Presentation for the VII International Seminar of the UOC UNESCO Chair in e-Learning: Mobile Technologies for Learning & Development. In 2009, the m4Lit (mobile phones for literacy) project set out to explore the viability of using mobile phones to support reading and writing by teenagers in South Africa (SA). Two m-novels, part of a series called Kontax, were published on a mobisite www.kontax.mobi as well as on SA's most popular mobile instant messaging platform, MXit. In the seven months following launch the stories had been read over 34,000 times, users had submitted over 4,000 entries in writing competitions for the stories, and over 4,000 comments had been left by readers on chapters.

1. mLearning in Africa
Lessons from the m4Lit project
Steve Vosloo
Presented at Mobile Technologies for Learning and Development Summit
Barcelona, October 2010

2. www.yoza.mobi

3. A tale of two halves
1.m4Lit: The project
2.Lessons
With a sprinkling of reader comments ...

4. A good story, although very short. I'd
like to see more on MXit because it
encourages reading!
Lesleigh(F)

5. A gud st0ri alth0ugh vewi sh0rt id lyk
2 c m0re 0n mxit bk0z it enc0uragez
readin!
Lesleigh(F)

6. 1. m4Lit: The project

7. 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
 Presented here:
 Findings of pilot phase (August-December 2009)
 From Jan to Sept 2010 (Kontax to Yoza)
 Project ongoing, incubated by the Shuttleworth Foundation

8. 60,000 reads
30,000 comments
10,000 compo entries
South Africa and Kenya
Statistics are for period 29 September 2009 to 22 September 2010 (mobi, MXit,YAL)

9. Rationale for m4Lit

10. 51%
South African households that own no leisure books
(TNS Research Surveys, 2006)

11. 7%
Public schools in South Africa that have functional libraries of any kind
(Equal Education, 2009)

12. 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)
 Relatively low charges for mobile data (but
expensive voice and SMS charges)

13. Literacy and technology paradox
In school Out of school
Poor literacy Frequent interaction
performance with written word and
“Book-poor” digital technologies
Low access to “Mobile-rich”
computers
(Walton, 2010)

14. I often hear this from parents, teachers and reporters:
Teens don't read enough
Teens don't write enough
Teens love their phones

15. 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

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

17. Kontax, a teen m-novel

18. Story development workshop in Khayelitsha

22. 22

23. Kontax 1
Project pilot phase
Planning Kontax 1
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep
2009 2010

24. >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

25. Page view trend (Kontax 1)
% of page views
Chapters

26. >17,200 reads
>7,200 teens reads
MXit statistics are for period 31 October to 26 November 2009

27. It kwl an nyc nt boring. And
siyafundisa.
Thule

28. Ag!BORING. . .:-z
Thandi

29. Summary of research 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
 The isiXhosa version was popular, especially when
considering the systematic marginalisation of the
language in literacy contexts
 Lots of peer to peer learning
 “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)
(Walton, 2010; Deumert, 2010)

30. Digital lives: Peer learning
(Walton, 2010)

31. Mobile phones are a
viable distribution
platform for longer form
content and for enabling
reader participation

32. T z a vry !ntstng stry,really attrtz da
a attns f da reader.k!p t up
L!hle

33. Its overated and typical bt great as it
show iz a local production 5 out of 10
4 me
Pule

34. Kontax 2, 3, 4
Yoza
Young Africa Live (YAL)

35. Kontax 1
Project pilot phase
Planning Kontax 1
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep
2009 2010

36. m4Lit timeline
Project pilot phase
Planning Kontax 1
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep
2009 2010

37. m4Lit timeline
Project pilot phase
Kontax 2
Planning Kontax 1
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep
2009 2010

38. m4Lit timeline
Project pilot phase
Kontax 3
Kontax 2
Planning Kontax 1
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep
2009 2010

39. m4Lit timeline
Project pilot phase
Yoza
Kontax 3
Kontax 2
Planning Kontax 1
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep
2009 2010

