One year on: A longitudinal case study of computer and mobile phone use among rural South African youth

Page created by Carl Klein

IT & Technique

English

Like
Share
Embed
Fullscreen
Slides
Download HTML
Download PDF
Abuse

←

→

Page content transcription

If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below

One year on: A longitudinal case study of computer and
mobile phone use among rural South African youth
Lorenzo Dalvit
School of Journalism and Media Studies, Rhodes University
South Africa

Fortunate Gunzo
Education Department, Rhodes University
South Africa

Abstract
This paper analyzes computer and mobile phone use by a sample of 735
students of all ages in 10 rural schools in the Dwesa community in the Eastern
Cape Province of South Africa. The area, representative of many marginalised
rural African realities, is the site of a well-documented ICT-for-development
project called the Siyakhula Living Lab. Networked computer labs are present in
some of the schools considered in the sample but no intervention concerning
mobile phones has taken place. Teachers administered the same questionnaire
orally to their classes in 2011 and 2012 and students responded by show of
hands. This proved a simple, effective and context-sensitive way of collecting
data from respondents who are not familiar with written questionnaires. We
were able to compare the findings from the two studies and this yielded some
interesting results. The numbers of those who reported having used a computer
doubled from 32 to 64%. School access to computers increased from 32 to 52%
while an additional 14% started accessing computers in public spaces such as
an Internet cafe. Mobile phones, being personal and portable, are used more
frequently than computers. The daily use of mobile phones increased from 59 to
71% and weekly use increased from 3 to 17%.

Keywords
Mobile-for-development, ICT-for-development, mobile phones in rural Africa

_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Steyn, J., Van Greunen, D. (Eds). (2014). ICTs for inclusive communities in developing societies. Proceedings of the 8th
International Development Informatics Association Conference, held in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
ISBN: 978-0-620-63498-4 Pages 164-173
164

1 Introduction
The impressive rate of adoption of new technologies (particularly mobile phones) on the
African continent (Karanja, 2014; Jidenma, 2013) is supported by an extensive body of
quantitative research (ITU, 2013; Rao, 2011; Kruetzer, 2009; Feldmann, 2003). Such
quantitative measures have been critiqued in terms of their validity and reliability. Most
studies are either, too general; piecemeal or sketchy to allow for a comprehensive
understanding of the dynamics of adoption in actual African communities. In this paper, we
present the findings of a longitudinal survey of computer and mobile phone access and
use among young members of a rural community in South Africa. A longitudinal study
enabled us to capture a dynamic aspect of ICT penetration in rural Africa, which is often
overlooked. It also uncovered important dimensions of the relationship between computer
and mobile phone access and use. The work presented here builds on previous research
(Gunzo and Dalvit, 2012) and is part of an ongoing effort to understand ICT adoption and
use among rural youth in South Africa.

A questionnaire was administered at a one-year interval under the same conditions,
yielding interesting results. This study makes use of three methodological aspects that
strengthen the validity and reliability of this research and this contributes some useful
insights to the current debate around ICT-for-development in general. First of all, the site of
this study has been researched extensively from different disciplinary and paradigmatic
angles, enabling for correlation and triangulation of data. Secondly, data was collected
using the same instrument under the same conditions, thus supporting meaningful
comparison over time. Thirdly, the methodology used is relatively simple but responsive to
the challenges of conducting quantitative research in a rural African context.

2 Access
2.1 Access and participation in South Africa
The concept of access to ICT is a controversial and hotly debated one. On the one hand,
optimistic positions such as the one expressed by Shirky (2010) emphasise the potential
for collaborative sharing and application of “cognitive surplus” to solving social and
economic problems. On the other hand, pessimists such as Morozow (2011) note that the
extensive penetration of ICT can have equally negative consequences, such as enabling
repressive governments to track political activists. As noted by (Do, Bloom & Gatica-Perez,
2011) the attention seems to be shifting from the cyber optimism/ pessimism debate to a
contextual analysis of ICT adoption. A holistic approach, transcending disciplinary
boundaries and cutting across political communication, economic development and
cultural practices, seems a profitable lens to explore and understand the adoption of the
new technologies. This approach seems suitable to contexts, such as the rural African
one, of which relatively little is known.

