Research
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Joyojeet
Pal
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I have broadly classified my papers based on the content matter and intended audience, but almost all of the papers are accessible to readers with general interest. I have included below only publicly available work. A lot of this research has been documented well in photo albums, as a starting point on the work on schools in rural India as well as on the coffee production and information process in Brazil and Rwanda, I strongly suggest a look at the photos section. My dissertation explores an area of significant recent investment – technology as a means of economic development in underserved regions. Following a historical overview of shared computing projects aimed at low-income users in several parts of the developing world since the 1990s, I look specifically at India as a important case in this movement given the centrality of technology to its economic growth in recent decades and the continuing dichotomy of its economy between fast growing urban and a lagging rural economies making it an important case for observers of technology adoption, development, and regional planning alike. I approach the subject by first examining the extent of actual rural household access in the largest computer literacy project in India. Using a primary household survey of 1750 respondents in 37 villages across the southern state of Kerala, I show that the extent of actual technology adoption is significantly different than official figures, and that access to and use of technology depends on a number of structural factors innate to the local social environment. To understand the results of the household survey, I studied the aspirational environment around technology through in-depth interviews of stakeholders around in primary schools of rural India which have recently been given computers by the government. The research showed that Individual and group aspirations are derived from physical spaces in which people see technology being used, and the sense of power and class relationships with the people seen as competent technology users. [S1][P1]
Non-Dissertation Research My research includes studies of development and policy issues as well as design work. Since 2004, my research home has been TIER (Technology and Infrastructure for Emerging Regions) and all my projects have had some TIER component. During the earlier years of the TIER project, our work was more general - looking at the scope of technology for development and creating interdisciplinary debates with engineers and social scientists. Our later work has been project-specific. [T1] [T2] [T3]
Policy and Impact Assessments (Shared Computing) Akshaya: The research on this project, includes published work that has not been covered explicitly in my dissertation. In addition to the 1750 household survey, I have been involved in qualitative research and assessments of web traffic on the project’s telecenter network with Sergiu Nedevschi and Rabin Patra. The main thrust of the work was has been to assess community computer–literacy projects from the policy standpoint, but also to look at telecenter project design more generally. Among the main findings of the study were patterns by which communities are likely to benefit from computer literacy projects, based on the short-term financial goals and marketing efforts of the service providers. Analysis of the web traffic at Akshaya has shown that the case for ‘tailormade content’ for rural populations as a way to create demand for rural technology services has found limited success and that internet usage patterns in this rural project are fairly comparable to those in cybercafés in developing countries. The demand triggers are found to be casual communications rather than livelihood related. [P1] [P2] [S3] Inexpensive computers: As part of our continuing work at TIER, we have been surveying projects around the world that have developed inexpensive computers, and looked at their design innovations as well as their outcomes in the market. Our studies show patterns in some of the key areas that have been indicators of success of failures of such projects. [E2] [E4] Telecenters in Brazil: As part of a study for Berkeley-UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) conference, we did an initial study of the CDI project (Comite para Democratizacao da Informatica), which introduces computer centers in low-income neighborhoods, primarily urban slums, in several Brazilian states. We found in the study that although this and similar projects in Brazil saw 'better citizenship' among deprived communities as the primary goal, people attending such computer centers were primarily driven by employment prospects. The likely future direction for this work is looking at telecenters in Minas Gerais, Brazil, coordinated by the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. [T4] Telecenter Policy in India: This project involved a discussion among a number of researchers from various institutes who came together to present recommendations to the government of India on the creation of Common Service Centers (CSC). Our report was presented to the Planning Commission in India and detailed recommendations on telecenter design, community participation, geographical factors, and economic sustainability planning. The report was compiled by Renee Kuriyan of UC Berkeley and Kentaro Toyama of Microsoft Research India. [E5]
