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Mobile technology can advance literacy and learning in underserved communities around the world, according to a new report published today by the United Nations education agency on the occasion of World Book and Copyright Day.
The report, Reading in the Mobile Era, highlights that hundreds of thousands of people currently use mobile technology as a portal to text. Findings show that in countries where illiteracy rates are high and physical text is scarce, large numbers of people read full-length books and stories on rudimentary small screen devices.
The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) says that 774 million people worldwide, including 123 million youth, cannot read or write, and illiteracy can often be traced to the lack of books. Most people in Sub-Saharan Africa do not own a single book, and schools in this region rarely provide textbooks to learners.
Yet the report – the first ever study of mobile readers in developing countries – cites data showing that where books are scarce, mobile technology is increasingly common, even in areas of extreme poverty.
UNESCO’s study of mobile reading was conducted in seven developing countries – Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Uganda and Zimbabwe and concluded that large numbers of people read stories to children from mobile phones.
Also, females read far more on mobile devices than males, both men and women read more cumulatively when they start reading on a mobile device; and many neo- and semi-literate people use their mobile phones to search for text that is appropriate to their reading ability.
The report recommends improving the diversity of mobile reading content to appeal to specific target groups such as parents and teachers; initiating outreach and trainings to help people transform mobile phones into portals to reading material; and lowering costs and technology barriers to mobile reading.
On the occasion of World Book and Copyright Day, observed annually on 23 April, UNESCO invites all women and men to rally around books and all those who write and produce books. UNESCO stands up for creativity, diversity and equal access to knowledge
For more information: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=47629#.U1kak_ldVqM
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