The goal of PEEK/RE:search is to make people a whole lot smarter.
Participating in PEEK/RE:search is an exercise in both 1. recognizing details in one’s surroundings that offer opportunities to reflect on the relationship between an environmental point of interest and one’s previous knowledge and beliefs and 2. synthesizing one’s own understandings of an issue or phenomenon with others’ understandings and with academic and empirical thinking which encourages the development of a more rich and sophisticated cognitive map.

This exercise serves as a rehearsal for the skills of recognizing opportunities for learning and reflection in informal environments and synthesizing multivariate perspectives with one’s own understanding. The PEEK/RE:search assignments serve as a bridge to connect users’ multiple viewpoints and to situate casual understandings in relation to more formal investigations of a topic.

There is a breadth of research that supports PEEK’s primary learning goals, which include learning from engagement with one’s environment, multiple perspective taking, and transfer. PEEK activities encourage spontaneous engagement with and reflection on one’s environment to cultivate the recognition of learning opportunities in everyday life.

Bransford & Schwartz make a case for the importance of participation in “humanistic activities” or “lived experiences,” such as learning directly from other cultures, which they argue are invaluable yet underappreciated learning experiences that foster a “preparation for future learning” (PFL). The value of learning from one’s environment is reiterated by Greeno, who points out that “learning the landscape” is an important tool for navigating any learning situation. Following the theory of contextual learning, which states that learning is the product of one’s social, physical, and cultural contexts, we simultaneously address all of these elements in the design of the PEEK experience. PEEK is designed to be used “in situ,” such that the learning experiences are necessarily contextual by their nature.

Through the sharing of co-located reflections, PEEK encourages mindful learning, which results in the creation of new categories and more sophisticated mental models.

Langer relates mindfulness to the "the process of drawing novel distinctions" which can lead to a number of diverse consequences, including (1) a greater sensitivity to one’s environment, (2) more openness to new information, (3) the creation of new categories for structuring perception, and (4) enhanced awareness of multiple perspectives in problem-solving” (Langer 2000).

Research has shown that the use of new technologies and networked communities in learning environments can be an effective means of enhancing learning. According to Bellamy (1996), the introduction of media into a system can fundamentally alter the system and uncover new learning opportunities.

Rheingold (2002) writes of the various benefits, which can significantly outweigh the costs, of participating in online communities. Internet communities provide the opportunity for members to contribute a small amount of information and energy for an enormous return of pooled knowledge from other users. 

By introducing mobile technology that supports a knowledge-sharing community into very informal, impromptu learning situations, PEEK/RE:search has the potential to exponentially increase learning opportunities.

We believe in the importance of assessments and user studies in order to understand the effectiveness of PEEK/RE:search in achieving its learning and engagement goals. As part of our design process, we conducted several small studies.

The most comprehensive study involved participants using a low-tech version of PEEK/RE:search and collecting data out in the world and in their everyday lives.

Participants were given a pre-test to determine a baseline level of "richness of description" when presented with PEEK/RE:search proposal topics. They chose eight of twelve items based on interest and wrote "arguments" in response.

The next day, participants were sent text messages with four of the eight chosen topics. They were asked to respond to at least one proposal, and any further participation would be strictly voluntary. Responses could be in the form of images, URLs, text, audio, etc.

The post-test asked participants to respond to three new proposals. We also administered an adjective checklist to determine the valence and arousal level of their PEEK/RE:search experience. An interview was also conducted.

Analysis involved comparisons of "richness of description" for pre- and post-test proposal responses, extent of voluntary participation, and adjective checklist scores.

Insights from this final assessment include: the PEEK/RE:search experience is individual in that each participant will be attracted to different topics, expert opinion or historical context in association with the proposals would be valued, and simple, interactive "assignments" in addition to the standard PEEK proposals could increase motivation and engagement.