Citizen Science & Communication: Send Direct Messages in your SPOTTERON CitSci App

Wednesday, 23 August 2017 14:50

Citizen Science is also about communication. With the upcoming direct message feature we release the first part of a series of SPOTTERON extensions, bringing projects and participants closer together..

HOW DOES IT WORK?

This major extension allows all Citizen Science projects in SPOTTERON to send short messages directly to all smartphones of the Citizen Scientists. The messages can contain up to 140 characters like e.g. Twitter and links to the web, which are automatically shortend.

After sending a new message in the administration interface of the project, the smartphones of the Citizen Scientists will instantly make a sound. All phones display a new notification in the status bar. Regarding the operating system version, it is predefined how the notification message will look. Here an example in Android 7:

By tapping the notification, the Citizen Scienc smartphone app of the project opens up. It displays automatically the message panel with the newest messages on top, which are additionally highlighted.

We also implemented a new message counter in the top bar below the spot counter, so users can easily access the message panel and instantly see if there are unread messages.

CITIZEN SCIENCE & COMMUNICATION

With this brand new feature, all Citizen Science projects in SPOTTERON can reach out to the participants, inform about developments and get directly in contact with their user base.

Citizen Science always should give something back to the Citizen Scientists and by having a strong messaging feature ready, projects in SPOTTERON can now get the word out for higher involvement and interactivity.

The new "Direct Messaging" feature is now available for all projects running in the SPOTTERON Citizen Science platform.


NEW PROJECTS IN SPOTTERON

During summer, new Citizen Science projects joined up in the SPOTTERON Citizen Science plattform.

		phenology Fjällkalendern This new Citizen Science project about artic phenology by the University of Stockholm in Sweden invites visitors of the science trail along the mountain Nuolja/Njullà to help with climate change research. Scope: regional Country: Sweden, EU Partner: University of Stockholm Website: naturenskalendern.se

		biodiversity Fagelbär (Birds & Berries) In this Citizen Science App for the University of Stockholm in Sweden, Citizen Scientists are doing observations about which bird species are feeding on various trees and their berries in the wild. Scope: nationwide Country: Sweden, EU Partner: University of Stockholm Website: su.se/deep

		transportation science Was geht ab? (What's going on?) This project by the Institute of Transport Studies of the University of Life Science, Vienna works with school classes to research the surroundings of Viennese schools and the impact on the pupils daily life. Scope: regional Country: Austria, EU Partner: University of Natural Resources & Life Sciences Vienna Website: was-geht-ab.at

		You can find all SPOTTERON Apps here: www.spotteron.net/apps

Interested in modern Citizen Science tools?
GET SPOTTERON 1.0 FOR YOUR OWN CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT

SPOTTERON is designed by Citizen Scientists for Citizen Science. We provide a stable and reliable solution for your custom #CitizenScience smartphone apps and interactive maps for your project's homepage with ongoing updates and support..

For further questions about SPOTTERON - the Citizen Science System please don't hesitate to add "spotteron" on Skype or drop us an eMail at office@spotteron.net.