m4Lit (mobiles for literacy)Project findings

Steve VoslooShuttleworth Foundation

Research developed and conducted in collaboration withAna Deumert and Marion Walton (both University of Cape Town)

March 2010

Key sources

Two research reports were produced for the project:

Klk cc ... Supporting Indigenous Literacies in the Digital Space

By Ana Deumert, March 2010Linguistics, University of Cape Town

Mobile literacies & South African teens: Leisure reading, writing, and MXit chatting for teens in Langa and Guguletu

By Marion Walton, March 2010Centre for Film and Media Studies, University of Cape Town

Reports available at: m4lit.wordpress.com

Deumert, A. (2010). Klk cc ... Supporting Indigenous Literacies in the Digital Space. Available at http://m4lit.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/m4lit_indigenous_literacies_adeumert_2010.pdf.

Walton, M. (2010). Mobile literacies & South African teens: Leisure reading, writing, and MXit chatting for teens in Langa and Guguletu. Available at http://m4lit.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/m4lit_mobile_literacies_mwalton_2010.pdf.

Contents

1.m4Lit overview2.Rationale for m4Lit3.Kontax, a teen m-novel4.Mobile literacies5.Indigenous literacies6.Summary of findings7.Lessons and questions8.Recommendations

1. m4Lit overview

m4Lit (mobiles for literacy) project South African project, launched August 2009, to explore

mobile novels (m-novels) as a complement and alternative to printed literature

Goals:− To explore whether teens are interested in reading stories

on their mobile phones− To see whether and how they write using their mobile

phones− To better understand mobile literacies

Findings of pilot phase (August-December 2009) presented here

Project ongoing, funded by the Shuttleworth Foundation

2. Rationale for m4Lit

51%South African households that own no leisure books

(TNS Research Surveys, 2006)

TNS Research Surveys. (2006). National Survey into the Reading and Book Reading Behaviour of Adult South Africans. Available at http://www.saccd.org.za/objects/sabdc_reading.pdf

6%South African households that have more than 40 titles on their bookshelves

(TNS Research Surveys, 2006)

TNS Research Surveys. (2006). National Survey into the Reading and Book Reading Behaviour of Adult South Africans. Available at http://www.saccd.org.za/objects/sabdc_reading.pdf

7%Public schools in South Africa that have functional libraries of any kind

(Equal Education, 2009)

Equal Education. (2009). EE rejects DoE's statement on school libraries. Available at http://www.equaleducation.org.za/press-a-views/press-releases/item/74-statement17dec2009.

The mobile revolution

South Africa has excellent mobile infrastructure Good mobile coverage High uptake of phones – up to 90% amongst

urban youth (Kreutzer, 2009)

MXit, a mobile IM service, claims 15m registered users in South Africa

Mobile web access on the rise in the “townships” (Donner and Gitau, 2009)

Low charges for mobile data (but expensive voice and SMS charges)

Donner, J., and Gitau, S. (2009). New paths: exploring mobile-centric internet use in South Africa. Paper presented at the Pre-Conference on Mobile Communication at the Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association. http://lirneasia.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/final-paper_donner_et_al.pdf

Kreutzer, T. (2009). Generation mobile: online and digital media usage on mobile phones among low-income urban youth in South Africa. University of Cape Town, Cape Town. http://tinokreutzer.org/mobile/

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40042565@N06/3680282383/License: Creative CommonsAttribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

Literacy and technology paradox

In school Poor literacy

performance “Book-poor” Low access to

computers

Out of school Frequent interaction

with written word and digital technologies

“Mobile-rich”

(Walton, 2010)

The Shuttleworth Foundation often hears from teachers and parents that:

Teens don't read enoughTeens don't write enoughTeens love their phones

An often heard complaint

Will our teens read and write novels on their phones like in Japan?

Rin, 21, wrote a mobile phone novel, with 400,000 hardcover sales.Photo: The New York Timeshttp://www.theage.com.au/news/world/mobile-phone-novels-ring-up-big-sales-but-critics-fear-forjapanese-literature/2008/01/22/1200764265347.html

3. Kontax, a teen m-novel

Developing the story

In order to answer the research questions, a teen m-novel was commissioned

Story development workshops held with teens in Langa and Khayelitsha in Cape Town

Story development workshop in Khayelitsha

Image: Steve VoslooLicense: Creative CommonsAttribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

The result: Kontax Teen mystery story with four graffiti loving

friends 21 chapters, each < 400 words (total

length approx. 8,000 words) Aimed at 14-17 year olds Written in English by Sam Wilson,

translated into isiXhosa by Nkululeko Mabandla (world's first isiXhosa m-novel)

First published on a mobisite and then on MXit

Openly licensed (Creative Commons BY-SA-2.5 South Africa) and free

Only cost for user is mobile data charges: R0.05 to R0.09/chapter (rate dependent)

Images: www.kontax.mobi License: Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 2.5 South Africa

Images: www.kontax.mobiLicense: Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 2.5 South Africa

