Was talking with some friends recently, and the conversation about the Mobile Ministry Methodology. Here’s the good and simple: is this something you or your ministry found valuable? Why or why not?
If you’ve been following along via Twitter recently (@mobileminmag), then you might have seen a few tweets in reference to articles posted at one of our favorite sites – Biblical Studies and Technological Tools (BS&TT). Certainly one of the oldest and most theologically grounded tech websites, BS&TT, there’s always the kind of content there that gets you to the point of readily applying tech in faith. Of note, a recent post took at look at a few applications relevant for the seminarian, but left also with a standing question about how other seminaries approach making the decision about which application(s) prefered for students’ learning. By the end of this piece, I questioned if its really an app (or service) that seminaries should steer towards, or should the skill of knowing how to build a Bible app be included into the curriculim.
Apps and Services for Serminaries
The BS&TT article mentions these, and we’ve added a few others from previous discussions:
These are only a few of the applications available. Check out our Bible apps page for a more exhaustive listing for several computiing devices and contexts.
Or, Should Seminaries Focus [Also] on Skills to Build the Ideal App/Service?
As mentioned earlier in this article, the BS&TT article left me with the question of “what specifically are these apps doing that is necessary to the study of, application to, and teaching of Scripture?” When I looked at it through this lens, the approach wasn’t that a specific application should be chosen, but perhaps seminaries should focus on those skills common to these applications. If this focus on those skills becomes the lesson, could it be a better lesson to teach how to build a Bible reader app suitable for use in seminary – engaging into the discussions that can better happen when you are closer to the publishing of the text, rather than the transcription of it?
Here’s my comment as posted with the BS&TT piece:
…Why aren’t you teaching folks how to build a Bible reader?
I understand that some of the issues related to Bible software has to do with not so much the content, but knowing the needed features for instruction, learning, and application. What you seem to be wanting here is some easier or more grounded means of teaching specific ways of using these software packages in studies. That doesn’t happen solely by concentrating on a specific package, but pooling their features, plus the needed skills, into something of a lesson.
If I could make the recommendation in this wise, it would be to take John Dyer and the DBS’s work with Browser Bible, and make that the introduciton to tech and Biblical studies, alongside Hebrew and Greek beginnings. To learn how to program the code that makes the letters appear, how to manage a websites oval website, and see directly the challenge of language support and user in traces, that’s what makes for the kind of core compentencies in the text that transcend just knowing an app or having a specific library.
Plus, you end up with a suite of folks who will know first hand the issues of restrictive licensing and publishing, which is every seminary’s real issue with the text as taught.
So, instead of learning the user interface as Logos/OliveTree/etc have designed it, you are learning how to build one that fits your contexts or concepts of learning. For example, with the base of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you could address the lack of non-English resources as you learn the
This is one of those discussions that ends up having two questions knit together:
I admit, this is a challenging topic. But, probablyh one worth having over the larger expanse of the wants and needs of techn tools for faith.
We are a bit late with today’s post. But, late doesn’t necessarily mean that there is nothing worth talking towards.
One of the ways in which we encourage you to keep up with, and even add to, the discussion about mobile ministry is to check out the twitter hashtag #mobmin. Tweets containing the hashtag #mobmin cover everything from stats, to trends, to opportunities, to matter-of-fact items. In addition, other websites similar to MMM will use the #mobmin hashtag when they post items on their websites, Facebook, and other sites. It’s a great threading term.
Another way of keeping up with mobile ministry is to check out the MobMin.Info portal page. MobMin.Info points to websites, videos, discussions, and topics relating to mobile ministry. And does so on a page formatted specifically for mobile devices. One of the latest sections added has to do with mobile ministry videos. It’s really a solid and powerful display of what’s possible with mobile ministry. And if you are looking for an easy template to use for getting started with your mobile landing pages, the source code of the page is easy to read (with implementation supported via Modernizr and jQuery).
Lastly, check out the Mobile Ministry Forum (MMF). The MMF is a partnership of several ministries who are doing mobile ministry in various forms. Some are classic missions organizations pressing into web and mobile; some are development and business as mission organizations; some are media companies in various stages of engaging mixed-modal societies. Seriously, really neat stuff happening. Along with a yearly conference which gathers to talk about mobile ministry, ignite partnerships, and display progress in the space. As a matter of fact, the next conference is upcoming. Check out MMF for more information and to register.
