{"id":1071,"date":"2010-08-26T09:30:19","date_gmt":"2010-08-26T13:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/edutechdebate.org\/?p=1071"},"modified":"2012-09-27T10:37:30","modified_gmt":"2012-09-27T14:37:30","slug":"book-poor-but-mobile-phone-rich-look-to-m-novels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edutechdebate.org\/literacies-old-and-new\/book-poor-but-mobile-phone-rich-look-to-m-novels\/","title":{"rendered":"Book-Poor, but Mobile Phone-Rich? Look to M-Novels"},"content":{"rendered":"
In The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains<\/a>, author Nick Carr asserts that human memory works best when it encounters ideas in a linear way, such as when a concept is explained in a way that logically builds out an idea, with each new layer of explanation resting on the layers before it and adding to the whole, coherent idea. And further, that focus — free of distractions — is essential for the mind to deep learn in this encounter with a developing idea. This kind of focused, linear idea-building often happens when engaging an educational book. The reader starts on page one and ends at page whatever; a clear path from start to finish — no distractions, no hyperlinks taking the mind off the matter at hand.<\/p>\n Carr points out that networked media, especially those connected to the internet, are inherently non-linear and are given to distraction because of the web of links criss-crossing the content. Further, given their networked nature, the devices are used for talking, chatting, posting, viewing and listening very easily. With these devices the temptation to keep linear, undivided attention on a particular train of thought is very high; the chance of deep learning is thus low.<\/p>\n Carr is much more knowledgeable about the possible effects of the internet on cognition than I am — although I also acknowledge that his arguments are not without contestation. But I do have two key points to respond to his core argument in The Shallows — both from the perspective of someone working in education in a developing country.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n 1. What happens when there are no books?<\/strong><\/p>\n In his blog post<\/a>, Carr references a recent study, published in the journal Research in Social Stratification and Mobility<\/em>, that revealed a very strong connection between the number of books in a student\u2019s home and the number of years of education the student completes. \u201cBooks Matter. A lot,\u201d reported the Chronicle of Higher Education<\/em> on the research.<\/p>\n But what happens when there are no books? The low level of literacy amongst South African youth is a recognised problem. While it is a very complex problem, one contributing factor is that books are unaffordable, and therefore unavailable, to many students. The lack of books extends to homes \u2013 in 2006, 51% of South African households owned no leisure books (TNS Research Surveys, 2006) \u2013 and to schools \u2013 only 7% of public schools in South Africa have functional libraries of any kind (Equal Education, 2009).<\/p>\n While South Africa is \u201cbook-poor\u201d it is \u201cmobile phone-rich\u201d: there is estimated to be nine million people who access the mobile internet — this is about 20% of the population and about double the number of people who access the internet with computers. In terms of access, cellphones are a pervasive consumer technology. In some urban communities, 100% of teens have access to a cellphone and around 70% of those can access the internet.<\/p>\n The m4Lit project<\/a>, which I lead, uses this reality as a point of departure. We are using the technology that is in the hands of young people for educational goals. We published two short stories on mobile phones and in seven months these were read over 34,000 times. Thousands of comments and competition entries were received from readers \u2013 all via their phones. Yesterday we launched www.yoza.mobi<\/a>, a new platform to publish a wider selection of m-novels.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n