Remote fieldwork: using portable wireless networks and backhaul links to participate remotely in fieldwork

Collins, Trevor; Gaved, Mark and Lea, John (2010). Remote fieldwork: using portable wireless networks and backhaul links to participate remotely in fieldwork. In: The Proceedings of the 9th World Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning (mlearn 2010), 19-22 Oct 2010, Valletta, Malta.

Abstract

Fieldwork is an important means of contextualising knowledge and developing subject-specific and generic transferable skills. However, field locations are not always accessible. To address this problem we present a remote fieldwork approach that makes use of a portable wireless network and other mobile technologies to support fieldwork at a distance. As well as improving access to fieldwork, this approach can also be used to provide communication tools to fieldworkers, enabling them to share their findings and talk to their colleagues while in the field. This paper presents the portable communications toolkit we have developed and reports on three recent trials.