1. Influence of Mobile Technology on Literacy in Emerging Markets
Pam Kahl
University of Washington MCDM
Winter 2013

3. Context 4.5 billion mobile subscriptions in developing nations
Only 1 in 6 use smartphones
SMS traffic expected to hit 9.4 trillion by 2016
SMS cheaper than voice
One billion people illiterate – concentrated in Africa and South Asia
The Top 10 countries with 100m + subscribers – only three are developed countries. - US, Japan and Germany
Others – BRIC, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria
Mobile penetration expected to hit 100% by end of 2013
Growth was driven by developing countries, which accounted for more than 80% of the 660 million new mobile‐cellular subscriptions added in 2011
By end 2011, there were 105 countries with more mobile‐cellular subscriptions than inhabitants, including African countries such as Botswana, Gabon, Namibia, Seychelles and
South Africa.

4. SMS Usage Scenarios Personal communication Democratic participation
Advocacy
Health education and management
Disaster relief
Economic empowerment
Key benefits of SMS are:
Low cost
Allows for message broadcasting
Reliability
Limitations
Limited # of characters
Ease of use w/ feature phones
Lack of native language support
Requires a base level of literacy

5. Illiteracy - Contributing Factors
Lack of education opportunities
Cost
Availability
Low quality education opportunities
Native language origin
Limited native-language content
No agreement on a definition of literacy and how to measure it.
Low-literates are most likely to be from Africa, living in rural communities and female.

6. Nine studies to-date – each looks at the issue through a different lense
Education
Health
Youth
Micro-enterprise
One is a study tied to the Talking Book initiative.

7. Literature Review University of Botswana
HIV/AIDS education and information
127 participants, 16 – 77 yrs old
70% - access to mobile
Assess SMS, MMS, video and voice
Limited SMS capability
56% - send
66% - retrieve
24% - create
Majority attended primary school
21% no school
64% no secondary educati

8. Literature Review University of London
Role of ICT in lives of low-literate youth in Ethiopia and Malawi
Focus on context, content, needs
Educational divide
Communal ownership model
Gendered dynamic
Radio most widespread technology -81% in Ethiopia and 78% in Malawi
Mobile phone most popular – 20% in Ethiopia, 28% in Malawi
Mobile phones mostly used for emergency situations – only way to justify cost of airtime
Text/voice .35 vs

9. Literature Review Catholic Relief Services - Niger
Mobile influence on literacy education
Eight months of literacy training over 2 yr period
“ABC” villages had access to mobile phones
Achieved Level 1 in six weeks vs year
Greater persistency – higher scores 8 mos after end of instruction

10. Looking Ahead Complete literature review Submit for peer-review
Scope field research
Seek funding
Questions?