=75378844&CFTOKEN=25062902 Scholar Portal (via UofToronto).
this source mentions the differences in mobile communications in China, Europe and US as they each have different
they also mention that China is conservative when it comes to implementing 3G technology because of the problems which raised in Europe
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Third Resource
Chang, J., Fang, X. & Yen, D. C. (January 2005). China's telecommunication market for international investors: opportunities, challenges, and strategies. Technology in Society, 27(1), 105-121. Retrieved January 26, 2010, from http://d.wanfangdata.com.cn/NSTLQK_NSTL_QK9054348.aspx Google Scholar.
A Summary of this Journal
This journal discusses the challenges that cell phone manufacturers need to go through when introducing their products to a new environment.
A Summary of this Journal
This journal discusses the challenges that cell phone manufacturers need to go through when introducing their products to a new environment.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Second Resource
Fjermestad, J., Passerini, K., Bartolacci, M. R. & Patten, K. (July 2008). Wireless connectivity and its relationship to emerging economies: the example of China Source. International Journal of Mobile Communications, 6(5), 633-645. Retrieved January 23, 2010, from
http://dx.doi.org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/10.1504/IJMC.2008.0193
26 University of Toronto Library Database.
ISNN: 1470-949X
A Summary of this journal
This journal explores the impact of wireless telecommunications on emerging economies. The main objective is focusing on developing countries, and specifically focuses on the progress made by China and comparing with the progress on the United States.
The methods this journal resource takes is anaylzing China's potential for moving past other developing and developed countries with its established and traditional architectures. As the authors say, these are significant because these causes barriers to China because of its lack of traditional fixed-line telecommunications architecture infrastructure.
The authors conclude that despite those lack of technology infrastructure, China was able to "leapfrog" (according to the authors words) to developed countries like the US with its widespread in wireless technologies.
First resource
As I logged into www.library.utoronto.ca and started my first dig into this topic, I came across this article:
Sun, W., Peng, J., Ma, J. & Wang, S. (2009). Market, regulation and technology regime: implications for China Mobile Phone Industries. Journal of Technology Management in China, 4(3), 250. Retrieved January 22, from
http://link.library.utoronto.ca/eir/EIRdetail.cfm?Resources__ID=789547
&T=J University of Toronto Library Database.
A summary of this journal:
This journal's objective was to prove that technology which is accepted by consumers (customers) might not be the most advance. They explained that sometimes this could be looked "backwards" in which using different technologies could coexist under certain market situations and government regulations.
This journal article shows the prudence and predictability of Personal Handy Phone System (PHS) technology market successes and points out that government regulations would impact technological choice.
The design and methods used for the paper is by analyzing the choice of technology under the evolution of market demand and government regulations by evolutionary economics in China.
The findings the authors discovered that market demands and government regulations can affect the change of technology regimes deeply (despite the level of that specific technology). China's mobile phones technological evolution was affected with the change of environment factors.
The authors concluded that government regulations would impact the technological choice and lead to technology market success but it would lead to the low efficiency of resources allocations.
Sun, W., Peng, J., Ma, J. & Wang, S. (2009). Market, regulation and technology regime: implications for China Mobile Phone Industries. Journal of Technology Management in China, 4(3), 250. Retrieved January 22, from
http://link.library.utoronto.ca/eir/EIRdetail.cfm?Resources__ID=789547
&T=J University of Toronto Library Database.
A summary of this journal:
This journal's objective was to prove that technology which is accepted by consumers (customers) might not be the most advance. They explained that sometimes this could be looked "backwards" in which using different technologies could coexist under certain market situations and government regulations.
This journal article shows the prudence and predictability of Personal Handy Phone System (PHS) technology market successes and points out that government regulations would impact technological choice.
The design and methods used for the paper is by analyzing the choice of technology under the evolution of market demand and government regulations by evolutionary economics in China.