The proposition of universal Internet access is largely premised on the optimistic
assumption equating connectivity with development. The South African Government, like
other governments on the continent, has undertaken efforts to promote universal access.
As noted by Goldstuck (2012:24) a number of key points such as ‘the creation of an
environment that allows for infrastructure development and completion, a policy framework

that allows for lowering of costs and the promotion of digital literacy and innovation’ still
need to be addressed. In a developmental context, promotion of access to the Internet
competes with other priorities such as the provision of basic services like water or
electricity. As noted by Flor (2001), however, connectivity is particularly important for those
who are already marginalised in so many other ways, as it gives access to information and
services which cannot be reached through traditional channels.

Access to an Internet-enabled device and network coverage does not necessarily mean
that people are connected. Goldstuck (2010) makes a distinction between access and
participation. He notes that it takes approximately five years from the time when a person
gets physical access to the Internet to the time when that person starts actively
participating online. This means that, even if Government's objective of universal network
coverage were achieved in 2015, it would take at least until 2020 before all South Africans
are in the condition of actually engaging with the Internet. According to the most optimistic
forecast by the end of 2014, 80% of the phones in South Africa will be smart phones
(Jones, 2010). Furthermore, a large percentage (60%) of those who own an Internet-
enabled phone in a South African urban area do not know about the internet or have never
used it (Goldstuck, 2010a).

In this paper we limit ourselves to exploring access and use of the computer and cell
phone. Researching participation requires in-depth investigation and a more sophisticated
methodology which fall outside the scope of the work presented here.

2.2 Computers and mobile phones
Computers and mobile phones are very different technologies. This has implications for
their use in any context, not just a developmental one like South Africa. In this paper we
advocate for the use of cell phones as they become more accessible than computers in
rural areas where this study was undertaken. The uptake of the mobile phone has been
attributed in part to the ‘characteristics’ of the mobile phone which make it a natural choice
with the youth. Ahonen (2008) identifies these five characteristics of mobile phones which
distinguish them from any previous media. First of all, they are personal devices. In the
developing World, commercial as well as non-commercial, sharing of technology is a
common phenomenon (James, 2011; Aker & Mbiti, 2010). With reference to South Africa,
Donner (2008) notes how sharing of ICT among family and friends contributes to reducing
the digital divide. However, one of the recommendations made by Goldstuck (2010) to the
South African government is to focus on providing access to individuals and not simply to
communities.

Secondly, being portable, mobile phones can be accessed anywhere. Desktop computers,
on the other hand, are usually accessed in one particular location (e.g. at home, in school
or in a library, at an Internet cafe etc. In a context where access is already limited by other
factors, having points of presence which are situated in one specific location might further
restrict access and use. Debates on whether or not mobile devices including mobile
phones can be used alongside computers, at the same time and in the same place,
rather than “cannibalising” (i.e. replacing) them are ongoing (infoDev, 2012, Bramforth,
2011).

Thirdly, mobile phones are permanently on. This is particularly important for rural African
communities which still face unstable constant electricity supply to power the computer.
Combined with the previous characteristic of portability, this means mobile phones can be
accessed more frequently than computers which need to be switched on and off every
time. Keeping the computer on permanently has serious cost implications and on the
computers longevity (Brandt, 2006).

Fourthly, mobile phones support creativity, particularly through multimedia features such
as the camera. The possibility of not just reproducing, but also creating photos, audio and
video is a quintessential characteristic of mobile phones which sets them apart from
computers. Although other types of activities such as communication (voice and sms) and
networking (email, web browsing, instant messaging and social networking) are often fore-
grounded, multimedia activities are particularly significant as more and more capable
phones become available to people in rural Africa. With reference to networked activities, it
is important to note that, as pointed out by Donner (2008), the mobile Internet, being often
pre-paid, slow and expensive, is very different from the desktop-based one on which most
literature is based.

