m4Lit

m4Lit

Project Details:

Project Name:
m4Lit

Fellow Name:
Steve Vosloo

Links:
http://m4lit.wordpress.com/

Funding:
$77,240.44

Date Initiated:
2010

The m4Lit (mobile phones for literacy) pilot project created a mobile novel (m-novel) and published it on a mobisite and on MXit in order to explore ways of supporting teen leisure reading and writing around fictional texts in South Africa (SA), using mobile media.

The story, called Kontax, was published in English and in isiXhosa. Readers were invited to interact with it as it unfolded – teens could discuss the unfolding plot, vote in polls, leave comments, and finally submit a written piece as part of a competition for story sequel ideas. The project aims to contribute to the understanding of mobile literacies, and teen reading and writing using their mobile phones.

If mobile phones are a legitimate alternative and compliment to printed literature then their potential for increasing youth literacy practices of reading and writing in SA, and indeed the developing world, is significant. The project aims to establish the extent of this potential.