The findings the authors discovered that market demands and government regulations can affect the change of technology regimes deeply (despite the level of that specific technology). China's mobile phones technological evolution was affected with the change of environment factors.
The authors concluded that government regulations would impact the technological choice and lead to technology market success but it would lead to the low efficiency of resources allocations.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Introduction
This Research blog will be used to keep track of my findings I find in journals and articles regarding the topic of my research paper "Political Impact of Cell Phone Usage in China"
It will also be used to keep track of my progress for my thesis, proposal and final paper.
It will also be used to keep track of my progress for my thesis, proposal and final paper.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Stephanie's Senior Project Preliminary Proposal- Christian Moral App
Stephanie's Senior Project Preliminary Proposal- Christian Moral App
1. Project theme, concept and subject area
The topic and theme I plan to focus on for my senior project is Christianity for youth. The project’s concept is to help Christians be aware of their responsibilities to know what is right and wrong based on Christian moral belief. Most applications in the app store on iTunes focus on different aspects such as the environment (e.g. Go Green, Cool Facts). Some types of Christian apps even have devotions (Sprugeon, 2009), I think devotions are to help those to reflect but not necessarily remind, this is why having moral values is very important, so for this project I hope to alert those "baby Christians" and perhaps even those who have been Christians for a long time. I hope through the app, youth Christians will be able to use this not only as a reference tool but also a tool which reminds them of their beliefs and responsibilities.
If non Christians were to come across this app, I hope they would learn about Christian value. However, since they are not the targetted audience, the content would not be focused towards them.
2. Objectives and Rationale
As a Christian I find it difficult to be clear on Christian moral values because of the free access of knowledge and information on the internet, it is hard to know what is expected as a Christian especially when there are so many cults out there spreading false information which conflicts with the moral values stated in the Holy Bible.
As I speak with different Christian friends I realized that some of them are quite confused as to what they believe in. As I speak with my fellowship councellors, mentors and church pastoral staff, I realize that even sometimes I am unclear with certain seemingly “grey” areas (regarding issues that seem to be no right or wrong) as well. As a Christian and a leader of different fellowships I hope to make sure that those who call themselves Christians are indeed Christians. And those, like me who might be confused at times when daily life issues arise such as questions similar to: should Christians support homosexuality? can Christians gamble? Can Christians invest? Etc can youth Christians be able to answer these questions without giving it a thought? And may they debate with non-christians as to why they answered as they did?
Since the iPhone and iPod touch are both popular gadgets, I want to make use of them and create a media artifact which will help me bring my passion to others but at the same time enable me to observe how people communicate through iPhone and iPod touch. As my other major is International Studies, I hope to see how fast information can be passed through Applications.
Through this project, it will help me realize the importance of how a communication piece must be built in order for it to function well. As I would get feedback from peers, colleagues, professors, I would learn and this would help me when I graduate and work in a media company, know how to create or edit things so that they may be more appealing to others especially my target groups.
3. Output (i.e. product, artifact, service…)
The product for this project will be an application (for iPhone and iPod touch). The application will have information bank which users collect information each time they open the application, they will be able to store this information in a bank (and be able to go back to it when they
the deliverables for this project are:
-ten commandments based on the New International Version and The Message (version) of the Holy Bible
- message summaries from pastorial figures (e.g. pastors and reverands).
-information bank to store collected information
For further developments:
This product will hopefully expand to having a music section where users can download Christian singsperation songs(because they are not available on the iTunes music store), games to test their moral values and understanding of the content. The future product also hopes to expand to the mobile industry using Java as its platform for creating this application. In future for this product, users will be able to access an instant messaging system where they can interact with different pastorial figures (e.g. pastors and reverands) as well as other youths from across the world so that they may share their thoughts and questions with others.
4. Audience(s)
The main group who will be targetted are Christians. Since this app will be in English, it would be able to spread worldwide avoiding most language barriers.