The fifth characteristic, i.e. the built-in payment method is less relevant for the present
study. A paper on this specific topic, focusing on the same area and targeting an
overlapping sample was recently presented at an international conference (see Gunzo and
Dalvit, 2012).

3 Methodology
3.1 Research participants and site
This paper analyzes computer and mobile phone use by a sample of 735 students of all
ages in 10 rural schools in the Dwesa community on the wild coast of the Eastern Cape
Province of South Africa. The area, representative of many remote and marginalised rural
African realities, is the site of a well-documented ICT for development project called the
Siyakhula Living Lab. As a result mainly of this project, networked computer labs are
present in some of the schools considered in the sample but no intervention concerning
mobile phones has taken place in the area. There are very few private computers in the
area owned mostly by teachers. For most people ICT can be accessed publicly through a
computer and privately through a mobile phone.

In this study we reduced the sample we worked with when compared to the study in 2011.
In 2011 the sample had 1922 students, 1076 from township schools and 846 from rural
schools. Only schools based in the rural areas were used in the 2012 study and the
township schools were left out (Gunzo and Dalvit, 2012). The decision to leave out the
township schools was twofold; firstly we wanted to move our focus more to rural areas,
where the adoption and use of cell phones is on the increase in South Africa. Secondly,
the decision was for convenience purposes as there was continued contact and interaction
with the teachers we had worked with in 2011 through the Siyakhula Living Lab (SLL)
mentioned earlier. This meant that access to the teachers and their schools was easier in
the rural schools than in township schools. Conducting research in the Dwesa area was
also interesting in that between the first and second studies, the SLL had expanded their

project which provided computers and the Internet from 5 to 17 schools. We were
interested to see if this would be reflected in any way in the findings in which we compared
computer and cell phone use.

3.2 Data collection
22 teachers administered an oral questionnaire to their classes and students responded by
show of hands. This proved a simple, effective and context-sensitive way of collecting data
from respondents who are not familiar with written questionnaires. The same questionnaire
was administered by the same teachers in an earlier study in 2011. The data was collected
with the same learners who had participated in the 2011 study – a total of 735. A short
activity based questionnaire with 12 closed ended questions was the only data collection
tool used. None of the authors were present when this data was collected. Based on the
teachers reports after the first data collection drive in 2011, we were more confident to let
the teachers collect data on our behalf. The teachers said that they found the data
collection exercise was “quick”, “easy” and even a “fun” activity for them to do with their
learners. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics.

4 Findings
In this section we present and discuss our findings in terms of levels of experience and
access to computers and mobile phones as well as frequency of use and activities
performed. As the case has been researched extensively, further details on the baseline
study and on the Siyakhula Living Lab can be found in (Dalvit, Gumbo and Terzoli, 2013).

4.1 Experience
Mobiles were by far the ICT most students were familiar with. During the period of one
year, the percentage of students who had some experience of using a mobile phone
remained stable around 85%. The percentage of those who reported having used a
computer doubled from 30 to 60%. The increase in computer experience can be attributed
to the expansion of the SLL from 5 to 17 more schools in the area and to extensive
computer literacy training conducted by the team (Dalvit, Gumbo, Terzoli; 2013). While the
figure for schools where students were already exposed to computers in 2011 was 10%,
for schools where computers were introduced during the year in question the figure
jumped from 10 to 43%.One should also note that the figures of those claiming NEVER to
have used a computer remained surprisingly stable. Those who chose the “not applicable”
option increased in schools which already had computers and decreased in those which
received them. This might indicate a “grey area” of experience, perhaps watching
somebody else using a computer, which becomes actual experience once computers
become available. This is an interesting hypothesis consistent with the traditional African
practice of learning by watching and with reported use of ICT in schools. No such anomaly
was noted for mobile phones, supporting the hypothesis that experience about computers
is acquired “indirectly” through group work in school while experience of mobile phones is
acquired hands on.

