scholarly journals Mobile phone communication in effective human elephant–conflict management in Laikipia County, Kenya

Oryx ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maximilian D. Graham ◽  
William M. Adams ◽  
Gabriel N. Kahiro

AbstractHuman–elephant conflict is a significant problem in Africa, undermining biodiversity conservation and development efforts. Early warning of crop raiding and a coordinated response from landholders and wildlife authorities are important for effective management of this conflict. Mobile phones have spread rapidly in rural Africa and could potentially be used to improve communication and increase the effectiveness of responses to crop raids by elephants. We analyse changes in patterns of communication around human–elephant conflict incidents before and after the arrival of mobile phone technology in Laikipia County in north-central Kenya, and the performance of mobile phone communication in a trial at three sites. We show that mobile phones can improve communication and reduce human–elephant conflict where there is good mobile coverage and widespread adoption. Conservation projects have much to gain from engaging with mobile phone technology.

Author(s):  
Adriana Braga ◽  
Robert K. Logan

Recent statistics about the mobile phone market in Brazil state that for every 100 inhabitants there are 130 mobile phones. Despite the euphoria that those numbers bring to business, the social uses of mobile technology in Brazil tells a lot about Brazilian society and culture itself, and show a more complex picture than merely a marketing phenomenon. The authors examine subversive cell phone use in Brazil against the background of the cell phone use worldwide and the social implications of that cell phone use. As soon as a technology is implemented in a culture, it is possible to observe uses that were not intended by the inventors or producers of that technology. People create different strategies to take advantage of the new resource. Using social interaction theories and an ethnographic approach in the natural setting of cell phone use in Brazil, the authors observed how people use the mobile phone technology for interpersonal communication. This chapter addresses three subversive uses of mobile technology, namely, i.) strategies of mobile phone coding; ii) SIM card management; and iii) criminal uses of mobile phones.


Author(s):  
Kalogeraki Stefania ◽  
Papadaki Marina

The mobile phone has become an indispensable mean of communication in the world today, and for teenagers specifically has become de rigueur in everyday life. The eagerness of teenagers to embrace mobile devices can be associated with such devices' instrumental as well as social and expressive functions. However, these functions are intertwined with critical impacts on the interaction between teenagers and parental/peer groups. On the one hand, the mobile phone acts as a symbolic “umbilical cord” that provides a permanent channel of communication, intensifying parental surveillance. On the other hand, it creates a greater space for interaction with peers beyond parental monitoring and control. This article summarizes current research and presents an empirical example of the impact of teenagers' mobile phone communication on the dynamics of parental and peer group interactions during their socialization and emancipation from the familial sphere.


Author(s):  
Katelyn M. Guastaferro ◽  
Matthew C. Jackson ◽  
Shannon Self-Brown ◽  
Julie J. Jabaley ◽  
John R. Lutzker

Child maltreatment prevention interventions have been proven to reduce risk and rates of recidivism, although only recently have these interventions incorporated mobile phone technology in implementation. This article first presents the public health problem of child maltreatment and discusses the use of technology in the at-risk population. Prior public health research that has evaluated the effect of mobile phone technology in implementation is reviewed followed by the few child maltreatment prevention research efforts that have incorporated mobile phones. Limitations of mobile phone technology in this field and future directions are suggested.


Author(s):  
Renatus Michael Mushi

This chapter describes how the adoption and usage of technologies is influenced by a number of factors. Such factors tend to affect the perception of people to accept or reject a technology in their usage context. Mobile phone technology has gained popularity as a dependable tool in SMEs. In Tanzania, for example, it is used to accomplish activities such as marketing, communication and mobile money transactions. This chapter highlights the key factors which influence the acceptance of mobile phones as they are used by individual peoples in the SMEs. The conceptual model shows that TAM can be extended by factors such as perceived values in explaining the acceptance of mobile phone technology in Tanzanian SMEs.


Author(s):  
M. Carmen Juan ◽  
David Furió ◽  
Leila Alem ◽  
Peta Ashworth ◽  
Miguelon Giménez

This chapter presents the Augmented Reality (AR) library developed for mobile phones. The authors explain the used tools, how they have ported ARToolKit for running on the mobile phone Nokia N95 with 8 GB, and the functionalities they have added. The authors present the mobile phone game they have developed for learning how to recycle using this AR library, ARGreenet. Forty-five children with a mean(SD) age of 11.02(2.33) years played the ARGreenet as well as a ‘Team’ version of the ARGreenet. The children answered questionnaires both before and after using each game. Several aspects were examined including the level of engagement, fun and ease of use. Analysis of the results showed significant differences between the ARGreenet and the Team ARGreenet with higher means for the Team ARGreenet. A majority of children (59.1%) expressed a preference for the Team ARGreenet.