The youth group targeted for this application ranges between the ages of 18-26. There are several reasons for this: first, this is the age range in which youth are in university, they are looking for knowledge, and this app hopes to give them some knowledge of their belief; second, although the price of an iPod touch or iPhone has dropped, it can be categorized as an expensive luxury item, for a high school student, not all may be able to afford this item, but as an university student (through part time and being categorized as a young adult) it is easier for them (compared to high school students) to buy an iPod touch or iPhone; third, as university and college students are more engaged in the latest technologies (because of Universities and colleges advancements in fundings, students are able to learn and be able to research the benefits of using certain technologies.)
5. Background research
I was unable to find something similar to the artifact (the app), but I have found some similar things which are taken in parts, for this reason, I have decided to take several different directions in order to finish the puzzle for this project.
The directions I took are as follows:
Religion and technology
Based on Kong L’s Religion and technology: refiguring place, space, identity and community
I was able to learn about how religion and technology are linked together. From a geographical standpoint (from her paper), she discusses how technology played a role in religion during 1830-1930s. Although the dates are quite early, the concept is still similar. She analyzes how Methodists (which is a form of Christian Protestant cult) used technology to help religion move forward. From her paper, I was able to grasp a few concepts, religion be updated with technology in order to spread to others, it is wise for religions to make use of what technology has to give so that a religion may able to be continued and passed on to the next generation.
Youth Christianity and Community
Roehlkepartain, Eugene C. and Scales, Peter C. 1995. Youth Development in Congregations: An Exploration of the Potential and Barriers
In this book, they discuss how youth should communicate in a Christian community. The authors discuss what the best ways are for youths in Christian communities to have a healthy spiritual development and growth. They have discussed a few methods, one of which is to keep up with latest trends and be engaged in what youth are and input Christian ideologies into that sort of trend in order for youths to be engaged with religion.
Since this book was written in 1995, the internet, ICTs, and computer access was not popular, but the idea could still be used which is to make use of the latest trends (which is iPod touch and iPhones) so that youths may learn through something they will likely use.
Mobile and Applications
Dempsey’s Always On: Libraries in a world of permanent connectivity
Castells M., Fernández–Ardévol M., Jack Linchuan Qiu JL, and Araba Sey A., Mobile communication and society: a global perspective.
Dempsey’s paper and Castell’s paper had similar concepts, through both papers, I learned more about mobile and applications, in their papers, they both talk about mobile communications and its benefits. Castells mentions that Mobile communications is widely adopted quicker than other technologies. Demsey carries on saying that mobile communications represents distributions and the growth of number of users are expanding greatly.
Mobile communications help ease learning, social activities and helps “control” youth behavior by providing support, satisfaction through social interaction, group formation, the ease to gaining information and most importantly youths may express themselves easily. (Dempsey, 2009). But there are also problems if this system is not used efficiently, it really depends on how the developers create their applications and how they make use of resources to get youths to be able to gain rather than diminish their learning.
Mobile communications intensifies activities by adding new challenges for youth, they can bring those “games” and learning tools wherever they go, because of the popularity of these handheld devices (in my case: iPod Touch and iPhones) youth can use these efficiently and this helps them learn efficiently.
“There are two ways in which mobile communications impact services: first, services may be made mobile- ready, as with special mobile interfaces for library services, alerting services …. Second, mobilization continues to restructure services, organizations and attentions which enhances networking.” (Dempsey, 2009)
These two papers helped me learned the importance of controlling my content when I am creating them and realize that iPod touch and iPhones have smaller screens, in order to enhance the learning experience, I must find ways to make their app experience memorable in order for the users to come back and use the app over and over.
App store findings
In this direction, I tried to look for some apps which might be similar to the one I am proposing for this project, I was able to find what I was looking for but I found a few apps which are similar or might have features which resemble those of my app.
I found that there were not a lot of apps for Christians or for religions in general.
For these Apps. Spurgeon’s Daily Help app, which is created for Catholics it has daily devotions, so if a user were to open it once every day, they will be able to read a short story and be able to reflect on a theme of that day. This app has received low ratings (2 stars out of 5) because its functions were too simple, a “devotion of the day” is revealed when you turn on the app, but that is all.
Webworks and Applications: Go green app was similar to the Daily Help app (had a rating of 3 stars out of 5), users of this app were can collect “green tips” this allows users to go back to a tip if it were useful, and users were rewarded with different “status’ for example if you collected 1-2 tips, than you are a “green newbie, if you collect 10 tips you will be promoted to “green apostle” and so forth, this is a great way to encourage users to go back so they could be promoted more often.
Bible Verses Free had received good ratings (4 stars out of 5), this app has a great feature, which not only allows users to save bible verses but also lets users “favourite” their favourite bible verses allowing them to go back and refer to the bible verses any time they want.
Regarding the content, I have already found a few "mature" Christians (who are familar with the bible and the faith), pastors and reverands (those who have already been trained with Christian knowledge and may represent the faith) from different denominations (Baptist, Alliance, etc). The above persons mentioned will be able to guide me and help write the content to make sure it allies well with the faith and beliefs of Christianity.
6. Approach, method and treatment
The medium I plan to use for this project is an app through the iPod and iPhone’s app store because it is most current and can be accessed easily. The app will be easy to reach out to different youths (which fit in the age range). Since there are many users it will be easier for others to test out this app and to give me feedback immediately. iPhones and iPods are also extremely handly and convenient (as it can be carried around in most places) this would be useful if it were taken as a "reference tool" and "reminding device".
I will make simple drawings to enhance the visual aspects of this app.
I plan to look for pastoral staffs from different churches of different cults (e.g. Baptist, Alliance, Community, etc) for their advice and professional suggestions regarding their views on moral values. After these interviews, I will do simple write ups of these moral values, these will be the content for the app.
The theories behind this concept could be found under the background research section of this document.
7. Project Management strategies
These are the project management steps I plan to take to execute my project.
Step 1: Planning, Definition
You may refer to section 1,2 and 4 for this.
Step 2: creating the WBS
WBS is an abbreviation for Work Breakdown Structure. My breakdown structure for this project may be found in the deliverables in section 3.
Step 3: Verification
Professor Chan will do this part; this part is to verify whether this project is executable. The pastors and reverends I will be interviewing will also review the final content to ensure it is correct.
Step 4: Control
For control, I plan to use the Integrated Change Control Process (ICCP). This control will address things which may affect the overall project scope. (This may be found in section 8)
Tasks & Milestones
I plan to use a Gantt chart to track my progress and to keep myself on track. Here is a list of tasks which are important to create this app (prototype- the prototype will be done in Flash)
1. Writing up grey area moral value questions
2. Interviewing pastors and reverends
3. summarize their interviewed pieces
4. Creating graphics and animation
5. research on flash animations which are appropriate and similar to those for apps.
6. Creating a flash based prototype of the actual app.
Timeline:
1. This would take approximately 6 hours to complete (3 hours for research and 3 hours for the write up)
2. This task would take approximately 10 days to complete
3. This task would take approximately 2 days to complete
4. This would take approximately 1 week to complete
5. This taske will take approximately 3 weeks to complete.
6. This task will take approximately 1 month to complete.
There will also be a user testing of target audience for feedback and suggestions.
Milestone dates:
February 3rd- Presentation and peer critique
February 5th- first set of moral values questions have been written
February 6-15th- gathering answers and asking pastorial figures for advice
February 16-27th- design of app
February 28th- Progress report due
March 1- Ten Commandments "modernized"
March 24- Progress report due (2nd)
March 28- Prototype of APP
March 30- Presentation of final project
April 1-7th- User testing for prototype for bugs or other problems
April 10th- deliverable and final report due
8. Possible obstacles
The difficulties I would likely encounter is the technical aspect. I have no experience in creating an app, and I have only adequate knowledge for creating flash pieces. I have to keep in mind that I am doing a piece for a smaller screen, so I must research usability issues regarding smaller screen pieces.
Some pastors might not be available for interviewing so to overcome this limitation I plan to make backups just in case a primary interviewee might not be available.
There might be a conflict regarding the content when users are reading the content because people might have different views on these moral issues.In order to resolve this, there will be pastors of different congregations who will be interviewed for each question to ensure a unity and similar direction.
9. Expected outcome(s)
The project will not be a “finished” product because there are limited resources as to how to create an app, so I will use flash to create a prototype and mock of what the actual product will look like.
The expected outcomes is that youth Christians will be able to learn about Christian moral values or if they already know, they will have a deeper understanding of why they have answered what they did and use this app as a reminder.
10. Bibliography (in APA style)
Castells M., Fernández–Ardévol M., Jack Linchuan Qiu JL, and Araba Sey A., (2007). Mobile communication and society: a global perspective. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
Dempsey, L. (2009).Always On: Libraries in a world of permanent connectivity. Retrieved from
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/2291/2070.
Kong, L. (2001). Religion and technology: refiguring place, space, identity and community. The Royal Geographical Society, 33(4), 01-10.
Roehlkepartain, Eugene C. and Scales, Peter C. 1995. Youth Development in Congregations: An
Exploration of the Potential and Barriers. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.
Santiago, L. (2009). Bible Verses (free) (Version 1.01) [application]. Available from the Apple iTunes App store.
Smith, Christian and Melinda Denton. 2005. Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives
of American Teenagers. NY: Oxford University Press.
Smith, Christian 2003. “Religious Participation and Parental Moral Expectations and Supervision
of American Youth.” Review of Religious Research 44: 414-424.
Spurgeon, C. (2009). 43rd Element, LLC: Daily Help Devotional. (version 1.2.4) [application]. Available from the Apple iTunes App store.
Unknown developer, (2008). Webworks and Applications: Go Green (Version 1.01) [application]. Available from the Apple iTunes App store.
Unknown developer, (2009). Webworks and Applications: 9500+ Cool Facts (Version 1.0) [application]. Available from the Apple iTunes App store.
click to return to directory page
1. Project theme, concept and subject area
The topic and theme I plan to focus on for my senior project is Christianity for youth. The project’s concept is to help Christians be aware of their responsibilities to know what is right and wrong based on Christian moral belief. Most applications in the app store on iTunes focus on different aspects such as the environment (e.g. Go Green, Cool Facts). Some types of Christian apps even have devotions (Sprugeon, 2009), I think devotions are to help those to reflect but not necessarily remind, this is why having moral values is very important, so for this project I hope to alert those "baby Christians" and perhaps even those who have been Christians for a long time. I hope through the app, youth Christians will be able to use this not only as a reference tool but also a tool which reminds them of their beliefs and responsibilities.
If non Christians were to come across this app, I hope they would learn about Christian value. However, since they are not the targetted audience, the content would not be focused towards them.
2. Objectives and Rationale
As a Christian I find it difficult to be clear on Christian moral values because of the free access of knowledge and information on the internet, it is hard to know what is expected as a Christian especially when there are so many cults out there spreading false information which conflicts with the moral values stated in the Holy Bible.
As I speak with different Christian friends I realized that some of them are quite confused as to what they believe in. As I speak with my fellowship councellors, mentors and church pastoral staff, I realize that even sometimes I am unclear with certain seemingly “grey” areas (regarding issues that seem to be no right or wrong) as well. As a Christian and a leader of different fellowships I hope to make sure that those who call themselves Christians are indeed Christians. And those, like me who might be confused at times when daily life issues arise such as questions similar to: should Christians support homosexuality? can Christians gamble? Can Christians invest? Etc can youth Christians be able to answer these questions without giving it a thought? And may they debate with non-christians as to why they answered as they did?
Since the iPhone and iPod touch are both popular gadgets, I want to make use of them and create a media artifact which will help me bring my passion to others but at the same time enable me to observe how people communicate through iPhone and iPod touch. As my other major is International Studies, I hope to see how fast information can be passed through Applications.
Through this project, it will help me realize the importance of how a communication piece must be built in order for it to function well. As I would get feedback from peers, colleagues, professors, I would learn and this would help me when I graduate and work in a media company, know how to create or edit things so that they may be more appealing to others especially my target groups.
3. Output (i.e. product, artifact, service…)
The product for this project will be an application (for iPhone and iPod touch). The application will have information bank which users collect information each time they open the application, they will be able to store this information in a bank (and be able to go back to it when they
the deliverables for this project are:
-ten commandments based on the New International Version and The Message (version) of the Holy Bible
- message summaries from pastorial figures (e.g. pastors and reverands).
-information bank to store collected information
For further developments:
This product will hopefully expand to having a music section where users can download Christian singsperation songs(because they are not available on the iTunes music store), games to test their moral values and understanding of the content. The future product also hopes to expand to the mobile industry using Java as its platform for creating this application. In future for this product, users will be able to access an instant messaging system where they can interact with different pastorial figures (e.g. pastors and reverands) as well as other youths from across the world so that they may share their thoughts and questions with others.
4. Audience(s)
The main group who will be targetted are Christians. Since this app will be in English, it would be able to spread worldwide avoiding most language barriers.
The youth group targeted for this application ranges between the ages of 18-26. There are several reasons for this: first, this is the age range in which youth are in university, they are looking for knowledge, and this app hopes to give them some knowledge of their belief; second, although the price of an iPod touch or iPhone has dropped, it can be categorized as an expensive luxury item, for a high school student, not all may be able to afford this item, but as an university student (through part time and being categorized as a young adult) it is easier for them (compared to high school students) to buy an iPod touch or iPhone; third, as university and college students are more engaged in the latest technologies (because of Universities and colleges advancements in fundings, students are able to learn and be able to research the benefits of using certain technologies.)
5. Background research
I was unable to find something similar to the artifact (the app), but I have found some similar things which are taken in parts, for this reason, I have decided to take several different directions in order to finish the puzzle for this project.
The directions I took are as follows:
Religion and technology
Based on Kong L’s Religion and technology: refiguring place, space, identity and community
I was able to learn about how religion and technology are linked together. From a geographical standpoint (from her paper), she discusses how technology played a role in religion during 1830-1930s. Although the dates are quite early, the concept is still similar. She analyzes how Methodists (which is a form of Christian Protestant cult) used technology to help religion move forward. From her paper, I was able to grasp a few concepts, religion be updated with technology in order to spread to others, it is wise for religions to make use of what technology has to give so that a religion may able to be continued and passed on to the next generation.
Youth Christianity and Community
Roehlkepartain, Eugene C. and Scales, Peter C. 1995. Youth Development in Congregations: An Exploration of the Potential and Barriers
In this book, they discuss how youth should communicate in a Christian community. The authors discuss what the best ways are for youths in Christian communities to have a healthy spiritual development and growth. They have discussed a few methods, one of which is to keep up with latest trends and be engaged in what youth are and input Christian ideologies into that sort of trend in order for youths to be engaged with religion.
Since this book was written in 1995, the internet, ICTs, and computer access was not popular, but the idea could still be used which is to make use of the latest trends (which is iPod touch and iPhones) so that youths may learn through something they will likely use.
Mobile and Applications
Dempsey’s Always On: Libraries in a world of permanent connectivity
Castells M., Fernández–Ardévol M., Jack Linchuan Qiu JL, and Araba Sey A., Mobile communication and society: a global perspective.
Dempsey’s paper and Castell’s paper had similar concepts, through both papers, I learned more about mobile and applications, in their papers, they both talk about mobile communications and its benefits. Castells mentions that Mobile communications is widely adopted quicker than other technologies. Demsey carries on saying that mobile communications represents distributions and the growth of number of users are expanding greatly.
Mobile communications help ease learning, social activities and helps “control” youth behavior by providing support, satisfaction through social interaction, group formation, the ease to gaining information and most importantly youths may express themselves easily. (Dempsey, 2009). But there are also problems if this system is not used efficiently, it really depends on how the developers create their applications and how they make use of resources to get youths to be able to gain rather than diminish their learning.
Mobile communications intensifies activities by adding new challenges for youth, they can bring those “games” and learning tools wherever they go, because of the popularity of these handheld devices (in my case: iPod Touch and iPhones) youth can use these efficiently and this helps them learn efficiently.
“There are two ways in which mobile communications impact services: first, services may be made mobile- ready, as with special mobile interfaces for library services, alerting services …. Second, mobilization continues to restructure services, organizations and attentions which enhances networking.” (Dempsey, 2009)
These two papers helped me learned the importance of controlling my content when I am creating them and realize that iPod touch and iPhones have smaller screens, in order to enhance the learning experience, I must find ways to make their app experience memorable in order for the users to come back and use the app over and over.
App store findings
In this direction, I tried to look for some apps which might be similar to the one I am proposing for this project, I was able to find what I was looking for but I found a few apps which are similar or might have features which resemble those of my app.
I found that there were not a lot of apps for Christians or for religions in general.
For these Apps. Spurgeon’s Daily Help app, which is created for Catholics it has daily devotions, so if a user were to open it once every day, they will be able to read a short story and be able to reflect on a theme of that day. This app has received low ratings (2 stars out of 5) because its functions were too simple, a “devotion of the day” is revealed when you turn on the app, but that is all.
Webworks and Applications: Go green app was similar to the Daily Help app (had a rating of 3 stars out of 5), users of this app were can collect “green tips” this allows users to go back to a tip if it were useful, and users were rewarded with different “status’ for example if you collected 1-2 tips, than you are a “green newbie, if you collect 10 tips you will be promoted to “green apostle” and so forth, this is a great way to encourage users to go back so they could be promoted more often.
Bible Verses Free had received good ratings (4 stars out of 5), this app has a great feature, which not only allows users to save bible verses but also lets users “favourite” their favourite bible verses allowing them to go back and refer to the bible verses any time they want.
Regarding the content, I have already found a few "mature" Christians (who are familar with the bible and the faith), pastors and reverands (those who have already been trained with Christian knowledge and may represent the faith) from different denominations (Baptist, Alliance, etc). The above persons mentioned will be able to guide me and help write the content to make sure it allies well with the faith and beliefs of Christianity.
6. Approach, method and treatment
The medium I plan to use for this project is an app through the iPod and iPhone’s app store because it is most current and can be accessed easily. The app will be easy to reach out to different youths (which fit in the age range). Since there are many users it will be easier for others to test out this app and to give me feedback immediately. iPhones and iPods are also extremely handly and convenient (as it can be carried around in most places) this would be useful if it were taken as a "reference tool" and "reminding device".
I will make simple drawings to enhance the visual aspects of this app.
I plan to look for pastoral staffs from different churches of different cults (e.g. Baptist, Alliance, Community, etc) for their advice and professional suggestions regarding their views on moral values. After these interviews, I will do simple write ups of these moral values, these will be the content for the app.
The theories behind this concept could be found under the background research section of this document.
7. Project Management strategies
These are the project management steps I plan to take to execute my project.
Step 1: Planning, Definition
You may refer to section 1,2 and 4 for this.
Step 2: creating the WBS
WBS is an abbreviation for Work Breakdown Structure. My breakdown structure for this project may be found in the deliverables in section 3.
