An overview of what I did in 2009 as the 21st Century Learning Fellow at the Shuttleworth Foundation

1. 2009: A year in review
Steve Vosloo
21st Century fellow, Shuttleworth Foundation

2. I focussed on mlearning
Why?

3. 90% of SA’s urban youth have access to a mobile phone

4. This has changed the way they socialise, play and communicate

5. Schools ban mobile phones, press coverage is biased -- opportunities are lost

6. Very few teachers see the potential of mlearning

7. But mobile phones are incredibly powerful
Web access is increasingly mobile primary
Huge potential for learning -- not being exploited
So, I did 3 things ...

8. 1. Raised awareness of mlearning

9. 2. Documented mlearning

10. 3. Researched mobiles for literacy
51%
Households in SA without a single leisure book

11. Would our teens read novels on their phones like in Japan?
Can mobile phones alleviate the chronic shortage of books?

12. Kontax: an m-novel
• www.kontax.mobi (WAP-enabled
phones or computer browser) and
MXit
• Aimed at 14-17 year olds
• Written in English and isiXhosa
(world first)
• 21 days, 21 chapters
• Embedded in a lite social network

13. >10,000 reads
>300 comments
>1,500 ideas

14. “It's great ... for me it really hard to pick up a book to
start readin but i don mind readin on my phone” (dotty1)
“Awsum :)
Im realy nt much of a reader but reading of
my phone jst seems alot easier...and co0ler! :)” (Gucci)
“Am not a person who reads books,so i only dd this 2
check hw a book on da web wil b like.So its not bad,
and am lookin 4ward 2 chapter 2.” (Slize)

15. "The more exposure you have to the written
word [including txtspk] the more literate you
become and we tend to get better at things
that we do for fun"
Beverly Plester, Coventry University

16. Findings
• Most digital writing takes place on mobile phones (but it’s short, like SMS)
• Most reading takes place on mobile phones or on paper
• Teens want to write their own pieces (poems, lyrics, stories, etc.)
• The isiXhosa version was popular
• Strong correlation between language choice and communication mode

17. Coverage and awards

18. Mobile phones are a viable platform for distributing
books and enabling reader participation
This removes the barrier of printing costs, putting
information back into the hands of the people

21. Opportunities for 2010
• More stories. There are only 3 m-novels in SA. We need a “mobile library” —
full of public domain titles for access via mobile phones
• Grow Kontax: more readers and more languages, e.g. !"‫م روا‬ история.
A successful m-novel is a powerful way to promote mpublishing
• A platform for self-publishing to get teens writing
• Invite teachers to use m-novels in the classroom

22. Contact me
email: steve.vosloo@shuttleworthfoundation.org
blog: innovatingeducation.wordpress.com
slides: slideshare.net/stevevosloo
twitter: twitter.com/stevevosloo
web: vosloo.net