Informal health and legal rights education in rural, agricultural communities using mobile devices

The focus of this work is on the design of a system for informal education in rural, farmworker populations using mobile devices. We have conducted needs assessment with farmworkers in the California Central Valley in conjunction with engineering and industrial design students as part of a service learning initiative. The community, working with the students, identified key needs related to accessing information, emphasizing health and legal rights. We propose the possibility of wireless access to digital libraries for access to this information. We discuss an appropriate system design using mobile phones and future plans for user testing with the community. We stress the importance of continually working with the community to develop relevant and sustainable solutions.