UNESCO Report: Reading in the mobile era – A study of mobile reading in developing countries
UNESCO, Nokia and Worldreader
2014 86 pages pdf: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002274/227436e.pdf
ISBN 978-92-3-100023-2

Millions of people do not read for one reason: they do not have access to text. But today mobile phones and cellular networks are transforming a scarce resource into an abundant one.
THE CURRENT STUDY
To better understand how technology can facilitate reading, UNESCO, in partnership with Nokia and Worldreader, developed a survey to learn about the habits, preferences and attitudes of mobile readers. Specifically, the survey was designed to discover who reads on mobile phones and why; if and how mobile reading changes reading habits and attitudes towards reading; what people read and want to read on their mobile phones; what the central barriers are to mobile reading; and what factors predict people’s intentions to read and keep reading on mobile phones.

The survey was completed by over 4,000 people in seven countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan and Zimbabwe) and supported by qualitative interviews with numerous respondents. The depth and breadth of data collection make this study the most comprehensive investigation of mobile reading in developing countries to date.

The findings are significant. Among other conclusions, UNESCO has learned that people read more when they read on mobile devices, that they enjoy reading more, and that people commonly read books and stories to children from mobile devices. The study shows that mobile reading represents a promising, if still underutilized, pathway to text. It is not hyperbole to suggest that if every person on the planet understood that his or her mobile phone could be transformed – easily and cheaply – into a library brimming with books, access to text would cease to be such a daunting hurdle to literacy. An estimated 6.9 billion mobile subscriptions would provide a direct pipeline to digital books (GSMA, 2014).

The current study – by breaking down who reads on mobile devices and for what reasons – is a roadmap for governments, organizations and individuals who wish to help people better leverage mobile technology for reading. Knowing, for instance, that younger people are more likely to read on a mobile device than older people is instructive, as it indicates that older people will likely require significantly more guidance as they discover how to turn a device they may already own into a gateway to text. The study also exposes governments to the idea that digital libraries and mobile reading initiatives may have more impact than traditional, paper-based interventions.

In essence, the study shines light on a new strategy to bring text to the people who need it most.

It is important to qualify that access to books does not, by any means, assure or necessarily even promote literacy. Parachuting books to people – whether through mobile phones or other
mediums – is exactly that: dropping books and leaving. Deriving meaning from text is a deeply complex act that does not happen through exposure alone. People who think that literacy can be achieved by mere proximity to reading material should be reminded that it took the most talented linguists on the planet over a thousand years to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs. The challenge wasn’t access to hieroglyphs; it was figuring out what they communicated. Humans may have a language instinct, but there is nothing natural about reading; it is a skill that needs to be taught and practiced, again and again and again. It is UNESCO’s hope that mobile reading will be integrated into broader educational systems that teach people how to use text productively – from access to comprehension, and all the stages in between.

Nevertheless, the primacy of access cannot be overstated. While it is true that books, by themselves, will not remedy the scourge of illiteracy, without them illiteracy is guaranteed.
A key conclusion from this publication is that mobile devices constitute one tool – in a repertoire of other tools – that can help people develop, sustain and enhance their literacy
skills. They can help people find good books and, gradually, cultivate a love of reading along with the myriad advantages that portends – educationally, socially and economically. This report, by explaining who reads on mobile devices and why, illuminates how mobile reading can be encouraged and spread, with a goal of making book shortages obsolete and thereby eliminating a long-time obstacle to literacy.