4.2 Access
Approximately 70% of participants had regular access to a mobile phone and a slightly
lower percentage (60 – 65%) owned one. Approximately 30% reported having access to
someone else's phone, indicating that a considerable portion of the students had access

both to their own and someone else's phone. In 2012, school access to computers had
increased from 32 to 53%. Home access remained stable at 6%. Access at Internet cafe's
increased from zero to 14% and an additional 2% started using computers in public
libraries, suggesting an independent initiative to access ICT outside school. It should be
noted, however, that none of these were students of the schools which already had
computers. Whenever possible, students seem to prefer accessing computers in their
school. It must also be borne in mind that the schools which received computers in 2012
included a high school and students were possibly already accessing computers in public
places in town.

4.3 Frequency
Mobile phones, being personal and portable, are used more frequently. The daily use of
mobile phones increased from 50 to 70% and weekly use increased from 5 to 14%. While
daily access remained stable at 80% in schools which had computers before, it increased
from 43 to 70% in schools that had just received computers. This might suggest that the
arrival of (networked) computers actually increased the daily use of mobile phones.
Exploring the correlation between the two would need further and more in-depth research.
Daily use of computers increased from 14 to 53% in those schools which already had
computers but remained close to zero in those which had just acquired them. Weekly use
decreased from 73 to 15% in the former group, indicting a switch to a more frequent
usage, and jumped to 45% for the latter group. The percentage of those who never used
computers decreased from 22% of the sample to close to zero percent. These data can be
explained by ICT training drives in schools which already had computers. They also
suggest a progressive shift from weekly to daily use.

4.4 Activities
Playing games was one of the most popular activities on both phones and computers. The
figures increased from 60 to 85% on mobile phones and from 30 to 45% on computers.
Gaming on mobile phones remained consistently high in schools which already had
computers and increased from 47 to 80% in schools which received them. Gaming on
computers, on the other hand, decreased among students in schools which already had
computers (from 73 to 53%) but increased among students in schools which received
them. These data suggest that exposure to computers increased gaming on both
computers and mobile phones. The anomalous decrease in gaming among students in
schools which had computers before could be explained by the common practice of using
games as a first step to introduce students to computers. Once they became familiar with
keyboard and mouse, access to computers was restricted to educational use.

Mobile phones are the quintessential multimedia devices. A previous study noted how
multimedia activities increased as a cluster, possibly as a function of the type of phone
students have access to. The fact that 20% changed phone during the year in question
might contribute to explaining the doubled figures for taking/viewing pictures and listening
to music on a mobile phone which became as popular as SMS. Taking and watching
videos, and activity requiring more skills and better phones, remained more stable. The
only comparable activity on a computer, i.e. listening to music, decreased from 15% to
almost zero for students in both categories of school. In the period under consideration,
listening to the radio on a mobile phone became more popular than sending and receiving

SMS. This could be linked to the increase in the number of smart phones that the students
had. These would also give access to “cheaper” instant messaging options such as
whatsapp and BBM. Typing remained stable at 70% in schools which had computers but
increased from 10 to 87% in those schools which received computers. The other school
related activity, searching for information, matched this pattern. Approximately 55% of the
students in schools which already had computers continued to surf the web while the
figure went from zero to 10% in schools which received computers (but not necessarily a
reliable Internet connection).

The percentage of students claiming to use the Internet on their phone increased from 10
to 35%. Interestingly, the increase was greater in schools which had computers before and
only marginal in schools which received them. If we consider only schools with a
connected computer lab, Internet search on a computer remained stable at around 45%,
while search on a mobile phone increased from 8 to 15%. A concern for the cost of
networked activities is shown in relation to instant messaging, a much cheaper alternative
to SMS. Instant messaging on mobile phones reported the most impressive increase, from
approximately 15% to more than 50% in one year. The increase was equally spectacular in
schools which had computers before and in those which acquired them. Email use
increased three fold on both mobile phones and computers, remaining twice as common
on the former which reached 26% popularity.

The percentage of those using email on computers dropped from 14% to zero in schools
which had computers, while the figures for mobile phones increased from zero to 6%.
Email on mobile phones remained stable at 7% in schools which received computers.
These data might suggest a tendency to start using email on computers if available, but
switching to mobile phones as soon as possible.

5 Discussion
Similar to literature (Kreutzer, 2009) we found in this study that mobile phones are the
most common ICT device in the area but computers are becoming increasingly popular
thanks to public access points situated at schools – in the Siyakhula Living Lab project.
Access and frequency of use tend to increase significantly for both types of device over
the short period under consideration. ICT training activities and the relatively high turnover
of mobile phones among the participants may contribute to increased use and a wider
range of activities. We found that there was a marked difference in the data between
students at schools that already had computers from the first study, and those that had just
received computers. The comparison suggests a correlation between the use of mobile
phones and computers. The number of students performing activities such as using email
and multimedia on a mobile phone increased after computers arrived at their school.
Email, a comparatively marginal activity, appeared to move to mobile phones while
Internet browsing and instant messaging increased on both types of device.

The results from this rural context were consistent with other findings in rural areas that
have shown that the concept of mobile sharing is prevalent in these marginalised contexts.
In terms of computer access, we found that it was particularly dramatic in schools which
received computers during the year, where access was reported to have increased ten-fold
reaching 90%. The findings on the frequencies of students’ use of networked activities

such as Internet browsing and email on the mobile phone - confirms Donner's (2008)
claim that the mobile Internet is very different from the desktop experience. We found that
the increased use of the internet on the mobile phone suggests an interesting hypothesis:
shared internet access through a computer leads to increased Internet use on a phone.
Findings on activities done on the mobile phone seems to indicate that, as phones with
multimedia capabilities become available, they replace computers as multimedia devices.

The difference between schools which already had computers and those which received
them recently supports Goldstuck's (2010) claim that it takes a certain amount of time for
people to move from physical access (e.g. in the school's computer lab) to full participation
(in one's own time on a mobile phone). We must also remember, as stated by Donner
(2008), that these are two very different Internets with different costs, a factor which is
particularly important for low-income youth in rural Africa. Students' behaviour consistently
points towards a concern for the expenses associated with the use of data, e.g. by using
instant messaging instead of SMS.

6 Conclusions
In this study we presented a longitudinal study on computer and mobile phone use in a
rural area. The study was conducted in 2012 and results were compared to a study that
was conducted in 2011. We described the methodological considerations we made to
ensure the validity and reliability of our study. The same teachers administered the same
short questionnaire to the same students who responded by show of hands. The most
interesting finding from our study was the fast rate at which access to both mobile phones
and computers increased, coupled with extensive use of multimedia features. It is also
worth noting how frequency and range of activities grew organically across both computers
and mobile phones for all students as a function of access. Exploring the correlation
between networked computers and the daily use of mobile phones would be an interesting
area for further and more in-depth research.

7 References
Ahonen, T. (2008). Mobile as 7th of the mass media: Cellphone, cameraphone, iPhone,
smartphone. London:Futuretext.

Aker, J.; and Mbiti, I. (2010). "Mobile Phones and Economic Development in Africa" Jour-
nal of Economic Perspectives

Bramforth, R. (2011). Are traditional desktop tools -PC, laptop and fixed phones -under
threat from mobile substitution?. Quocirca- Business and Analysis. Available from
http://www.quocirca.com/media/articles/022011/566/QUO%20tablet%20consequences.pdf
Last accessed June 2014

Brandt, I. (2006). Models of Internet connectivity for secondary schools in the
Grahamstown district. Unpublished, Master’s thesis , Rhodes University

Dalvit, L., Gumbo, S., and Terzoli, A. (2013). “The Siyakhula Living Lab: a successful
seven year experiment in public”. Paper accepted for presentation at the 7th International

Development Informativs Association (IDIA) conference, 1 – 5 November 2013, Bangkok
(Thailand).

Do, T. M. T., Blom, J., & Gatica-Perez, D. (2011). Smartphone usage in the wild: A large-
scale analysis of applications and context. In Proceedings of the 13th International Confer-
ence on Multimodal Interaction. New York, NY: ACM

Donner, J. (2008). "Shrinking fourth world? Mobiles, development, and inclusion," in Hand-
book of mobile communication studies, 1. Katz, Ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008, pp.
29-42.