Kontax.mobi Go to www.kontax.mobi Accessible via internet-enabled mobile phones or computer

browser Serialised over 21 days (launched 30 Sept) Actions: read, download wallpapers, vote on polls, leave

comments, register, create profile, “friend” users, message users, write on user's walls, update status, submit ideas for a sequel story

Social network of readers AND the story characters Cross-media elements: phone numbers in story were real Prizes for comments and sequel ideas

Kontax.mobi usage Small number of users, due to:

− Poor usability of registration process: most attempts to register failed; some teens were relatively unfamiliar with certain Web conventions

− Limited PR around the story Of those that did register, 67 were active users who commented on the

story and used Kontax as an affinity space where they got to know other like-minded teens who had also enjoyed the story

Sharp drop-off after initial chapters (possibly due to genre-effect and novelty value of m-novel)

Primary home language: isiXhosa Users commented throughout the day (anytime, anywhere nature of

mobile phone use) Most comments written in txtspk

Chapters

% o

f pag

e vi

ews

Page view trend

Kontax.mobi: Home language

Home language

% o

f use

rs

Kontax.mobi: Comment times

Complimentary of m-novels:

“Awsum :) Im realy nt much of a reader but reading of my phone jst seems alot easier...and co0ler! :)” (17, girl, Durban, home language: English)

“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.”(14, girl, Pretoria, home language: Setswana)

Kontax.mobi: Reader comments

Complimentary of Kontax story and format:

“Yoh guys it rocks big time, i like the theme, design, downloadable images, the art, n evrythng abt it ... i also like the way u'v dividd them [the chapters], short n undastandable.”(17, girl, Cape Town, home language: isiXhosa)

“It's like they live in soap opera. Days of our kontax lives... And theres always an "adventure" waiting for them. I like it.” (18, girl, Soweto, home language: isiZulu)

Kontax.mobi: Reader comments

Comments related to the story itself:

“Lol yeah i would say sbu is mvng to0 fast..buut adelle kissd hm 1st s0 i thnk they bth mvng at d same pace”(16, girl, Durban, home language: English)

“Ayobaness!! Wow guyz,u dd rly gud bk dr.And 4me 2 thnk dat u ddnt hve bck up(shme on me).Sry i msjudgd u.Bt thnk God vry1 z owkey,incldng d celeb(lol).”(17, girl, Ladysmith, home language: isiZulu)

Kontax.mobi: Reader comments

Suggestions:

“I think the story is goin great bt how about using more discriptive and emotive words,tell us about peoples facial expression,it will let us in on what the people are thinking or feeling,it will also activate our imagination...” (16, girl, Johannesburg, home language: Setswana)

Kontax.mobi: Reader comments

Kontax on MXit

Much more text-based interface In MXit, go to Tradepost > MXit Mix > Education

Kontax on MXit

Simplified user experience, but less features:− Actions: read, download wallpapers, submit

ideas for a sequel story− No registration, comments or Kontax social

network− Users “subscribe” to read the story

Not serialised: all 21 chapters at once Prize for sequel ideas Marketing within MXit: Splash Screens aimed at

11-14 and 15-18 age groups, and Tradepost messages

>63,000 subscribers>28,000 aged 11-18>27,000 aged 19-24

This uptake is substantial when compared to other youth brands on MXit

MXit statistics are for period 31 October to 26 November

“Subscriber numbers for Kontax (at least 63 310 subscribers in total) are sizable when compared to the miniscule local audiences for conventional book publishing (even successful South African titles sell only around 5 000 copies). Even when compared to the 100 000 subscribers who signed up on MXit to receive content from popular commercial brands such as X-Box, Kontax gained a substantial number of MXit subscribers.” (Walton, 2010)

Kontax on MXit: Reads

But subscribers does not equal reads Exact figures for number of reads not available Estimate that of the 11-18 year olds:

46% read first two chapters (12,600 users) 26% read all 21 chapters (7,200 users)

All ages: estimate that 17,258 people read the complete story

Kontax on MXit: Gender 54% female / 46% male subscribers Significantly different from general MXit male

majority (57%) Females more inclined to read mobile fiction (like

in Japan)?

Kontax on MXit

(Walton, 2010)

Kontax: Coverage and awards

4. Mobile literacies

Research A key aspect of m4Lit was understanding the traditional,

mobile and indigenous literacies of teens Group of isiXhosa-speaking teens (ages 14-17) from Langa

and Guguletu (low-income townships) were recruited Requirement was owning, or having access to, a GPRS-

enabled mobile phone Two surveys (n=61 and n=50), two focus groups (n=10), and

usability evaluations (n=8)

Research credits Research instruments designed by Ana Deumert,

Mastin Prinsloo, Steve Vosloo and Marion Walton Sampling strategy developed by Ana Deumert,