It’s Sunday, and I am sure that’s enough to getting you started. Do you have websites, authors, or personalities that elp keep you up to date with mobile and other technologies relevant to ministry? If so, drop a note in the comments below, or tweet it using the hashtag #mobmin. There is much we can continue to learn and share with one another.
Another one of the reasons why the All Books Project has been beneficial is in the discussion about interfaces to faith. Specifically, how the tools we use within our faith – these can be sacraments, behaviors, doctrines, as well as computational helps – give us an approach to our faith which may or may not be something that can resonate with others. Where we might esteem one method or another, or one tool or another, but that doesn’t mean its the last answer on the topic. What’s interesting though is how the idea of interface begins to play out within the space of having and manipulating content on the screens and keyboards of our mobile devices. If these devices and their content are viable, then we should see them actively drawing one another closer to God. If not, then they are an interface that causes the wrong kind of friction… one that should probably be removed.
Over at the website The Cooper Journal, there was the reignition of the discussion about interfaces and how when interfaces into actions or events are not well thought out, we end up with expereinces that degrade the impressions that we were to get from them. I liked the quote that was near the beginning of this, because when it comes to mobile ministry (#mobmin), I think we sometimes lose sight of this in the midst of making sure that we are mobile and are doing/performing/proving ministry:
As Donald Norman said in 1990, “The real problem with the interface is that it is an interface. Interfaces get in the way. I don’t want to focus my energies on an interface. I want to focus on the job… I don’t want to think of myself as using a computer, I want to think of myself as doing my job.”
When I think about the effect of this tech as a tool and enabler of the faith, I honestly start from this end. I don’t want to think of my faith as “ooh, I have a Bible app, now I can engage God as I should in this age.” I am learning and beginning to feel that if the faith doesn’t make Emmanuel (“God with us” – Matthew 1:23, Isaiah 7:14) more palatable to living, then its probably something that’s getting in the way of faith developing as it should.
For faith’s interface, I’m constantly reminded that the Israelites had a chance to have the simpliest of interfaces with God, but then chose to have Moses speak and entreat God on their behalf (Exodus 20:19). They chose a system of building a relationship with God where there was an additional 50 chapters of legal documents needed. A system that all parties agreed was flawed, but that one party only wanted to get rid of (God, who does this through Jesus’s death and resurrection).
I restate Norman’s quote, I don’t want to focus my energies on keeping devices charged, keeping content updated, worrying about where my email address might be going or be sold to. I want to focus on living a life that looks like it was gifted from Jesus Himself. I don’t want to think of myself as using this tool or service as my faith, I only want to be in the posture and position (Colossians 3:1-4) of living such that it looks like Him (Matthew 5:14-16).
I don’t believe that the work that’s done to build these computer tech tools and services for minsitry are evil. I don’t think they are the measure of our faith’s maturity either. I’m drawing close to God because of and in spite of these tools. We had a similar discussion in the past about sacraments – if they increase the tension that we have at making and keeping a relationship with God, then they are of no good use. But, if they bear witness of our maturing into the fact that God is with us, then let us use them to His glory and not our own; loving and esteeming one another… spurring one another unto all good works.
In contrast with yesterday’s post, I want to open the can of what impractical mobile ministry looks like. I don’t just mean in respect to what works and what doesn’t, but also a state of mind that might not be conductive to being a suitable representative of Christ with this tech.
Ironically, I was driven to think of this as I sit trying to edit my personal wiki on my mobile device, as it is connected to a 42in HD TV while it plays music (locally stored on my mobile) while showing a slide show and also serving as a Wi-FI hotspot to the iPad that I am typing this on. Surely, a lifestyle where mobile is used like this has to throw some questions into the hat towards what is or isn’t practical to consider with mobile ministry. Perhaps I am stretched a bit too far out there in this instance. Are there others?
When my recollection of history was a good bit clearer, we could have a discussion about the discussion of ministry where one part talked of the need for minsitry to be embedded within the practical needs of the community. Things such as establishing schools, businesses, hospitals, etc. are seen to go hand-in-hand with the proclamation of the Gospel. The other side of the discussion presents the proclamation of the Gospel as the do-first mandate. Where its more important to declare and convince the community on the perils of living without Jesus, and then letting that be the avenue by which practical and justice needs are met. The discussion of mobile in ministry follows the same lines. And while my perspective of ministry lies more with the former than the latter, I do understand and shift context according to the expressed needs of the moment.