40. m4Lit timeline
+ Shakespeare
Project pilot phase
Yoza
Kontax 3
Kontax 2
Planning Kontax 1
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep
2009 2010

43. Yoza i love your stuff your flava is hot
(Anon)

44. On Vodafone Live!, zero data
charges (totally free)
Content covers "love, sex and
relationships in the time of AIDS"
By Praekelt Foundation

45. Estimated reads of Yoza series
22 Aug - 22 Sept 2010 (n=12289)
6000
4500
3000
1500
0
Kontax 4 Confessions 1 Sisterz 1 Streetskillz 1

46. Estimated reads of Yoza series
Over roughly the same initial period (1 month)
20000
When compared with initial Kontax
launch, Yoza numbers are low
15000
10000
5000
0
Kontax 4 Confessions 1 Sisterz 1 Streetskillz 1 Kontax 1

47. Estimated reads of Yoza series
Over roughly the same initial period (1 month)
20000
But if YAL is included, then the
Yoza series have done well
15000
10000
5000
0
Kontax 4 Confessions 1 Sisterz 1 Streetskillz 1 Kontax 1
Yoza YAL

48. Competition entries of Yoza series
22 Aug - 22 Sept 2010 (n=1543)
1000
750
500
250
0
Kontax 4 Confessions 1 Sisterz 1 Streetskillz 1

49. Competition entries of Yoza series
Over roughly the same initial period (1 month)
2000
When compared with initial Kontax
launch, Yoza numbers are low
1500
1000
500
0
Kontax 4 Confessions 1 Sisterz 1 Streetskillz 1 Kontax 1

50. Competition entries of Yoza series
Over roughly the same initial period (1 month)
3000
But if YAL is included, then the
Yoza series have done well
2250
1500
750
0
Kontax 4 Confessions 1 Sisterz 1 Streetskillz 1 Kontax 1
Yoza YAL

51. Comments on Yoza series
22 Aug - 22 Sept 2010 (n=8461)
5000
3750
2500
1250
0
Kontax 4 Confessions 1 Sisterz 1 Streetskillz 1

52. Word cloud of comments and competition entries on Yoza, 22 August to 22 September 2010

53. Comparison of Yoza series
6000
4500
3000
1500
0
Reads Comments Competition entries
Kontax 4 Confessions 1 Sisterz 1 Streetskillz 1

54. Comparison of Yoza series
6000
Teen issues
Romance
4500
3000
1500
0
Reads Comments Competition entries
Kontax 4 Confessions 1 Sisterz 1 Streetskillz 1

55. What readers thought of Yoza series

56. First nd for-most id like 2 say is, A
shack is not a place we all proud of
living but its what makes us who we
are. I come from a shack. And believe
me i have good memories in that
shack. And as 4 u amanda shame on u
shame on u. Latoya my sweety pie im
proud of u, u dont need a atm u need a
dad. High five Latoya high five.:)
Brian

57. If friar's plan wrks, then romeo wil b
able 2 cum nd take juliet wit hm 2 liv
hapily 2geda at mantua bt if it fails,
sumbdy's gna b dead. Lol!
Elsie

58. I loved the book, wish it didnt have an
ending. Shakespear please bring
another one like this one. IT WAS
MWAAAH!!
Blessed 1

59. Summary of
Kontax 2, 3, 4
Yoza
Young Africa Live (YAL)

60. Summary
 For Yoza per se:
 Novelty factor is real -- number of reads not as
high as for initial Kontax launch
 Number of competition entries also lower
 But, high number of comments
 And comments are generally longer
 Older crowd
 For m-novels on Yoza and YAL
 High number of reads, comments and competition
entries

61. 2. Lessons for m4Lit

62. Lesson:
Mobile is a content monster

64. Waiting for the next chapters kills me!
Suzi*

65. Lesson:
Mobile is instant (and we didn’t
always moderate in time)

66. Y0h weneva i ryt a bludi c0ment they
dnt add it wat da f*** IZ GNG ON U R
FLIPN WOKN ON MA NERVZ ND I
TKE DA DECENSY 2 READ AL DA
CHAPTERZ SO0O B0RING:e:((z)
Cheeky