Nkululeko Mabandla, Steve Vosloo and Marion Walton Research co-ordinated by Nkululeko Mabandla,

fieldworkers: Andile, Khosi, Thabisa, Yandiswa and Ziphelele

Research analysis: Ana Deumert and Marion Walton Research assistant: Nicola Pallitt

Reading and writing Reading takes place primarily on mobile phones or paper, and not

on computers Other than Facebook, SMS and MXit (mentioned by 38% of

participants) or television subtitles (mentioned by 3%), everything students had read on the previous day was printed on paper

Outside school, students wrote on a mobile phone, or else, in only a minority of cases, on pen and paper

When digital texts are created or read, they tend to be short texts on mobile phones – SMS and MXit messages, used primarily in dyadic conversations rather than as a form of publication

(Walton, 2010)

Digital lives MXit use was pervasive (75% had used it the previous

day) Although they used the web on both computers and

phones, their daily web use was significantly more likely to take place on a phone than on a computer

Mobile-centric web use: mainly Google, Facebook and “side-loading” (bluetoothing media between phones)

Facebook gaining in popularity Relatively high levels of shared use of phones

(Walton, 2010)

Digital lives Educational web use was infrequent on both phones

and computers, and few participants mentioned doing school research on the previous day (16% on both phones and computers)

(Walton, 2010)

Digital lives: Peer learning

(Walton, 2010)

MXit topics

(Walton, 2010)

5. Indigenous literacies

Western Cape context

Systematic marginalisation of isiXhosa Lack of access to isiXhosa literacy in the

education system Dearth of isiXhosa reading material

(Deumert, 2010)

Positive usage by isiXhosa speakers

For four key users of mobisite: “Kontax offered a space in which they were able to explore and express an isiXhosa linguistic identity in a medium (a digital public spaces) which conventionally privileges English voices”

(Deumert, 2010)

Uptake of isiXhosa Kontax

“Uptake should be seen as a success”

(Deumert, 2010)

6. Summary of findings

Summary of findings Most digital writing takes place on mobile phones (but it

tends to be short, like SMS) Most reading takes place on mobile phones or on

paper Some participants want to write their own texts (poems,

lyrics, stories, etc.) The isiXhosa version was popular, especially when

considering the systematic marginalisation of the language in literacy contexts

(Walton, 2010; Deumert, 2010)

Conclusions Mobile phones are a viable platform for distributing stories and

enabling reader participation “Data suggest a substantial amount of interest [in m-novels]” …

and given the number of teens with mobile phones, there is “plenty of room for growth” (Walton, 2010)

mPublishing can help reduce many production and distribution costs associated with the book industry – this needs to be further explored

Currently, mpublishing is not a low-cost exercise: it is still difficult to attract teen users without substantial marketing

There is a distance and conflict between mobile literacies and school literacies. This needs to be explored and better understood because mobile literacies are so pervasive in young peoples' lives(Walton, 2010)

7. Lessons and questions

General lessons learned

Marketing is crucial (competing with teens' active social lives, other commitments and popular consumer brands)

Giving away prizes is very useful Don't assume users know web conventions, e.g.

that an underlined word must be clicked on Design for 128 pixels wide Registration needs to be very quick and easy If asking for user generated content, be prepared

for possibility of getting a lot of it

How to make Kontax sustainable? Potential models for future:

− Sponsorship− Advertising− Merchandising− Partnering with Dept of Education or corporate

Books on MXit:− Emily series: in 6 months, 60,000 chapters bought (R1/

chapter)− Kontax: in 1 month, 473 000 chapters read (estimated).

But, would the number be so high if users had to pay for chapters?

But isn't txtspk bad for literacy? Various schools of thought on this (Vosloo, 2009)

"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" (Plester, 2009)

But, [while skills in mobile networking can be a valuable coping strategy,] “experience in chatting is unlikely to help teens produce written academic genres, or to qualify them for middle class jobs and careers” (Walton, 2010)

Vosloo, S. E. (2009). The effects of texting on literacy: Modern scourge or opportunity? Available at: http://vosloo.net/wp-content/uploads/pubs/texting_and_literacy_apr09_sv.pdf.

Plester, B. (2009). Texting 'improves language skill'. Available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7910075.stm.

8. Recommendations

Recommendations Allow more user interaction without having to register Experiment with more interactive storytelling formats,

e.g. Choose your own adventure Allow teens to write more of their own work Continue to grow Kontax as a successful m-novel to

raise awareness of m-publishing as well as use it to experiment with the medium (only 4 m-novels available in South Africa)

Publish public domain titles Incorporate into curriculum

Recommendations Publish more story genres and in more languages (Walton,

2010)

Explore alternative interfaces to allow multilingual expression, communication, and communities to develop (Walton, 2010)

Allowing teens to self-publish (Deumert, 2010; Walton, 2010)

Explore formats for sideloading of stories (Walton, 2010)

Understand who is excluded from mobile internet (Walton, 2010)

www.shuttleworthfoundation.org

More informationResearch reports available at m4lit.wordpress.comEmail steve.vosloo@shuttleworthfoundation.org