ICA_2011_DEEPTI_CHITTAMURU

Social Dynamics of Mobile Phone Use By Children In Rural India:

MILLEE

Deepti Chittamuru

ICA 2011, Boston, MA

University of Pennsylvania

Annenberg School Of Communication

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OVERVIEW

• What is My Study

• Background & Motivation (Why)

• Research Methods (How)

• The Findings (Findings)

• Implications For Design (Finally…)

HowWhy Findings Finally…

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PROBLEM STATEMENTHowWhy Findings Finally…

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LARGER Vs. QUALITATIVE

MILLEE• Design mobile phone

based learning games to teach English

• Focus on inculcating a learning component in digitized village games

• Quantification of English learning gains caused by the games

Qualitative Study

• Capture the culture of mobile phone use by children in rural India

• Focus on understanding children’s learning and play practices

• Qualitative assessment of the social dynamics of mobile phone use

HowWhy Findings Finally…

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TIMELINE

O-o-S Qualitative Study

2004 2005 2006 2007 Jan 2008

Needs asse

ssment

Exploratory study

Feasibility

study

Feasibility

study

Classroom pilot

Jan 2009

Out-of-sc

hool (O-o-S) Exploratory Study

End O-o-S Qualitative Study

Jun 2008 Mar 2009

Note: This timeline does not show all the iterations of the larger MILLEE study

HowWhy Findings Finally…

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GOAL

• Culture and politics

• Mobile phone access and use

• Learning and play practices

HowWhy Findings Finally…

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PROCESS OVERVIEW

• Three field trips over one year– Totally Six Weeks On-site

• Requested children to play the games in my presence

• Distribution of phones loaded with learning games

– Eighteen Children

• Qualitative research methods

• Remote data gathering methods

HowWhy Findings Finally…

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PARTICIPANT SELECTION

• Eighteen Children– Fifth & Sixth Grade

• Opportunity for Sharing Among Siblings

• Variety of Social Factors

– Gender & Caste– Socio-Economic

Status

HowWhy Findings Finally…

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ONSITE RESEARCH METHODS

• Participant Observation

• Unstructured Interviews

• Semi-structured Interviews

• Images and Videos

HowWhy Findings Finally…

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REMOTE RESEARCH METHODS

• Phone Interviews– Thirty minutes

every week

• Data Logs– Phone log– Game log

• Participant Generated Data

– Images & videos– Phone settings data

HowWhy Findings Finally…

FINDINGS

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ACCESS TO MOBILE PHONES

• Concerns of “over-educating” girls

• Phones taken away by brothers

• Girls taught to yield by parents

• Parental support

• Lower caste Vs Upper caste

• Infrastructural challenges

HowWhy Findings Finally…

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USE OF MOBILE PHONES

• Outdoors Vs Indoors

• Girls interrupted continually

• Emergence of power users

• Effect of socially protected spaces

• Increase in learning ability

HowWhy Findings Finally…

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SHARING OF MOBILE PHONES

• Changes in choice of playmates

• Reinforced pre-existing relationships

• Girls take turns implementing moves

• Boys fight over implementation of moves

• Sharing across genders, not spontaneous

HowWhy Findings Finally…

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IMPLICATIONS FOR DESIGN

• Facilitate power users

• Provide a socially protected space

• Support interruptability

• Work with, not against social conditions e.g. lack of sharing across genders

• Facilitate Parent-Child Engagement

HowWhy Findings Finally…

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

[1] Thanks to Prof. John F. Canny and Prof. Mathew Kam for giving me an opportunity to work on MILLEE and helping me take my first few steps in research

[2] Thanks to Prof. Nancy Van House for sharing her valuable time and wisdom as my advisor on this project

[3] Thanks to my teammates in MILLEE without whose unwavering support and hard work I could never have conducted this study

[4] Thanks to Panditji and Bittanji (his wife) for helping me at every turn of the study and inviting me into their family

HowWhy Findings Finally…