Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
The mobile phone is an example of a mobile
technology that is, as described by Naismith,
Lonsdale, Vavoula, & Sharples, (2004) 'portable,
movable, and personal'. In addition, as the mobile
phone is networked it also allows information
sharing and communication. Because the mobile
phone has so many attributes it can theoretically
offer the user a chance to work, play or connect in
different places, to work, play or connect whilst
on the move, and, while doing both these things,
the mobile phone allows the user to change his or
her behaviour as a result of the features embedded
in the technology.
The features embedded in most mobile phones
are many and varied and it is not uncommon for
users to only interact with a subset of these fea-
tures. By looking at the use and usage of mobile
phones, and focusing down to consider use and
usage with children, this paper will make the
argument that, contrary to popular belief, the
features and functionalities of the mobile phone,
although well used by adults and older teens, are
not as suited to purpose for use with children as
has hitherto been assumed.
This argument is built as follows: in this in-
troductory section of the paper, data from several
reports of usage of mobile technologies and mo-
bile phones with children is presented, and then
research studies that have looked at children's use
of these technologies are examined. The case is
then made that the mobile phone is in need of a
design makeover for it to be useful to children and
young teenagers. Using evidence from a small
focus group with children, mobile phone use in
the UK, in 2008, is summarized. Taking a user
centered approach to this design problem, I then
propose several key features for mobile phones
for children.
than three times the number of personal computers
in the world at that same time (Prensky, 2004).
Four years on, even conservative reports would
expect there to be over 2 billion mobile phones
worldwide and it is interesting to note that, in
discussions of how to breach the digital divide,
the mobile phone is lauded as the single most
influential piece of technology (Kamssu, 2005).
Whilst the first mobile phones were used
only by adults—the car phone was the leader
in this domain—as time has moved along, the
age of first use of mobile phone technology has
dropped. Thus, whilst older teenagers have long
been considered primary users of mobile phone
technologies, more and more studies report sig-
nificant uptake of mobile phone technology in
younger teens and children.
Children are significant users of mobile tech-
nology in all forms. They are primary consumers
of mobile games consoles, mobile media players
and mobile phones. In the Western world it is
common for children as young as six and seven to
own at least one mobile device with most children
in the age group 11 to 13 having at least two, and
invariably three mobile devices, most usually a
mobile phone, a handheld games console and a
media player.
The general age at which children acquire mo-
bile technology is falling. Previously the age that
most children got their first mobile phone in the
UK was 13/14, now it is understood to be 10/11.
The games console market has recently adjusted
for younger children with the Nintendo DS being
very popular with children aged 5, 6 and 7, and
mobile media players, once the technology of
adults, are now common childhood accessories
with around 40% of children aged 12 and 13
having personal ownership of an iPod or similar
device (Hart, 2007, National Opinion Poll, 2001).
Statistics on mobile phone use by children and
teenagers vary and inevitably these statistics lose
their currency very rapidly. Many studies only
focus on older teenagers but some include older
and younger teens; others can be reliably compared
THE UPTAKE OF MOBILE PHONES
In 2004, Prensky suggested there were more than
1.5 billion phones in the word, a figure that is more
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