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PhD course in studying technology in use "in the wild"

EcoSense and the Center for Participatory IT (pit.au.dk) offer a PhD course which will prepare students for empirical studies of mobile and ubiquitous technologies in use 'in the wild', and it will help them reflect on their experiences of carrying out such studies. Gathering data and analyzing it will be in focus.

The course consists of two sections. In each of these the students meet for two days.
The students will be expected to carry out some reading ahead of the first meeting, and to work between the two sections. The course will end with a brief written report to be completed by the end of the year.

Section 1: November 12-13

We will explore how PhD students can analyse and collect data on technology in use 'in the wild'.  We will work on three main data sources: video, log data and observations, discussing how they can be combined to create insightful analysis of complex new usage situations.  Our focus will be on the use of mobile devices and in particular the challenges they present to conventional analysis techniques. The course will introduce different data collection and analysis techniques.  
Teachers: Barry Brown, Eric Laurier, Stuart Reeves

Section 2: December 3-5

This section will focus on three elements: 
1. Participatory methods and 'in the wild' studies.
2. Supporting 'in the wild studies' with sensor data and evaluating sensor-based systems 'in the wild'.
3. Reflection on the choice of methods and preparation of written report.
Teachers will be Susanne Bødker, Mikkel Baum Kjærgaard and collaborators from Aarhus University

Responsible: Susanne Bødker, Manager of Center of Participatory IT
Course credits: 5 ECTS
Location: Center for Participatory IT, Aarhus University, Aabogade 34 Aarhus N

Sign up for the course before November 1, by email to bodker@cs.au.dk. There is room for a limited number of students.

The Center for Participatory IT has some resources for supporting students who need accommodation. For further information on this, please contact bodker@cs.au.dk