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Mobile phones and education in sub-Saharan Africa: from youth practice to public policy

Robson, Elsbeth; Abane, Albert; Bango, Andisiwe; De Lannoy, Ariane; Gunguluza, Nwabisa; Hampshire, Kate; Mashiri, Mac; Milner, James; Munthali, Alister; Porter, Gina; Tanle, Augustine

Authors

Albert Abane

Andisiwe Bango

Ariane De Lannoy

Nwabisa Gunguluza

Kate Hampshire

Mac Mashiri

James Milner

Alister Munthali

Gina Porter

Augustine Tanle



Abstract

Young people’s use of mobile phones is expanding exponentially across Africa. Its transformative potential is exciting, but findings presented in this paper indicate how the downside of mobile phone use in African schools is becoming increasingly apparent. Drawing on mixed-methods field research in 24 sites across Ghana, Malawi and South Africa and associated discussions with educational institutions, public policy makers and network providers, we examine the current state of play and offer suggestions towards a more satisfactory alignment of practice and policy which promotes the more positive aspects of phone use in educational contexts and militates against more damaging ones.

Citation

Robson, E., Abane, A., Bango, A., De Lannoy, A., Gunguluza, N., Hampshire, K., …Tanle, A. (2016). Mobile phones and education in sub-Saharan Africa: from youth practice to public policy. Journal of international development, 28(1), 22-39. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3116

Acceptance Date May 7, 2015
Online Publication Date Jun 11, 2015
Publication Date Jan 1, 2016
Deposit Date Jul 28, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Journal of international development
Print ISSN 0954-1748
Electronic ISSN 1099-1328
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 28
Issue 1
Pages 22-39
DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3116
Keywords Mobile phones; Education; Youth; Malawi; Ghana; South Africa
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/376904
Publisher URL http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jid.3116/abstract;jsessionid=90D15304136084A7DACC2A7B5B1EC328.f01t03
Additional Information © 2015 The Authors. Journal of International Development published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Copyright Statement
© 2015 The Authors. Journal of International Development published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.





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