Author(s):  
Renatus Mushi ◽  
Said Jafari

Voluntariness in technology adoption and use is vital in promoting technology diffusion and use in organisations. Various technology adoption models have been proposed to explain the adoption of technologies in different settings, such as organizational and individual, as well as in the voluntary and mandatory contexts. Recently, uptake of mobile phones in achieving organisational targets has been increased in developing countries and Tanzania in particular. This is due to the notable improvements in both hardware performance and sophistications. In organisation context, not all users are willing to use technology as required. In such circumstances, they are mandated to use it in order to fulfil their working duties. This leads to poor uptake of technology and results to unclear understanding regarding to their attitudes towards using it. While some studies have discussed the impact of voluntariness in using traditional desktop computer systems and thin client computing, mobile phone technology has not received the deserved attention. Discussing voluntariness in using mobile phone technology in organisations in relation to other technologies is essential especially due to its usage in both working and private purposes. This paper describes the voluntary aspects of using mobile phones in performing activities of the firms in Tanzania and compares it with desktop and thin client technologies. Also, it proposes possible ways of handling such situation in order to improve its use. Among others, the paper has analysed mandotoriness on usage of mobile technology. Further, it highlights key areas which should be addressed in order to improve the usage of mobiletechnology in organisations and eventually cover the gap caused by such mandatory situations.


Author(s):  
Jo Dugstad Wake ◽  
Rune Baggetun

Developments in mobile phone technology, together with an increased research interest in utilizing computer games to facilitate teaching and learning, are an important catalyst for the emergence of the area of mobile, location-based computer games in schools. This article describes both the design process and an evaluation of Premierløytnant Bielke, a mobile, location-based game for teaching and learning history using mobile phones. We argue that by using the surroundings and milieu that are local to the students in a playful context, we can support the construction of meaning related to the subject of history in a way that is both engaging and worthwhile.


2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 806-824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajiv George Aricat

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the discourses on migrant acculturation and migrants’ mobile phone communication, in order to examine the inclusiveness of communication-acculturation research in the recent years. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on from 102 qualitative interviews (48 Malayali, 26 Bangla, 17 Tamil and 11 Telugu) for a larger research project that investigated the role of mobile phones in migrant acculturation in Singapore. Respondents were selected using a combination of purposive and snowball sampling methods. The respondents had been in Singapore for varying amount of time: from one month to 19 years. Findings – The analysis of the discourses on migrant acculturation and mobile phone communication revealed that labor migrants were excluded on the basis of their temporary status and apprehensions on work productivity. The mobile usage prohibitions that existed in work sites were hinged on similar discourses that stereotyped the labor migrants. The emancipatory metaphor that has been at the center of research on migrants’ mobile phone usage and acculturation needs to be replaced with a critical discourse perspective. Research limitations/implications – The data were originally collected for a research project that approached the phenomena of acculturation and mobile phone appropriation from a positivist perspective, whereas this paper analyzed the data to critically examine the discourses that supported the premise of the project itself. Due to this, the findings presented in this paper have limited scope for generalization. Originality/value – The paper critiques the research trends in migrant acculturation and mobile phone communication and suggests a possible alternative that goes beyond the “transcendental teleology” that underpins discourse and practice.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jessica Scheurich

<p>Mobile phone technology is rapidly changing our world, how we interact with one another, and our built environment. This thesis investigates how we can integrate mobile phone technology more urbanistically.  There is a tendency for designs of this kind to be a short-term artistic gesture that do not interact with their surrounding environment in either a long term or meaningful way. This thesis argues that the ability of a design to outwardly impact its environment should be considered; rather than sustaining the common belief that design installations only act as a momentary or disposable implementation. It will examine how design can reinvigorate a space and be absorbed into a city’s everyday routine, in a way that it allows it to become permanent and valuable to the streetscape and the community.  This thesis focuses on our dependency on mobile phones by exploring how these devices can overlap with the urban environment through a streetscape intervention. Choosing to test the design of a recharge station across different sites will allow the investigation of the design’s ability to be adapted into different city environments. These stations will be developed with the intention of creating social hotspots that could have a positive outward effect which impacts their urban setting and surroundings. Ultimately these installations will allow us to become digitally and physically connected with society and our city.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jessica Scheurich

<p>Mobile phone technology is rapidly changing our world, how we interact with one another, and our built environment. This thesis investigates how we can integrate mobile phone technology more urbanistically.  There is a tendency for designs of this kind to be a short-term artistic gesture that do not interact with their surrounding environment in either a long term or meaningful way. This thesis argues that the ability of a design to outwardly impact its environment should be considered; rather than sustaining the common belief that design installations only act as a momentary or disposable implementation. It will examine how design can reinvigorate a space and be absorbed into a city’s everyday routine, in a way that it allows it to become permanent and valuable to the streetscape and the community.  This thesis focuses on our dependency on mobile phones by exploring how these devices can overlap with the urban environment through a streetscape intervention. Choosing to test the design of a recharge station across different sites will allow the investigation of the design’s ability to be adapted into different city environments. These stations will be developed with the intention of creating social hotspots that could have a positive outward effect which impacts their urban setting and surroundings. Ultimately these installations will allow us to become digitally and physically connected with society and our city.</p>


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