DIVO Project

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DIVO (Digital Interactive Video Online), is an active learning education concept, incorporating creativity and ICTs, which uses participant centred, creative digital video dialogue(s) to promote inter-cultural understanding and peer-led learning between remote groups who would otherwise never be able to meet.

The DIVO project uses digital video to enrich online dialogue between remote groups. Groups of young people conceive, record and exchange short digital films based on common themes which are shared via a website. The films are viewed and the issues contained are discussed and explored on and offline and new films are created and shared in response. In this way, a digital video dialogue emerges which contains a genuine sense of mutual sharing and exchange. DIVO can be used in a range of settings to promote and support dialogue in formal and informal educational contexts, including inter-cultural understanding in support of Key Stages 3 and 4. Learning how to use digital interactive video creatively is coupled with the development of teamwork and negotiation skills. Mass media often promotes images and messages which are at odds with the environment and unrelated to the audience. The DIVO project puts media creation firmly in the hands of participants, offering them the opportunity to experiment in a playful and powerful way with a media force they are only likely to have experienced as consumers.

The DIVO project is committed to relocating remote and marginalised groups to the centre of the communication process and giving their voices a global platform.

1 Background
2 Methodology
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Background

In 2004, the DIVO project successfully bought together two groups of girls: socially and economically marginalised young women from an Islamic community in Ghana and students from Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School for Girls in London, UK. The project facilitated a cultural exchange based on gender issues faced by participants in the groups. By creating and responding to each others' films, participants enjoyed a rich experience of reflection and analysis. Dialogues formed through the process have continued to develop beyond the initial life of the pilot project. The pilot phase was funded by the British Council, the British High Commission and the Guardian Newspaper Ltd.

A full evaluative report and 20-min project documentary are available. The project documentary has been recognised by selection in a number of international human rights film festivals and screens regularly on the Community Channel in the UK.

[edit] Methodology

The methodology of DIVO comes from the combination of the creative application of technology with peer-led, participant-centred teaching techniques. As emphasis is as strongly placed on the process of generating media clips as on the media clips themselves, DIVO offers a rich multi-strand learning opportunity. The activity that goes into creating a media product for an audience of peers is both an opportunity and motivation for learning. In order to create a dialogue, groups need to digest what they have viewed and examine this against their existing knowledge before proceeding to generate more media and develop their response. Because media generated is personally relevant and specifically created, it is more compelling for participants to engage with and reflect on. DIVO can operate as a multi-lateral dialogue between many groups and offers flexibility of access to audiences and freedom of timing.