Education (Computer Use in Schools) Seating Patterns: In 2004 and 2005, we conducted a survey of computer aided learning in Indian schools from four states in the country to look at how computers are being used by primary school children. In this work, we found that children in rural India exhibited certain behavioral patterns in the way they seated themselves in front of a computer screen. I found that within a cohort of children seated to share a machine, the more aggressive child and the one to dominate the use of the mouse tended to be the one from the comparatively better off economic status, and better classroom performer from within the group. This in turn impacted eye contact with the screen and confidence to continue using the computer over time for the rest of the group. (MSRI Internship research) [D1] Practicalities of Computer Aided Learning in India: Part of the research that led to the Seating Pattern and Multiple Input projects was a study of the conditions in which computer aided learning projects operate in rural India and what factors typically impact their successful functioning. This work involved interviews with parents, children, and school administrators; and documented several key differences between projects that had more consistent functioning and those that did not. The main collaborators in this project were Meera Lakshmanan and S. Santhosh from Azim Premji Foundation. (MSRI Internship research) [E1] [E3]
Multiple Inputs for Computers: Since late 2005, we have been building on the research that showed unequal computer usage [D1] among groups of children, and have been looking for technologically solutions for this. We designed a number of potential scenarios for sharing input, following which a multiple mice solution was decided upon. Following some software development, this design was tested in schools, where we found that learning for basic word image associations increased when each child was given his or her own mouse. This is a major project at Microsoft Research India, where principal investigators for this research were Kentaro Toyama and Udai Singh Pawar. (MSRI Internship research) [D2] Real World Content for Multiple Mice: : In this project, we redesigned an existing computer aided learning module for English as a Second Language using multiple input drivers, and wrote a tool to allow any existing flash content to be used in a multiple input mode. This project was a follow up to two years of design experimentation and testing with the multiple mice idea to document the challenges towards a productization of multiple input design for children. Sai Gopal Thota, Mohit Jain, Apurva Joshi, and Sai Teja, all from DAIICT, Gandhinagar, collaborated on this project. [D4] Split Screen Design for Multiple Mice: This project is an implementation of an idea proposed in my first work on multiple mice, suggesting a split screen for simultaneous shared use among groups of children. Here, we used earlier findings of a trade-off between collaboration and competition in a multiple mouse design to create an interface with a split screen that maintains collaboration between one side of the screen while promoting competition between the two sides. The main researchers in this project were Owen Otto and Andrea Moed of the Information School at Berkeley. [D5]
Information Flows Information Systems for Coffee Production: This project was commissioned by Ricoh Innovations, to look at paper-trails in the coffee production system. For this project, we conducted a field study of information management processes in the coffee production chain in Brazil and in Rwanda among small coffee producers. We found significant differences in information-related practices in the two countries among the farmers, which in turn had a range of impacts on the distribution networks, on branding, and on the qualification of the coffee beans in organic and fair trade certifications. Collaborators on this project included Michael Demmer from the Department of Computer Science, and Adam Gouttierre from the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley. This paper is not publicly available. How Much Information: This project led by Profs Hal Varian and Peter Lyman at the School of Information sought to assess the scope of information available worldwide, and stored in new media each year. My own research in this project was to size the amount of information available on the film medium worldwide.[I1] CoPE: The CoPE (Community of Practice Environment) project started at the International Computer Science Institute at Berkeley is an online collaboration system usable by groups of people working in the same field of knowledge. My work was at an early stage of the project in which I looked at other similar systems, and used principles from those to inform design decisions for an early iteration of CoPE, to be used by non-profit professionals working with immigrant labor in California's Central Valley. The CoPE project is led by Jerry Feldman and David Thaw at the International Computer Science Institute.
PATENTS Filed 2007 (pending): US patent applications 319536, 319540 with Microsoft Corp. for work on children's educational tool. PUBLICATIONS
