MobileActive.org

USAID recently hosted the International Mobiles for Education Symposium (M4Ed4Dev for short) in Washington, DC. The conference brought together academics, development professionals, tool developers, educators, and representatives from the private sector to assess the current state of mLearning and consider future developments. Given the varied backgrounds of the event’s participants, it’s understandable that a number of different, often conflicting, viewpoints were expressed. Here are a few.

Content Delivery Systems or Learner-Generated Content?

In general, the mobile tools discussed and demonstrated at the event can be divided into two distinct types: Those that deliver content and those that enable students to generate content and/or interact via mobile phone. Content delivery applications (which make up the majority) are largely designed to provide educational content chosen by educators to students who wouldn’t otherwise have access. Examples range from preloaded e-readers in Ghana to “internet a box” projects such as the eGranary.

A just-published guide from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) is all about making media mobile, specifically at newspapers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The full report is available for download here.

Billed as a guidebook, and not a one-size-fits-all rulebook, the guide aims to help Sub-Saharan African news publishers develop and implement mobile services. The report is based on a series of on-site interviews with newspapers in Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa, including The Observer and the Daily Monitor in Uganda, The Standard and the Daily Nation in Kenya, and Grocott's Mail, Mail & Guardian, Avusa Group, and News24.com in South Africa.

Though the primary audience of the guidebook is media managers, there are lessons and tips for anyone interested in the current state of and potential future for mobile print media in Sub-Saharan Africa.

We would have wished that there was a greater focus on online media as the guide is almost entirely focused on print. Given the fast growth of online media outlets in a number of African media markets, this is an unfortunate limitation. 

At the same time, the guide provides a detailed landscape of mobile telephony in Africa, including usage and infrastructure and access points (including SMS, mobile Internet and data, Sim Tool Kit, USSD, voice and interactive voice response). See explanations and examples of these access points in the Mobile Media Toolkit Glossary, here.

MobileActive.org recently launched the Mobile Media Toolkit, a resource for professional journalists and citizen reporters who want to use mobile phones to create and share news about the world around them. If you want to learn more about using your phone as a media tool, the Mobile Media Toolkit has guides, how-tos, and real-world case studies that can help you learn the best tips, tricks, and tools for mobile reporting.

One of the sections of the Mobile Media Toolkit focuses on creating content – using a mobile phone for photography, audio, and video recording. The section focuses on basic feature phones and smartphones, so the content is applicable to a large number of users.

Creating Audio:

Mobile phones, as an audio medium, are excellent tools for creating audio content. From radio broadcasts, to podcasts, to audio slideshows, anyone can use a mobile phone for audio reporting. In order to use a phone for audio reporting, users can do any of three things:

1. Use the calling function of the phone to leave an audio message on a service that records your call.
2. Record audio directly onto your phone through its microphone.
3. Use software or applications to record phone conversations.

While creating audio, it's important to have a good recording environment, which means minimal background noise and ambient sound (such as from air conditioners or fans in a room, or traffic in outdoor settings). Using an extrenal microphone (rather than the built-in mic on the phone) can help cut down on ambient noise as it picks up sound more directly. For recording phone calls, you should warn your interviewee first, as in many states and countries, it is legally required to tell someone before recording them.

Using mobile phones to record audio is simple and sharable, and should be a skill in the repetoire of any mobile journalist. The Mobile Media Toolkit has much more information on recording on audio, including how to edit audio, how to publish and share it, and case studies on how different organizations around the world are using mobile audio reports.

Creating Video:

Videos are a great way to document the world around you, and the ubiquity of mobile phones with video capabilities means that the opportunity for journalists and citizen reporters to capture great video is always growing.

Creating good videos off a mobile phone can add a dynamic boost to news reports, or present a stand-alone story. When recording video, try to some of the Mobile Media Toolkit's advice for creating videos:

1. Hold the phone in landscape mode (held horizontally rather than vertically) while recording; most online video players are designed for landscape videos, so filming in this format means you'll get the most from the scene.
2. Keep the camera stable; stability is key for smooth video. Use a tripod if you have one, if not, then steady your arms on something solid or film in a sitting or kneeling position.
3. Use an external microphone for better sound quality.
4. Check the lighting. If you're filming outside, keep the sun behind your subject; if filming inside, then make sure your subject is lit from multiple angles to avoid shadows. 
5. Film on the highest resolution you have available – if you are not directly uploading/live-streaming the video from your mobile phone, you can always compress the video later on a computer when editing if you need a smaller file size.

