Title: Mobile literacies & South African teens: Leisure reading, writing, and MXit chatting for teens in Langa and Guguletu
Author: Marion Walton
Pages: 108 pp.
Source: m4Lit Project
Publisher: Shuttleworth Foundation

Date (published): 24/03/2010
Date (accessed): 07/04/2010
Type of information: research report
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
The Shuttleworth Foundation‟s m4Lit project commissioned an m-novel, entitled Kontax, which was written by Sam Wilson and translated into isiXhosa by Nkululeko Mabandla. Written in the teen mystery genre, Kontax was targeted at teens aged between fourteen and seventeen years and was intitially published in daily episodes in both English and isiXhosa on the mobisite www.kontax.mobi (a website designed specifically for use on mobile phones). It was later also released on local mobile social network and instant messaging platform, MXit.
The m4Lit research project investigated how South African teens responded to Kontax, and how compatible the m-novel was with teens‟ existing mobile literacy practices. The m4lLit research project focused on exploring an apparent paradox of literacy in South Africa. In most of the country‟s under-performing schools, a majority of teens are left behind academically, many experience difficulties with literacy instruction and most have limited access to books and computers. Yet, as a result of South Africa‟s mobile phone „revolution‟ and a thriving mobile youth culture, outside school teens increasingly enjoy frequent rich interactions with the written word and with digital technologies in their peer networks. The m4Lit project asked whether South African teens‟ enthusiasm about text on phones and their widespread access to mobile Internet could be used in a literacy development project which attempted to bridge the gap between in-school and out-of- school literacies, via leisure reading and writing of fiction.

Title: Mobile literacies – bridging the gap between phone and book
Author: Marion Walton
Source: marionwalton.wordpress.com 

Date (published): 24/03/2010
Date (accessed): 07/04/2010
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
The m-novel Kontax was written by Sam Wilson, translated into isiXhosa by Nkululeko Mabandla, and commissioned by the Shuttleworth Foundation’s m4lit (mobiles for literacy) project. The story’s success shows that teens have mastered a whole range of mobile literacies and the m4Lit research shows how wide-ranging these new skills are. Still, teens need better support if they are to make the most of the opportunities of ‘Web2.0’, and benefit from the new phase of social media where people do not only browse the web, but contribute to knowledge and share creative ideas with the world.

Title: Future of mobiles for change
Author: Mark Belinsky
Source: 6 to cut, 4 to sharpen

Date (published): 02/04/2010
Date (accessed): 05/04/2010
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
On Wednesday I sent out a tweet asking “What can Nokia do to support & empower people around the world.” I was at an event put on by Nokia, Abundancy Partners and Lovely Day, to discuss ICT for good. To give the event some additional structure, some of us reinterpreted the question.

Nokia is one of the worlds largest manufacturers of many items we know and hold dear: flashlights, calendars, calculators.. All in a little mobile box. They consider them essential applications. Now that Symbian has gone open source, people are even more free to develop apps, and mobile companies to use its software.

What are the new “essential apps” became a focus of mine throughout the day, as well as how can marginalized communities best gain access to more valuable aspects of phones that would require a facilitated, yet open exchange.

Title: Policies, Partnerships, and Pragmatism: Lessons from an ICT-in-Education Project in Rural Uganda
Author: Laura Hosman
Pages: 17 pp.
ISSN: 1544-7529
Source: Information Technologies & International Development; Vol 6, Issue 1 - Spring 2010, 48-64 pp.
Publisher: USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

Date (published): 10/03/2010
Date (accessed): 15/03/2010
Type of information: peer-reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
For at least the past decade, political leaders and policy makers have stressed how important it is for Africa to harness technology, leapfrog development, and take part in the global knowledge economy. In numerous initiatives aimed at realizing these goals, education is a primary target, viewed as a mechanism through which information and communication technologies (ICT) can empower societies to develop technologically literate workforces. Unfortunately, there is a considerable gap between policy rhetoric and effective project implementation. Even as ICT-in-education projects increase rapidly in number and scope across the continent, many still lack necessary pre-project assessments, enumerated goals for outcomes, or understanding of what technology can and cannot do. This article’s focus on policies, partnerships, and pragmatism is informed by a case study of a multi-partnered ICT-in-education project in rural Uganda that set pragmatic technology-use goals, a project for which governmental policy provided an important initial incentive, and which was subsequently revised to address actual student needs for acquiring technology skills. The case offers important lessons to inform both similar projects and government-led policy initiatives in the future.

