Supporting NGO intermediation with internet systems : comparing mobile and web examples for reaching low income urban youth of Cape Town

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dc.contributor.advisorBlake, Edwin Hen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMeissner, Frederick Wilhelmen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-07-03T08:36:07Z
dc.date.available2015-07-03T08:36:07Z
dc.date.issued2014en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractIntermediaries are necessary to overcome challenges of Internet use for many users in the developing world. However the need for co-presence with intermediaries can be inconvenient for beneficiaries, and the process is time consuming for intermediaries. We work with an NGO programme called Link which wanted to expose high school students from low income urban communities of Cape Town to Internet career guidance content, but did not have the staff power for regular in-person meetings with all of the students they wanted to reach. We present Internet-supported intermediation, in which intermediaries create a source of content that is tailored to beneficiaries and is accessible using the most appropriate Internet technologies for the context. We discuss the use of two technologies, the web as accessed by conventional computers (preferred by the NGO), and the mobile Internet accessed through low end feature phones. In the target demographic the mobile Internet is very popular for entertainment, especially because of low cost for communication via instant messaging, but the web is more frequently used for tasks outside of entertainment. Using an Action Research approach we implement two Internet systems to support Link intermediation, one a conventional website and the other a text interface suitable for access through mobile instant messaging. We evaluate the systems to determine whether they increase the impact of Link intermediation, and compare the usage of each to determine relative adoption of the technologies for a task outside of entertainment. Students demonstrated capable but slow website use in controlled evaluations, but almost no use occurred outside of our presence. Most students were experienced mobile Internet users, and some began unsolicited use of the mobile system and demonstrated it to their peers. In eight months of simultaneous deployment website users demonstrated minimal engagement, while mobile system users made repeated visits at all hours of the day from varied locations such as homes spread across the city. Students’ most frequent use of computers took place at venues where many users competed, and they prioritised other activities over the website during that access. Mobile use could take place when these restrictions did not apply. The mobile system demonstrated the benefit of Internet support for intermediation: the number of students who viewed career guidance content through it no longer affected the Link team’s effort, while students no longer had to travel to a single meeting place to access content. The consistent higher use of the mobile system than the website shows that the mobile Internet is suitable for non-entertainment use cases by low income urban youth.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationMeissner, F. W. (2014). <i>Supporting NGO intermediation with internet systems : comparing mobile and web examples for reaching low income urban youth of Cape Town</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Computer Science. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13364en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationMeissner, Frederick Wilhelm. <i>"Supporting NGO intermediation with internet systems : comparing mobile and web examples for reaching low income urban youth of Cape Town."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Computer Science, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13364en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationMeissner, F. 2014. Supporting NGO intermediation with internet systems : comparing mobile and web examples for reaching low income urban youth of Cape Town. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Meissner, Frederick Wilhelm AB - Intermediaries are necessary to overcome challenges of Internet use for many users in the developing world. However the need for co-presence with intermediaries can be inconvenient for beneficiaries, and the process is time consuming for intermediaries. We work with an NGO programme called Link which wanted to expose high school students from low income urban communities of Cape Town to Internet career guidance content, but did not have the staff power for regular in-person meetings with all of the students they wanted to reach. We present Internet-supported intermediation, in which intermediaries create a source of content that is tailored to beneficiaries and is accessible using the most appropriate Internet technologies for the context. We discuss the use of two technologies, the web as accessed by conventional computers (preferred by the NGO), and the mobile Internet accessed through low end feature phones. In the target demographic the mobile Internet is very popular for entertainment, especially because of low cost for communication via instant messaging, but the web is more frequently used for tasks outside of entertainment. Using an Action Research approach we implement two Internet systems to support Link intermediation, one a conventional website and the other a text interface suitable for access through mobile instant messaging. We evaluate the systems to determine whether they increase the impact of Link intermediation, and compare the usage of each to determine relative adoption of the technologies for a task outside of entertainment. Students demonstrated capable but slow website use in controlled evaluations, but almost no use occurred outside of our presence. Most students were experienced mobile Internet users, and some began unsolicited use of the mobile system and demonstrated it to their peers. In eight months of simultaneous deployment website users demonstrated minimal engagement, while mobile system users made repeated visits at all hours of the day from varied locations such as homes spread across the city. Students’ most frequent use of computers took place at venues where many users competed, and they prioritised other activities over the website during that access. Mobile use could take place when these restrictions did not apply. The mobile system demonstrated the benefit of Internet support for intermediation: the number of students who viewed career guidance content through it no longer affected the Link team’s effort, while students no longer had to travel to a single meeting place to access content. The consistent higher use of the mobile system than the website shows that the mobile Internet is suitable for non-entertainment use cases by low income urban youth. DA - 2014 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2014 T1 - Supporting NGO intermediation with internet systems : comparing mobile and web examples for reaching low income urban youth of Cape Town TI - Supporting NGO intermediation with internet systems : comparing mobile and web examples for reaching low income urban youth of Cape Town UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13364 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/13364
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationMeissner FW. Supporting NGO intermediation with internet systems : comparing mobile and web examples for reaching low income urban youth of Cape Town. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Computer Science, 2014 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13364en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Computer Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherComputer Scienceen_ZA
dc.titleSupporting NGO intermediation with internet systems : comparing mobile and web examples for reaching low income urban youth of Cape Townen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMScen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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