Mobile Literacy in South Africa
Mobile Literacy in South Africa refers to a range of informal education projects and initiatives that support the development of literacy and enable digital fluency while using mobile devices, especially mobile phones. Mobile literacy is also known by the abbreviation mLiteracy. The mobile Literacy ecosystem in South Africa was mapped at the mLiteracy Network Meeting hosted by the Goethe-Institut Johannesburg in January 2015. The starting point for meeting was the UNESCO study "Reading in the Mobile Era" (2014), which takes a closer look at the implications of reading on mobile devices in developing countries . Ecosystem of mLiteracy in South Africa. The mLiteracy ecosystem in South Africa has developed organically through the work of several stakeholders who use mobile platforms to encourage access to text, stories and reading materials. Role players within this ecosystem include content providers, platforms, mobile networks, funding agencies, training facilities (including schools and libraries), authors and users. Several organisations working within or based in South Africa have links to and synergies with projects across Africa. Most of the projects use open licences, specifically Creative Commons licences. Historically, the target group of most projects has been children, teenagers and young adults. Recent  data from the South African Department for Basic Education showed that 53% of all Grade 3 children and 70% of all Grade 6 children scored less than 35% on the Annual National Assessment language test. With high mobile penetration in South Africa (some claims as high as 128%) there is potential to engage with learners and young adults at every stage of their development via mobile devices. Researchers at the University of Cape Town have conducted a number of research projects exploring mobile literacy. These include studies of digital literacy and the relationship between mobile literacies and multilingualism. Projects have  highlighted the important role of public access spaces such as libraries and cybercafes in supporting mobile literacies. This builds on research in the Centre for ICT4D at the University of Cape Town, which explores how technical innovations can support sharing media on mobile devices and which describes the nature of mobile-first digital literacy practices. Developments and challenges. Since the implementation of the first projects in the year 2009, the mLiteracy landscape in South Africa has undergone some promising developments: On the other hand, there are still a number of major challenges: