October 07, 2010
Mobile A2K at Festivaletteratura: learning to bring technology to life
2 days of seminars, 3 panel discussions, 11 international guests, more than 500 participants, 3 live radio broadcasts, 15 entries created on Wikipedia.

These are some of the numbers that describe the participation of lettera27 at Festivaletteratura 2010 with Mobile A2K: Mobile Access to Knowledge: resources, interfaces and contents on urban transformation. These numbers are intertwined with thoughts and experiences presented by the guest speakers and the impressions shared by the audience participants, as well as discussions on the work of lettera27 during the past year, dedicated to new inspiring ideas on the relationship between education and technology.

African science fiction can represent an experimental lab which can help us increase our understanding of change in society. This was the theme of Afrofantasy, where different perspectives were presented and discussed. Contributions included the history of the relationship between science fiction and society by Giuseppe O. Longo, the collage of cultures and tools in the works of Fatimah Tuggar, a trip to an African technological and cultural future, presented by Stacy Hardy, and a call to the past and to traditions by Cheikh Tidiane Gaye, Senegalese poet and writer.

The disenchanted teacher, the panel discussion hosted by Chiara Somajni and Roberto Casati, explored the question of how we can use technological innovation to create new ways of teaching and learning. Mark Grimes and Massimo Banzi suggested that the secret of true technological innovation in the field of education must be based on an understanding that technology should not be perfect, indeed isn’t perfect, and cannot, by itself, offer a definitive answer. Rather, it should be a way to try and actually do, create new communities, and look for solutions. Technological inventions and new interactive products were presented at the end of the discussion.

Rasheed Araeen, one of the most important intellectuals in the field of post-colonial critique, was the key speaker in Multiplying perspectives, the third panel discussion. At the centre of the debate were important current political and cultural issues. Araeen’s reflections revolved around knowledge, on how to produce it and share it. He focused on European roots to show how knowledge is always universal and shared, and not the result of a clash between civilisations. In order to bring to the surface these cultural roots, Araeen suggested focusing on history, and called for a collaborative effort.

The event also hosted the Wikimedia Italy Award ceremony, which this year selected the best content released on a Creative Commons license during 2010. Frieda Brioschi, president of Wikimedia Italia, presented the award to the Sun-baRadio team. A special mention was made to “Nigrizia” for sharing under a Creative Commons license the full archives for the journal, founded in 1883.

“Nigrizia”, media partner for lettera27 within Festivaletteratura, took part in the festival during the two days with its Afriradio team, who streamed the panel discussions online, which are now available as podcasts (listen >).  The team also produced a number of small video interviews with the guest speakers. The interviews explored the Mobile A2K themes: ideas, stories and experiences on mobile technology, education and interactivity.


Watch at the photo album on Flickr


Image: Photo by Valeria Vernizzi