That is probably why this discussion of China’s approach to developing economies on the Africian continent stuck out a bit. The fruit of China’s actions seem to be improving the ability for the majority of Africians, while also granting China the access to the raw materials and people they desire for their activities. Here’s a snippet of that article at the Harvard Business Review:
…And yet, it was the United States that peddled democracy and human rights — a.k.a., broadly speaking, ideology. Faced with the negative fallout of that, Secretary Clinton has recently sought out a more balanced approach, focusing on business (and opportunity) over human rights (and hectoring).
Meanwhile, the Chinese have kept building bridges, railroads, and conference centers. Ironically, it is the Chinese — not the Americans — who can make a compelling case that their focus in Africa has been not on spreading ideology but on the practical business of securing natural resources and creating future customers and trading partners…
Read the rest of How China’s Approach Beats the West’s in Africa at the Hardvard Business Review
The article raises a similar point though for us who pursue mobile ministry (#mobmin). Is the ideology of mobile ministry what you run after? Or, is it the opporunity to improve the practical lifestyle of people through the application of mobile tech (devices, services, or experiences) where your ministry opportunity lies? In both cases, what about mobile ministry remains practical in this age.
As MMM has pointed out a few times in recent articles, not every mobile situation will merit the latest smartphone, or the most consistent of connectivity speeds, or even a connection at all. In many cases, specifically when the #mobmin (mobile ministry) focus turns missional, the attraction for mobile devices takes on a different component:
As well as several other factors related to security, cost of device and service, and multimedia abilities. You can go to a website such as GSM Arena and in using their Phone Finder page, choose a manufacturer, and then according to the listing here, begin to filter models down to getting to something that works for you (for example, starting with Nokia and a price of no more than $200 USD, here’s the results of a search for available mobiles).
Mobile Advance took at look at a few low-end mobiles (these would be described as feature phones) some weeks back. The devices that were looked at (Nokia X2-02 and Samsung Hero E3213) consider the above points and more – for those persons doing missions work where mobile connectivity is a near-necessity:
My wife and I both needed phones upon getting here. After testing out a few in the stores, we decided to get two similar, yet different models- the Nokia X2-02 and theSamsung Hero E3213. Both cost the same- approximately 64 USD. I thought I’d send on our observations upon using both phones, especially since one of them is the update of the XpressMusic [mobile which was a past recommendation]…
Read the rest of A Comparative Review of Two Mobile Ministry Ready Feature Phones at Mobile Advance
Mobiles like these can be purchased from websites such as Amazon, Expansys, Carphone Warehouse, and Wallmart. Depending on your region, you might also find some smaller local wireless retailers selling these or find listings for some of these mobiles on sites like eBay and Craigslist. Lastly, a good place to find a mission-ready mobile is a pawn shop. Regardless of the place you find these, make sure that you wipe the device completely, then do a full system restore using the accompanying PC/Mac software suite if available.
Once you have gotten the mobile cleaned up, and before you start adding your favorite or needed contacts and apps, take a look at the listing of security and privacy apps listed over at SaferMobile. For many of you in missions, it might not be your mobile that you need protected as much as it is the communications on it, or the lives of those whom you might also let access your device. Take a look at SaferMobile’s listings, then pursue wisdom in your missional mobile activities.
Given the missional focus of much of the MMM audience, connectivity is something that we hear of often. In fact, it nearly becames one of those agree-to-part-and-disagree arguments when people in mobile ministry from a missional perspective get around those folks who were missional but in more connected/mobile regions. Indeed, its a challenging topic, and for many in ministry, its the kind of discussion that makes you assess what you are really capable of tackling versus what we normally declare as a goal of our efforts.
So, its always nice to see in the wider mobile discussion a talk about the real world experiences of mobile connectivity and the challenges that many devices and services aren’t so up-to-the-challenge in meeting. Here’s a snippet:
…Travelling from small town to small town in Devon, Somerset and Avon in the UK, I’ve been keeping track of the mobile connectivity available. We’re not talking a few sheds out in the countryside here, we’re talking towns of a few thousand people at minimum – and I’ve only seen a 3G symbol on my smartphone once … for about ten minutes. The rest of the time it’s been EDGE data if I’m lucky and GPRS as the most common means of getting online. In some villages, there was zero cellular signal (on both of the networks I had SIMs for) and thus not even GPRS. Nothing.
