Hidden in plain sight:low-literacy adults in a developed country overcoming social and educational challenges through mobile learning support tools

Illiteracy is often associated with people in developing countries. However, an estimated 50 % of adults in a developed country such as Canada lack the literacy skills required to cope with the challenges of today's society; for them, tasks such as reading, understanding, basic arithmetic, and using everyday items are a challenge. Many community-based organizations offer resources and support for these adults, yet overall functional literacy rates are not improving. This is due to a wide range of factors, such as poor retention of adult learners in literacy programs, obstacles in transferring the acquired skills from the classroom to the real life, personal attitudes toward learning, and the stigma of functional illiteracy. In our research we examined the opportunities afforded by personal mobile devices in providing learning and functional support to low-literacy adults. We present the findings of an exploratory study aimed at investigating the reception and adoption of a technological solution for adult learners. ALEX© is a mobile application designed for use both in the classroom and in daily life in order to help low-literacy adults become increasingly literate and independent. Such a solution complements literacy programs by increasing users' motivation and interest in learning, and raising their confidence levels both in their education pursuits and in facing the challenges of their daily lives. We also reflect on the challenges we faced in designing and conducting our research with two user groups (adults enrolled in literacy classes and in an essential skills program) and contrast the educational impact and attitudes toward such technology between these. Our conclusions present the lessons learned from our evaluations and the impact of the studies' specific challenges on the outcome and uptake of such mobile assistive technologies in providing practical support to low-literacy adults in conjunction with literacy and essential skills training

Mediating transitions: Local radio and the negotiations of citizenship in rural Nepal

Within the last decades, Nepal has experienced significant political, socio-economic, cultural and technological changes. Two succeeding people’s movements in 1990 and 2006 respectively broke with centuries of systemic caste-based discrimination and paved the way for the entry of independent media and new actors in civil society, backed up by newly granted civil rights and freedom of speech. In the context of such significant changes this thesis sets out to examine how notions of citizenship are negotiated by means of local radio in rural Nepal. With a focus on poor and marginalised people (PAMP), this thesis examines how PAMP engage with local radio to negotiate and articulate everyday practices of citizenship. On the basis of data obtained through a mixed methodological approach (qualitative interviews and quantitative survey) over a two-year period (2009-2010), this study reveals the intricate complexities of the transitions taking place in contemporary Nepal. In particular, the study shows how PAMP in rural Nepal are experiencing simultaneous multiple transitions (from war to peace, autocracy to democracy and from subjects to citizens) and critically presents in detail the ways and extent to which local radio is appropriated by PAMP to negotiate, articulate and shape the emerging experiences and aspirations with different notions of citizenship. By focusing on citizenship and being a citizen as a produced and negotiated notion that goes beyond the commonly used de jure framework, this study contributes with insights on how local radio has helped to shed light on local spaces of decision-making and influence, as well as the subtle and much more incremental acts that increase PAMP’s room for manoeuvre in times of political transition. Overall, the thesis provides a contextually informed empirical basis for critiquing the prevailing ‘media optimism’ that tends to predominate discourses about the relationship between media and processes of social change in post-conflict societies