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Participatory Materials Development: How-To Guides Two guides were developed in the late 1970s. The first handbook, The Participatory Process: Producing Photo-Literature was developed after the authors worked with four groups of participants to develop photonovels. Three of the groups were made up of adult students in English for Speakers of Other Languages classes supported by the New England Farm Workers Council and one was made up of people living in Troy, New York who came together to help the New York State Department of Health produce a community health education photonovel. The handbook provides advice on how to support a participatory process for the development of photonovels and on the technology of producing the final product. Technology has changed dramatically over the last 25 years, and readers should consider how they might employ digital cameras, desktop publishing, and web-based distribution to both improve the quality of the product and lower the cost of production. John Comings The second handbook, Student Produced Health Education Material: A How-to Manual, was inspired by the previous one by Comings and Cain. This manual was developed as the authors were working with teachers and students in a rural county vocational school. The photonovel Decisions Decisions focused on students grappling with smoking. The overall project included the production of the photonovel, this how-to manual, a teachers guide, and an evaluation form. Dissemination was county wide and the 9th grade students involved in the process presented ‘lessons’ to elementary school students in area schools. The 9th grade students were involved in all stages of the work. Rudd and Roter used the process outlined in this guide to develop a photonovel with constructions workers, Workers Take Action: Fighting Asbestos in the Building Trades. They have subsequently used and shared this guide with colleagues and students for the development of photonovels through a participatory process. Here too, we highlight the fact that technological advances now ease both the development and production processes. Costs, of course, need to be adjusted. Rima Rudd
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