67. Lesson:
Mobile is always on

68. Times of responses
400
300
200
100
0
1:00 AM 3:00 AM 5:00 AM 7:00 AM 9:00 AM 11:00 AM 1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 11:00 PM
Solution: moderate constantly

69. Lesson:
Platform matters

70. Traffic via yoza.mobi: 1%, via MXit: 99%
Also: compare
Confessions 1
on Yoza and
on YAL
(has established
user base)
Solution: use someone else's platform if you can.

71. Lesson:
Marketing matters

72. Uptake directly linked to marketing
Tradepost message:
Heya! Kontax is a new
mystery story about
Sbu, a missing girl & a
cellphone – Visit
Tradepost > MXit Mix Tradepost messages
> Education > Kontax
now to start reading
the exciting chapters,
meet the characters &
download awesome
wallpapers. Be a part
of this story… P-)
(Walton, 2010)

73. Lesson:
It's hard to sustain interest

74. 26-Aug-2010: Tradepost message (advert)
increased unique visitors to Yoza by 6.9 times
10-Oct-2010: Tradepost message increased
unique visitors to Yoza by 1.3 times
Novelty factor?

75. Lesson:
General audience is fickle,
fans are loyal

76. Most prolific commenters on Yoza, 22 August to 22 September 2010

77. Some fans left more than 50 comments on Yoza in
a month.
Is the drop in numbers from launch to subsequent
episodes a problem? Perhaps it is just the curious
onlookers drifting off, while those really interested
come closer ... the shift from quantity to quality?

78. Lesson:
When reading becomes “snacky”,
it’s hard (but not impossible) to
make it sticky

80. Lesson:
Comments can be rich feedback
or absolute rubbish

81. Lesson:
You might end up with something
you didn’t expect

82. Not all stats are in, and the age categories have
changed slightly since the start of the project,
but ...
There is a clear increase in uptake in the 19-25
age group (we aimed for ages 11-18).
Solution? Expect the unexpected.

83. Lesson:
For us it’s not come cheap

84. Marketing: one Tradepost message = EUR3,500
Content development
Hosting
Software development, but that is once off and platform
will be open-sourced with Praekelt Foundation
(developers)
Solutions?
1. Find someone with money, e.g. Nike, and get them to
pay for it.
2. Formalise in the education system.
3. You can do it for free, e.g. Wordpress with mobile
plugin ... but don’t expect big numbers.

85. Lesson?
Are we mainly reaching people
who already read?

86. Many user comments are by people who say they don’t
read much.
Majority of competition winners say they love to read.
Based on the feedback we are reaching both.

87. So ... mlearning in Africa

88. “book poor”
“mobile phone rich”
e-reader of Africa
HUGE potential as m4Lit
has demonstrated

89. The stories r interesting nd fun 2
read, they kip ma englsh gng
Hlengiwe gulube

90. Kontax: Coverage and awards

91. Future

92. Not just literacy but social messaging content
Keep experimenting in this space
Experiment with more interactive storytelling
formats, e.g. Choose your own adventure
Allowing teens to self-publish
Move into formal education?

93. Key sources
Two research reports produced for the pilot phase:
Klk cc ... Supporting Indigenous Literacies in the Digital Space
By Ana Deumert, March 2010
Linguistics, 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 2010
Centre for Film and Media Studies, University of Cape Town
Reports available at: m4lit.wordpress.com/reports

94. m4lit.wordpress.com
steve.vosloo@shuttleworthfoundation.org

95. Questions
1.Effects of texting on non-English mother-tongue speakers?
2.To what extent will teens allow “us” to occupy “their” space?
3.Who is excluded from the mobile internet? (Walton, 2010)
4.When reading becomes snacky, what does it do to
concentration abilities?
5.“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). What do we do with
this?

96. 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)