Step 3: Verification
Professor Chan will do this part; this part is to verify whether this project is executable. The pastors and reverends I will be interviewing will also review the final content to ensure it is correct.
Step 4: Control
For control, I plan to use the Integrated Change Control Process (ICCP). This control will address things which may affect the overall project scope. (This may be found in section 8)
Tasks & Milestones
I plan to use a Gantt chart to track my progress and to keep myself on track. Here is a list of tasks which are important to create this app (prototype- the prototype will be done in Flash)
1. Writing up grey area moral value questions
2. Interviewing pastors and reverends
3. summarize their interviewed pieces
4. Creating graphics and animation
5. research on flash animations which are appropriate and similar to those for apps.
6. Creating a flash based prototype of the actual app.
Timeline:
1. This would take approximately 6 hours to complete (3 hours for research and 3 hours for the write up)
2. This task would take approximately 10 days to complete
3. This task would take approximately 2 days to complete
4. This would take approximately 1 week to complete
5. This taske will take approximately 3 weeks to complete.
6. This task will take approximately 1 month to complete.
There will also be a user testing of target audience for feedback and suggestions.
Milestone dates:
February 3rd- Presentation and peer critique
February 5th- first set of moral values questions have been written
February 6-15th- gathering answers and asking pastorial figures for advice
February 16-27th- design of app
February 28th- Progress report due
March 1- Ten Commandments "modernized"
March 24- Progress report due (2nd)
March 28- Prototype of APP
March 30- Presentation of final project
April 1-7th- User testing for prototype for bugs or other problems
April 10th- deliverable and final report due
8. Possible obstacles
The difficulties I would likely encounter is the technical aspect. I have no experience in creating an app, and I have only adequate knowledge for creating flash pieces. I have to keep in mind that I am doing a piece for a smaller screen, so I must research usability issues regarding smaller screen pieces.
Some pastors might not be available for interviewing so to overcome this limitation I plan to make backups just in case a primary interviewee might not be available.
There might be a conflict regarding the content when users are reading the content because people might have different views on these moral issues.In order to resolve this, there will be pastors of different congregations who will be interviewed for each question to ensure a unity and similar direction.
9. Expected outcome(s)
The project will not be a “finished” product because there are limited resources as to how to create an app, so I will use flash to create a prototype and mock of what the actual product will look like.
The expected outcomes is that youth Christians will be able to learn about Christian moral values or if they already know, they will have a deeper understanding of why they have answered what they did and use this app as a reminder.
10. Bibliography (in APA style)
Castells M., Fernández–Ardévol M., Jack Linchuan Qiu JL, and Araba Sey A., (2007). Mobile communication and society: a global perspective. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
Dempsey, L. (2009).Always On: Libraries in a world of permanent connectivity. Retrieved from
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/2291/2070.
Kong, L. (2001). Religion and technology: refiguring place, space, identity and community. The Royal Geographical Society, 33(4), 01-10.
Roehlkepartain, Eugene C. and Scales, Peter C. 1995. Youth Development in Congregations: An
Exploration of the Potential and Barriers. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.
Santiago, L. (2009). Bible Verses (free) (Version 1.01) [application]. Available from the Apple iTunes App store.
Smith, Christian and Melinda Denton. 2005. Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives
of American Teenagers. NY: Oxford University Press.
Smith, Christian 2003. “Religious Participation and Parental Moral Expectations and Supervision
of American Youth.” Review of Religious Research 44: 414-424.
Spurgeon, C. (2009). 43rd Element, LLC: Daily Help Devotional. (version 1.2.4) [application]. Available from the Apple iTunes App store.
Unknown developer, (2008). Webworks and Applications: Go Green (Version 1.01) [application]. Available from the Apple iTunes App store.
Unknown developer, (2009). Webworks and Applications: 9500+ Cool Facts (Version 1.0) [application]. Available from the Apple iTunes App store.
click to return to directory page
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