The mobile phone is really not a phone anymore, is it?
Gitte Stald, from the University of Copenhagen, recognizes mobile phones as telephone-computer-camera devices with enough computing power to maneuver the internet, mail, music, photos, video, games, books, diary, alarm clock, GPS, anywhere the user goes. Stald echoes writer Mizuko Ito when he calls mobile phones “personal, portable, and pedestrian” devices primarily used for direct social connectivity. Stald also discusses the indirect social "duality" of mobile phone usage that goes beyond functional contact.
What does a mobile phone mean to the individual?
In "Mobile Identity: youth, identity, and mobile communication media" Stald's research with young adults suggests mobiles mean a lot of things.
Mobile phone users:
1. Are always available.
2. Are always capable of accessing information.
3. Can work anywhere at any time.
4. Have expanded (unlimited) choice of applications, music, games, etc.
5. Coordinate daily tasks, reminders, work/study appointments, social relationships, etc. 6. Have “contact with everything” (quote from 22-yr-old Freja)
7. Experience greater mobility and flexibility
8. Show off the latest mobile gear or application for status or identity.
9. Customize mobile to express self – identity marker.
10. Fear being without it.
11. Need time away from it.
12. Seldom turn it off.
13. Send a brief text to let someone know they are thinking of them.
14. Beep to say “Hey I am here”
15. Bomb someone with endless calls to bully or harass.
16. Have codes for abbreviated words.
17. Are frequently interrupted by their own or other’s mobile.
18. Have access to television, internet, music, and games.
19. Experience stress from mobiles – with it and without it.
20. Experience a strong pull to reply even when it is socially inappropriate to do so.
21. Experience/learn mobile etiquette and protocol behaviors.
22. Like to keep in contact and experience psychological benefits.
23. Can “read between the lines” to detect meanings, moods, and emotions.
24. Control social situations by inviting or excluding contact with others.
25. Prevent unfriendly, unsafe or lonely situations.
26. Are physically present in one space and mentally present in another.
27. Share thoughts with friends.
28. Capture moments and document experiences.
29. Store memories.
30. Form personal attachments and associate greater meanings to the mobile.
… and there are many, many uses I haven’t listed.
Do you think mobile usage is increasing?
Yes. A report by the Kaiser Family Foundation says the average American youth, ages 8 to 18 spend an average of 7hours 38minutes A DAY using media for recreational activities or more than 53 hours a week. “The study found that mobile technologies such as cellphones and iPods are the main cause of the increase in time spent with digital media.” (see Michelle Davis’ "Heavy media activity linked to poor grades, Kaiser study finds") Though the study cautioned against a definitive cause-and-effect relationship between media use and poor grades, the results did show a connection between technology, education and overall healthy habits.
Do you think mobiles are more than phones?
Stald says yes: “the mobile has an immediate symbolic value to young users.” The symbolic value he refers to is the great facility mobiles provide for social development. The most popular uses of mobiles are communication, information, and entertainment. However, research has found mobile use is also closely related to self-identity and being able to mirror, reflect, and test one’s identity with others.
Conclusion: How will this affect the next generation?
Youth’s enthusiasm for technology and a genuine love affair with mobile phones means organizations need to think of ways to apply that enthusiasm to education and other worthwhile pursuits. Mobile phones are quickly becoming the powerful “all-in-one” portal to information and connectivity. Stald tells us to pay attention to the dual nature of mobile phones. Mobiles consolidate a social life, intimate experiences, relationships, and social networks all into a tiny plastic gizmo that fits in your pocket!
Kevin Woolley
References:
Stald, G. (2008). “Mobile Identity: Youth, Identity, and Mobile Communication Media." Youth, Identity, and Digital Media. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 143–164
Davis, M. (2010). Students Tap Mobile Tech. for Increased Media Use. Education Week, 29(19), 7.
Kevin, you have concisely captured Stald's conclusions in your usual witty way. In Leading 21st-Century Schools: Harnessing Technology for Engagement and Achievement (2009) by Lynne Schrum and Barbara Levin, the authors describe Generation Z, those born into the late 1990s, and will come of age in the 2010s, as born into a “ubiquitous world of technology.” They dub them Gen C, because this group is always digitally connected in communities to other creative personalities who are likewise digitally savvy and connected. The authors describe them, as well as their predecessors, the Millennials, in detail, along with the tools of how to teach them.
ReplyDeleteYou state that organizations will need to keep future generations’ needs in mind and to harness this digital intelligence for educational purposes. Schrum and Levin provide a nice extension to Stald’s chapter.
One recurring theme that constantly worries me when discussing curriculum and pedagogy is the influence of consumerism, and the power corporations wield over public education. Imagine…cell phones changing the way we teach and learn! I guess there is no reason to “imagine” – it is now reality.