Title: Information Literacy: A Neglected Core Competency
Author: Sharon A. Weiner
Source: EDUCAUSE Quarterly, EQ Volume 33 (2010) » Volume 33, Number 1, 2010
Publisher: EDUCAUSE
Date (published): 2010
Date (accessed): 08/03/2010
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
Researchers at the Information School at the University of Washington released an important and thought-provoking report in late 2009: "Lessons Learned: How College Students Seek Information in the Digital Age."1 The study confirms and expands on the results of other reports. Its particular value is the size of the population studied, the diversity of institutions represented, and the use of both a survey and follow-up interviews for data collection.

The findings are troubling.

Title: Reframing Information Literacy as a Metaliteracy
Authors: Thomas P. Mackey, Trudi E. Jacobson
Pages: 33 pp.
ISSN: 0010-0870
e-ISBN 2150-6701
Source: College & Research Libraries
Publisher: American Library Association
Date (published): 25/01/2010
Date (accessed): 27/01/2010
Type of information: research paper (preprint!)
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
Social media environments and online communities are innovative collaborative technologies that challenge traditional definitions of information literacy. Metaliteracy is an overarching and self-referential framework that integrates emerging technologies and unifies multiple literacy types. This redefinition of information literacy expands the scope of generally understood information competencies and places a particular emphasis on producing and sharing information in participatory digital environments

Title: The UNESCO Prize on ICT use in education
Author: Michael Trucano
Source: EduTech, A World Bank Blog on ICT use in Education
Publisher: # The World Bank Group
Date (published): 22/01/2010
Date (accessed): 27/01/2010
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
The UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize is perhaps the highest profile international award given to acknowledge excellence in the use of ICTs in education around the world. Created in 2005 following a donation made by the Kingdom of Bahrain, it is meant "to reward projects and activities of individuals, institutions, other entities or non-governmental organizations for excellent models, best practice, and creative use of information and communication technologies to enhance learning, teaching and overall educational performance".

Author: Alejandro Uribe Tirado
Date (accessed): 03/01/2010
Type of information: blog posts
Language: Spanish
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:

Alfabetización Informacional - ALFIN / Colombia

Alfabetización Informacional / Iberoamérica

Title: A story to illustrate the usefulness of DEMML
Author: Grant Sheridan Robertson
Source: DEMML Blog
Date (published): 23/10/2009
Date (accessed): 28/12/2009
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
The Distributable Educational Material Markup Language™ (DEMML™) will be both a free and open XML format for marking up educational material in a highly structured yet incredibly flexible manner and a system for authenticating and distributing that content throughout the world, even to areas that have no internet connection at all. Once distributed, no internet connection is required to use the material either. This material is organized and classified to a degree never before attempted, using what turns out to be a rather simple system of encoding the hierarchical tree of all possible educational material right down to the paragraph level.

Title: First Experiences with OLPC in European Classrooms
Authors: Martin Ebner, Johannes Dorfinger, Walther Neuper, Christian Safran
Pages: 9 pp.
Source: E-Learn - World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, & Higher Education ; 2009
Date (published): 03/10/2009
Date (accessed): 03/12/2009
Type of information: research paper
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
The use of laptops in educational settings is discussed by lots of e-Learning researchers for years now. Since 2002 the One Laptop Per Child project (OLPC-project) tries to bring digital devices to developing countries avoiding the increase of the digital gap. Austria has been one of the first countries in the European Union (EU) to start an OLPC-project on its own. The focus was on the use of digital devices in education at a very early stage. Accompanied by a solid research team, bringing teachers, e-learning experts as well as software developer together, a first attempt was established. This publication aims to carry out the description of the prework, the first real life setting and concludes with the experiences of the whole research group. Furthermore it summarizes a recommendation for a transfer of the project to developing countries.
Keyords: OLPC, XO, classroom, e-learning, digital literacy, digital device, children