Yet the data speeds being talked about (and assumed) by the cellphone industry, from adverts to spec sheets to product launches, are in the order of ten times faster, sometimes even as much as a hundred times faster (LTE versus GPRS, for example!) That’s quite a disconnect from reality…
Read the rest of The Smartphone Data Hype ‘Disconnect’ from the Real World at All About Symbian
Having acknowledged this, we can be a bit more realistic in our approaches to serving mobile and other connected devices. Its often the perspective that Wi-Fi isn’t used much, but as Dean Bubley and others continue to show, Wi-Fi isn’t just a preferred method of connectivity, its one where much more is happening than what is being tracked. Then there’s SMS – and we don’t need to continue to beat that drum (it beats for itself just fine), but SMS doesn’t require a data package (neither does MMS), and in some cases are more than suitable enough for engagement activities where some text and data needs to be transferred and there’s little to no room to teach someone a new behavior (great case study from our partner Mobile Cause on this kind of scenario). Then you have person-to-person (p2p) methods such as Bluetooth file/message transfer which are usable, a good bit more secure than the former methods, and in high usage (antecodal evidence; Evaluation of Android P2P PDF, Bluetooth Usability Metric Whitepaper). And finally, not everyone has a smartphone – you’ve got to design your services for the best reach, not just the upcoming (because how often is it that you upgrade to the latest capability of device/car/service/etc).
Connectivity isn’t a guarantee. Depending on the purpose of your application or service, you need to pay close attention to the contexts people will be utilizing their device, and the expectation they will have towards whatever it is you built that you have deemed relevant for their intersection of faith and technology.
At the end of 2011, we started a project called All Books as an exercise in developing a Bible reader interface that was based around a spatial oriented UI than the normal list/task UI scheme. As the year has progressed, development has as well. There’s been some healthy learning about the limitations of using the Nokia Web Browser on my N8 as the baseline for this. Some lessons towards JavaScript and what works efficiently and what doesn’t. And a few more lessons here and there.
At the end of last month, I got around a Windows PC and was able to send to GitHub the updates that have been pending for the All Books Project (as of right now, I’ve not seen a solid GitHub app for the iPad that works with the web developer app Textastic; open to recommendations). So, if you aren’t watching that repo, I would recommend that you take a look at All Books on GitHub and download the update. Here’s the summary of the updates
UI Updates:
CSS Updates:
Now, remember, All Books is just a web-based interactive container (HTML5, jQuery for JavaScript, and CSS3). The content that I am feeding to this comes from Bible.org and several other sources (noted in the UI About section). You can pretty much take any directory of HTML documents that are Biblical in content and point this UI to. No, its not as clean as Browser Bible, YouVersion, OliveTree, and the others. This is in part by design. In order to know what works and what doesn’t you’ve got to sometimes get into things and build it yourself.
That said, All Books is also designed to be a gift to the folks at Bible.org. They have an excellent HTML package of the NET (New English Translation) Bible, but the HTML interface for it wasn’t the easiest to use on tablet and mobile devices. All Books answers that interface question, and sets the ground for the kind of interface that (when scripted) can easily translate across languages and levels of literacy. So to that end, I hope the Bible.org folks can appreciate these and keep pushing the Gospel forward.
If you have comments towards All Books, or would like to contribute to the project, visit the All Books Project on GitHub and just jump right on in. As for me, there’s an upcoming update to my Nokia N8 which might help performance issues, and finally get me on ball to some of the next features for this.
We are 2/3 of the way thorugh 2012 and as we have been doing at the end of every month, we are taking a look back at some of the resolutions made this year and asking if you’ve made some progress towards yours. Here’s our listing:
Now, what’s been most interesting this summer is how much of this has played out for MMM. We’ve made some updates to All Books, presented at ICCM, have updated the #mobmin Event Calendar towards some upcoming events, partnered with some great companies in the ministry and tech space, and have put some work in outside of the tech space being a light towards kids and families.
That’s a whole lot of activity, and some good progress all around. Here’s hoping that your resolutions are also moving along a profitable (to Christ and you) path.