Education [E1] Pal, Joyojeet "Early-stage practicalities of implementing computer aided education: Experience from India" TEDC2006 - Technology and Education in Developing Countries, Tanzania, IEEE Conference Proceedings July 2006 (peer reviewed) [E2] Patra, Rabin, Joyojeet Pal, Sergiu Nedevschi, Madelaine Plauche, and Udai Singh Pawar, "Usage Models of Classroom Computing in Developing Regions" ICTD2007, International Conference on Information Technologies and Development, IEEE Conference Proceedings December 2007, Bangalore, India. (peer reviewed) [E3] Pal Joyojeet, Udai Singh Pawar, Kentaro Toyama, "Access Issues in Computer Aided Learning in Rural India" CIES 2007 conference, University of Maryland, Baltimore February 26, 2007 [E4] Fonseca Rodrigo and Joyojeet Pal, "Computing Devices for All: Creating and Selling the Low-Cost Computer" ICTD2006 International Conference on Information Technologies and Development, IEEE Conference Proceedings May 2006 (peer reviewed) [E5] Pal Joyojeet (Contributor), Analysis for Prime Minister's Advisory Council, Trade and Industry, Government of India (Special Group on Policy Framework for Private Investment in Education, Health and Rural Development) on policy white paper: "Report on a Policy Framework for Reforms in Education, 2000"
Technology and Society in India [S1] Pal, Joyojeet, Meera Lakshmanan, and Kentaro Toyama, "'My Child Will be Respected': Parental Perspectives on Computers in Rural India" ICTD2007, International Conference on Information Technologies and Development, IEEE Conference Proceedings December 2007, Bangalore, India. (peer reviewed) [S2] Pal, Joyojeet "The Threshold Theory: An Examination of the Developmental Promise of Information and Communications Technology in India" Contemporary South Asia, Vol. 12(1) / March 2003, pp 103 - 119 (peer reviewed) [S3] Pal Joyojeet and G.R Kiran, "e-Literacy and Connectivity for Development in India, the Akshaya Approach" Community Technology Review, pp. 35-37, June 2005.Spring-Summer 2005 (peer reviewed) [S4] Badshah, Akhtar, Peter Cowhey, and Joyojeet Pal, "Increasing Poor Communities' Access to IT and Telecommunications in India"- for the Digital Partners Baramati IT policy conference in New Delhi, 2001
Policy and Impact Assessments [P1] Pal, Joyojeet, "Examining e-literacy Using Telecenters as Public Spending" ICTD2007, International Conference on Information Technologies and Development, IEEE Conference Proceedings December 2007, Bangalore, India. (peer reviewed) [P2] Pal Joyojeet, Sergiu Nedevschi Rabin Patra and Eric Brewer, "A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Studying Internet Kiosk Initiatives: The Case of Akshaya" Models for Bridging Digital Divides eds. Makinen, M, Rantanen, T, Vaden, T., Vainio, N. , E-Learning Vol. 3:3, 2006 (book chapter) [P3] Pal, Joyojeet (contributor) "Report for the Government of India: Review of Research on Kiosks/Telecenters in India" Presented to the Common Services Centers Project, Planning Commission of India, with Bailur, S., Kuriyan, R., Menon, D., Rangaswamy, N., Ratan, A., Srinivasan, J., Toyama, K., Veeraraghavan, R. May 2007
Design [D1] Pal, Joyojeet, Udai Singh Pawar, Eric Brewer and Kentaro Toyama, "The case for multi-user design for computer aided learning in developing regions" WWW2006, Edinburgh Scotland, IEEE Conference Proceedings May 2006 (peer reviewed) [D2] Pawar, Udai Singh, Joyojeet Pal, Rahul Gupta, Kentaro Toyama, "Multiple Mice for Retention Tasks in Disadvantaged Schools" CHI2007 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, San Jose, California, April 28-May 3, 2007 (peer reviewed) [D3] Plauche, Madelaine, Chuck Wooters, Diyva Ramachandran, Joyojeet Pal, Udhaykumar N, "Speech Recognition for Illiterate Access to Information" ICTD 2006, International Conference on Information Technologies and Development, IEEE Conference Proceedings May 2006 (peer reviewed) [D4] Jain, Mohit, Apurva Joshi, Sai Teja, Sai Gopal Thota, Udai Pawar, Joyojeet Pal, "From Pilot to Practice: Creating Multiple-Input Multimedia Content for Real-World Deployment" (in submission) [D5] Otto, Owen, Andrea Moed, Joyojeet Pal, Matthew Kam, Udai Pawar, Kentaro Toyama, "Reducing Dominance Behavior in Multiple-Mouse Learning Activities" (in submission)
Technology and Development [T1] Brewer, Eric, Michael Demmer, Melissa Ho, Richard E. Honicky, Joyojeet Pal, Madelaine Plauche, Rabin Patra and Sonesh Surana, "Pervasive Computing for Emerging Economies" IEEE Pervasive, Vol. 5:2 2006 [T2] Brewer, Eric, Michael Demmer, Bowei Du, Kevin Fall, Melissa Ho, Matthew Kam, Sergiu Nedevschi, Joyojeet Pal, Rabin Patra and Sonesh Surana, "The Case for Technology in Developing Regions" IEEE Computer, Vol. 38:6 2005. [T3] Ibrahim, Mahad, Joyojeet Pal, and AnnaLee Saxenian, "Methods of E-Development - Models and Consequences" CMS4 Conference, Judge School of Management, Cambridge University, July 2005 (peer reviewed) [T4] Ferraz, Claudio, Rodrigo Fonseca, Joyojeet Pal and Manisha Shah, "Shared Computing in Brazil: A Study of the Center for Democracy in Information Technology" UNIDO conference, UC Berkeley, April 1, 2005
Information Flows [I1] Lyman, Peter, Hal Varian, Kirsten Swearingen, Peter Charles, Nathaniel Good, Laheem Jordan, and Joyojeet Pal "How Much Information"
Research Methodology [R1] Nedevschi, Sergiu, Jaspal Sandhu, Joyojeet Pal, Rodrigo Fonseca and Kentaro Toyama "Bayesian Networks: A Statistical Approach for Understanding ICT Adoption" ICTD 2006, International Conference on Information Technologies and Development, IEEE Conference Proceedings May 2006 (peer reviewed) [R2] Rothenberg-Aalami, Jessica, Joyojeet Pal "Rural Telecenter Impact Assessments and the Political Economy of ICT for Development" (ICT4D)" Berkeley Roundtable for the International Economy (BRIE) Working Paper 164
For any of my papers that may not be available online, please email me.
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