There are several options for editing mobile videos; some phones (like the iPhone and the Nokia N series) have built-in editing packages, and smartphone users with iPhones or Windows phones can download third party editing applications. Users can also upload the videos to a computer for richer editing options.

Taking Photos:

Much of the advice for taking pictures is similar to the advice for taking good videos:

1. Make sure you have lots of light on your subject to compensate for the small phone lens.
2. Keep your phone stable in order to reduce blur.
3. Keep the lens clean. The lens on camera phones can get dirty quickly as it is often less protected then the lens on a traditional camera. Remove dirt and debris so that your pictures aren't marred. 
4. Try not to use the zoom on the camera; photos will be in a higher resolution if you move in to take the picture or later crop the photo in photo editing software.

The Mobile Media Toolkit has links to reviews of the best camera phones, helpful videos on taking good pictures, and advice on the kinds of editing applications and software.

The section also has information for reporting from smartphones, covering everything from how smartphones can be used for live and semi-live reporting, social media applications, personal management (such as taking notes, recording calls, or scheduling interviews), and a summary of applications for a variety of handsets (Symbian, RIM, Android, iPhone, and Windows).

To learn more, check out the Mobile Media Toolkit for more information on creating, editing, and sharing content with your mobile phone.

The Mobile Minute is back with the latest mobile news. What's happening today? Nielsen Wire looks at smartphone penetration in Asia, RIM lays off 11% of its worldwide workforce, CGAP investigates how network operators can incorporate mobile financial services into their operations, [x]Cube Labs turns Android's history into an infographic, and Read Write Web looks into the latest developments in the use of near field communication technology for mobile payments.

• Curious about the smartphone market in Asia? Nielsen Wire looks at the rapid growth of smartphones in Asia. Although current smartphone penetration in the region is less than 20%, a Nielsen survey of consumers revealed that nearly half of respondents plan to buy a smartphone within the next year. Nielsen Wire investigates what the anticipated increase in smartphone ownership will mean for how people access the Internet, how network operators will price their data plans, and how mobile advertising will adjust to a new market.

• Wired reports that RIM (the makers of BlackBerry devices) announced on July 25th their plans to lay off 2000 employees, roughly 11% of its worldwide workforce. The move comes as RIM has lost market share to the growing popularity of newer operating systems like Apple's iOS and Google's Android.

• CGAP's "How to Run with Mobile Money and Not Fall" article examines how mobile network operators can incorporate mobile financial services into their current business models. Some of the advice for successfully incorporating mobile money services includes using multiple distribution methods (such as both on-phone purchases and traditional street airtime sellers) and getting support from/sharing knowledge among multiple departments.

• If you like charts and graphs, check out this history of the Android operating system. Covering everything from its founding date (2003), to the Google buyout (2005), to the launch of the first Android device (2008), to present day releases, the infographic maps out each update in Android's development.

• Near field communication (NFC) technology allows smartphone users to transmit information to nearby contacts. Read Write Web recently investigated some of the new developments in the NFC field for turning smartphones into credit cards. The first article looks at how the company Isis partnered with four major American credit card companies (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover) to develop wireless payments. The second article looks at the Jumio payment company's launch of Netswipe, which "turns any webcam into a credit card reader, both on the desktop and on mobile."

[Mobile Minute Disclaimer: The Mobile Minute is a quick round-up of interesting stories that have come across our RSS and Twitter feeds to keep you informed of the rapid pace of innovation. Read them and enjoy them, but know that we have not deeply investigated these news items. For more in-depth information about the ever-growing field of mobile tech for social change, check out our blog posts, white papers and research, how-tos, and case studies.

Image courtesy Flickr user QiFei