Texting with Hand-phones

Texting by mobiles has become so popular nowadays. I remember at a New Years Eve celebration in London in 2004, sitting in the corner one- handed texting people. I got some very strange looks and comments. At the time, people in the UK were calling on hand-phones because they were being given monthly deals, and texting was thought 'pointless'and not fully appreciated. This I think is an unusual example of a technology use that actually grew first in developing countries rather than developed. Apart from economic advantages, the text is an ubiquitous form of asynchronous communication which does not require an immediate response However,the closer the friend the more immediate response and the greater the frequency of texting. It's mostly used for people who have met f2f previously. (ref.1)It is also useful for Romance and flirting with people you don't know well as this form of communication does make you feel braver. Research has found that removing the aural, visual and vocal signals increases bravery and makes it easier to lie.(ref 2) The other interesting thing about its widespread use is the way it has affected language itself, specifically vocabulary and grammar or shall I say lack of grammar. This has come about probably by a need to reduce costs and increase speed of the message. Because of its use mainly in more existing relationships a lot of its purpose is to tell the receiver what you are doing (like Twitter or Facebook) the state of your feelings, and arranging social meetings, especially in the short term. It is also a handy device for killing time while you are waiting for something else to happen providing you're paying attention.. I have lost so many hand phones to thieves!! Personally, I'm getting a bit bored with it , maybe cos I was an early adopter :) I would much rather speak on the phone to a close friend...

1. Baron and Ling (2007), Emerging Patterns of American Mobile Phone Use.
2. Castells M, (2007), The mobile Communication society, University of Southern California.

Map of the World

View Larger Map

sharing information

Now this is a good idea. Getting students to share together and set up study groups. But, is it necessary to use money and points in the UK to do so? Maybe it is in individualistic cultures. Maybe it wouldn't be necessary in Asia or the Middle East where people might just want to help each other. Who knows??? The site aims at University students, summaries are submitted from papers. I had look at one from a student at our uni and it was 'summarised' word for word from the original academic paper. Would we really chose to study by avoiding the actual reading, and explanation that goes with it? Some of us would...not me you understand, definitely not...

Context and familiarity in language learning games

It is really important nowadays that people have a knowledge of one of the world languages such as English, Spanish or Mandarin. This project explores language learning games for low income, disadvantaged children in India.They found that the poorest people have a desire to improve in one of these languages to stand any chance of getting out of their situation. Computer games were found to be ineffective for learning because of problems with usability (computer literacy) and poor interface design. Children were getting distracted and just guessing answers, not learning very much because the contexts of the games were too unfamiliar for them, particularly with the western design bias. The team realised how important cultural familiarity was for the successful playing of the game, and the use of culturally appropriate words and images.This localization of content in turn would more likely lead to learners adopting the language more.

The expense of computer game development combined with usability problems are big disadvantages compared to hand phone usage with easier controls basic enough to learn quickly. Also, phones are cheaper and much more readily available for disadvantaged groups. To ensure games are situated in familiar settings games should be designed by first establishing what type of context learners are used to as well as the social norms. This involved interviewing people in the local area finding out about their daily activities, and the type of words commonly used.

Games were designed using bow and arrows ( commonly used in regional stories) and trains, which are an established everyday transport form. Key people were given local clothes and objects were displayed in cultural colours. Pattern Activity Curriculum Exercise (PACE) refers to a pattern of steps current language learning software (eg Rosetta Stone) or text books use to develop a language point. This pattern can be used as a skeletal representation on which to base a game on. This in effect scaffolds game designers, who lack the backgrounds to implement language learning tasks in software. This same pattern could then be used for various levels of difficulty by substituting different language from the syllabi. However, if a pattern is followed on its own it does not make a very fun game. So, the games themselves are developed based on heuristics (guidelines) on designing enjoyable user interfaces. Malone(1998) demonstrated that in order for games to be playable and engaging, the story experience should relate to real life even though the setting is fantasy. He also found that players were more engaged if the people in the game were like themselves.

I think the use of cultural relevance would help promote learning in languages especially for these low level/beginners groups. It must be important to keep the flow of a game going for it to succeed at being fun and hence,for people to learn language from it. Mainstream games with just in time advice/coaching would not really work-who wants to be interrupted with an explanation of a word or a pronunciation guidance because then the whole point of using a game becomes a bit redundant. I think localized design could be the way forward for phone games,which are cheaper to develop than computer games.


http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~divya/CHI2007_pace.pdf
http://www.behavioristics.com/downloads/usingheuristics.pdf

The usage of SNS

The following information on social networking sites is based on what I read in the Media Literacy Report.http://www.ofcom.org.uk/advice/media_literacy/medlitpub/medlitpubrss/socialnetworking/report.pdf
Social networking sites such as Facebook (adults) and Bebo (kids)are currently the most popular in the UK and US. The main Issues surrounding their use include bullying, providing fake information, stalking, and the future risk from disclosure of private information. However, instant messaging is seen as a much greater risk than SNS from sexual predation, and becoming just as popular.

Problems arise because of a lack of rules,social conventions and obvious boundaries compared to the real world. 60% of users leave their privacy settings open sometimes inadvertently because of a lack in internet literacy or interface design limitations. Other young people scan profile pages of strangers,which is 2nd in popularity to communicating itself. I think,it's natural for the young to compete and get as many friends as they can.


Having taken a look at discussion pages related to young peoples interests the content does not seem particularly new...and would be the sort of thing I would talk about when I was at school. There must be some more extreme content out there, which could have a significant effect on young people, who may not know how to react as an adult would.


Most older people in my age group use SNS for keeping up with friends and finding old ones. There are a significant number of young women who use them for attention seeking -People, who are maybe insecure and looking to increase their self esteem. This follows from my own experience where a pretty family member has over 1500 personal photos of herself partying in provocative dress on her facebook. I also have a few mothers-2 I haven't seen or communicated with for over 20 years, who send me pictures of themselves with their offspring.I guess hoping I will comment!!!:)

There is some potential to use SNS for social and political reform rather than just connecting for social reasons. This is something that could emerge in the future. Polls and campaigns do feature somewhat now. It is possible that discussion boards could be linked to VLEs for examining and exploring issues, and maybe even polling for consensus. I am a little sceptical about younger children and teenagers who might not like this invasion of their social space for educational reasons...