Urban Tweens Talk About Mobile Phones and Learning

• In Event: Millennium Hotel Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: Social Media and Online Communities

Abstract

Much is known about the technical penetration, device/carrier preferences, and subscription plans, of teens and tweens. However, little is known about how tweens perceive and use mobile technology, particularly for learning. This exploratory qualitative study spoke with urban tweens to understand what kinds of learning they say they their mobile devices facilitate and/or impede. From our focus group conversations, we were led to explore multiple literatures typically not in conversation with each other, and come up with findings that challenge dominant narratives and discourses regarding urban youth, technology, and mobile phones. We were also able to identify and advance new theorizations of urban youth mobile phone use for learning; specifically around the constructs of "information seeking" and “danger.”

Authors

• Michael Anthony Kuszpa

• Sousan Arafeh, Southern Connecticut State University

• Meghan Elizabeth Pogonelski, Southern Connecticut University

• Thomas Mitchell, Southern Connecticut State University