Feldmann, V. (2003), 'Mobile Overtakes Fixed: Implications for Policy and Regulation',
Geneva: International Telecommunications Union. Available from
http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/ni/mobileovertakes/Resources/Mobileovertakes_Paper.pdf Last
accessed May 2014

Flor, A., (2001)“ICT and Poverty: The Indisputable Link”. Third Asian Development Forum
on Economic Cooperation in Asia and the Pacific.

InfoDev. (2012) Mobile Usage at the Base of the Pyramid in South Africa. Available from
http://www.infodev.org/infodev-files/final_south_africa_bop_study_web.pdf Last accessed
June 2014

Goldstuck, A.. (2010). Internet Access in South Africa 2010: A Comprehensive Study of
the Internet Access Market in South Africa2010: World Wide Worx.

Goldstuck, A. (2010a). Internet access in South Africa 2010: A comprehensive study of the
internet access market in South Africa. Johannesburg, South Africa: World Wide Worx.

Goldstuck, A. (2010b). South Africa and the content revolution: From the cable connection
to the mobile future. Available from https://ujdigispace.uj.ac.za/handle/10210/3310?
show=full Last accessed May 2014

Goldstuck, A. 2012. Internet matters: The quiet engine of the South African economy. In
World Wide Worx. Pinegowrie, South Africa. Available from http://internetmatters.co.za/re-
port/ZA_Internet_Matters.pdf Last accessed June 2014

Gunzo, F & Dalvit, L (2012) “A survey of cell phone and computer access and use in
marginalised schools in South Africa”. Paper presented at the 3rd International conference
on Mobile communication for development (M4D), 28-29 February, New Delhi, India.

ITU. (2013). Study on International Internet Connectivity in Sub-Saharan Africa. Available
from http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Regulatory-Market/Documents/IIC_Africa_Final-en.pdf
Last accessed May 2014

James, J. (2011). Sharing mobile phones in developing countries: Implications for the
digital divide. Technology Forecasting and Social Change. V 78 (4) pp 729-735

_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Steyn, J., Van Greunen, D. (Eds). (2014). ICTs for inclusive communities in developing societies. Proceedings of the 8th
International Development Informatics Association Conference, held in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
ISBN: 978-0-620-63498-4                          Pages 164-173
                                                                                                                    172

Jidenma, N. (2013) The real mobile revolution: Africa's Smartphone future- A special to
CNN. 7 November 2013. Available on http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/07/opinion/real-
mobile-revolution-africa-smartphone/ Last accessed May 2014

Jones, N. (2010) Gartner Symposium on Innovation. Cape Town International Convention
Centre, In Jeremy Daniels ‘Smart phones to rule by 2014, predicts Gartner’ Available on
http://memeburn.com/2010/09/smartphones-to-rule-by-2014-predicts-gartner/ Last ac-
cessed June 2014

Karanja, B. (2014) Africa’s communication revolution. The Quarterly, Inaugural edition.
Available on http://www.portland-communications.com/publications/the-quarterly-issue-
1/africas-communications-revolution/ Last accessed May 2014

Kreutzer, T. (2009) Assessing cell phone usage in a South African township school. Inter-
national journal of education and development using ICT 5(5):43-57

Kreutzer, T. (2009), 'Generation Mobile: Online and Digital Media Usage on Mobile Phones
among Low-Income Urban Youth in South Africa'. Available from
http://tinokreutzer.org/mobile/MobileOnlineMedia-SurveyResults-2008.pdf Last access
January 2013

Morozow, E. (2011): The Net Delusion: the Dark Side of Internet Freedom, New York: Pub-
lic Affairs.

Rao, M., (2011). Mobile Africa Report 2011: Mobile Monday. Available from http://www.-
mobilemoney.net/reports.MobileFrica_2011.pdf Last accessed May 2014

Shirky, C. (2010). How cognitive surplus will change the world. TED Talk. Available from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu7ZpWecIS8 Last accessed June 2014

You can also read