March 18, 2008. Social networking, the Internet, and cell phones are just a few of the technologies seeping into the everyday lives of citizens in the developing world. In a course offered by the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), "New Media and Development Communication," Columbia students discovered the profound impact these technologies have on development.

Under the direction of Professor Anne Nelson, graduate students researched and compiled numerous case studies using a variety of technologies themselves. Class assignments were delivered via Columbia's online CourseWorks program, and students interacted with media experts from around the globe via the class Facebook group. Student research was conducted in small teams and drafted for presentation using the class wiki.

The results of the students' work has been moved from the private class wikispace to a public site for the benefit of anyone interested in the surveys compiled by the students. The surveys range from cell phones assisting Kenyan farmers in marketing their crops to radio soap operas educating tribal communities in Afghanistan to the influence of the Iranian blogosphere consisting of over 700,000 blogs.

This site is not the first compiled by Professor Nelson's students. In 2001, her journalism class compiled a site called "Rohde to
 Srebrenica," which earned a nod from Yahoo! as one of their "Yahoo! Picks" for 2002.

Related links:
New Media and Development Communication website
"Rohde to Srebrenica" website