Mobile phones and literacy

Let's now consider some of
the educational benefits of mobile phones.

Illiteracy is a major problem worldwide.

It's estimated that about 18% of adults

do not have adequate abilities
to read and write.

If we turn to some poorer countries,
such as Niger in West Africa,

illiteracy is a larger problem yet.

Overall, illiteracy in Niger
is estimated at about 71%

and in some rural areas
that may get as high as 90%.

These individuals are
quite simply less productive,

less able to get a manufacturing job,

and less able to do a good job
running their own small businesses.

Enter cell phones.

Cell phones, of course, have
had a big impact on the world

and they've had a big impact
on Africa in particular.

It's well known how
cell phones have enabled

the spread of information
about market prices,

but cellphones have
had another benefit.

They have increased the ability
and incentive of individuals

to become educated and literate.

Just think about what working
with the cellphone requires.

It involves texting and
it's a kind of writing,

it involves dialing numbers
which requires some numeracy,

and, also, the use of cell phones
with mobile money applications

which are common in Africa;

that too requires some basic facility
with numbers and calculation.

And now, we get to
the point and the main result.

There were two different programs
of adult education

which were tried out in Niger,

and one of those programs
was with cell phones.

A randomized control trial was
applied to two groups of individuals,

namely education with
and without cell phones.

And what was the key result?

Well, cell phones were really effective
in improving the quality of education.

The key result was that
adult writing and math test scores

were 0.19 to 0.26
standard deviations higher

when education was combined
with cell phones.

The study found that the individuals
working with cell phones

put forward more effort.

They also had stronger motivation;

that is, they could see the payoff
to becoming educated

by working better on their cell phone.

And the cell phone
gave them a better ability

to apply skills outside the classroom.

These are all the mechanisms through which
cell phone education was more effective.

The bottom line is that cell phones
have a lot of different benefits.

They're not all obvious on first glance.

And, also, there are many
ways to educate people;

not just in the classroom per se,

but also by using technology and combining
technology with classroom activity.

The source for all this information
is a very good paper listed here

and available online.

Maybe you can read it on your cell phone.