Literature Review

For the essay on Mobile phones and their Impact on society I studied a varied amount of sources some of which are based on studies and some of which are based on opinions. The usefulness of these sources in my study will be discussed in this review.
The most important source for me is “The Mobile Connection – The cell phones impact on society”, by Rich ling.
The book studies firstly how mobile phone shave been adopted into society. For example, it is described how two different types of people are compared to each other. One, feels the need to have an expensive phone as his social circle have them, and feels the need for one to have some weight so that he can sense and feel that he has one at all times.
The other person however, has no regard for the costs of the phone besides how much the bill is. This person only requires a phone for contact, not to feel “socially accepted”. It is then followed on with a comparison to possessions, for example cars. (Rich ling (2004, p.33)
Further on, the book describes how mobile phones impact security. For example, it compares the need of being connected in situations of panic, such as critical accidents and injury (Rich Ling (2004, p.36) to how it can enable terrorist activities. Examples included mention terrorist Attacks in Bali (Indonesia) and ones in Jakarta (Indonesia) (Rich Ling (2004, p.37)
The book continues on with discussing how mobile phones can help co-ordinate social events (Rich Ling (2004, p.61). It makes conclusions on how mobile phones allow for constant changes to events to be updated but also how it can remove the personal feel from arrangements with methods such as sms (short messaging service) being used. (Rich Ling(2004, p.81)
The book spends a vast amount of time discussing how teens are affected by mobile phones. It includes a diagram which shows the usage of mobile by teens by age in Norway, 2001. (Rich Ling, 2004, p87). It also discusses how younger and younger children are using mobile phones, mimicking possibly those older around them. (Rich Ling, 2004, p97).
The final part of the book which is of relevance is chapter 6, which discusses the intrusive nature of mobile telephony.
It discusses how a person can switch social situations in an instant, interrupting a current social situation changing the person who was previously being conversed with social situation. (Rich ling (2004, p137)
it also discusses how mobile phone conversations often induce others involuntarily into eavesdropping. It discusses how it ahs the potential to reveal inner secrets to others, and cause embarrassment to the users of the mobile device. (Rich Ling (2004, p143).
Ling, Rich. 2004. The Mobile Connection. 1st ed. Morgan Kaufmann.




A news article describes to readers how to deal with “The Cell Phone culture”
This source discusses how the writer feels they are the new cigarette. It also describes how it feels like the transport people to a distant world when they are using them “like a child reading a Harry Potter Book”.
The writers view is rather cynical, and is highly opinionated.
Bob Schieffer, 2005. Focus: ‘Coping With The Cell Phone Culture. CBS news, [internet] 24July. Available at: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/07/25/opinion/schieffer/main711391.shtml
[Accessed 20 October 2009]
To conclude, there is a vast array of information regarding how mobile phones (cell phones) are impacting culture and society. Much of this information is opinionated and comes in the forms of short editorial articles online, posts in web forums or in blogs. However, the most useful research is in the book “The Mobile Connection”. It contains a well spaced out, organised and data rich study on the impact. It has a few downfalls in that it focuses heavily on the youth.
The information gathered here and available further online and in journals will be helpful in concluding the question of The Mobile Phones impact on Society.

VARK Questionaire

In this weeks lecture we learned about different learning styles and took a questionable named "VARK" (Visual Aural Read/Write Kinesthetic).
One of the most common ways of learning is called "surface learning".
This, is the process of literally just reading lists and memorizing data. This fills the mind with data, however it is easily forgotten later, and also a lot of information that is not needed is learned. This is a great method for learning in some situations.
What has been discovered is that we learn in a Spiral Pattern.
Theres three mains parts to this - Concrete experience (learning from around you and experiences), Active Experimentation and Abstract Experimentation.
The main process for learning is: Learn -> Apply It -> Try Again.

The VARK questionnaire is a tested way of finding out what way you learn best. This is done by taking a short simple multiple choice questionnaire. At the end, you are given a result and based on what type of learner you are.
My result was that I learn best through reading. However, personally, I believe this to be wrong. I personally feel that I learn best as a visual learner, as I like to to break down revision and learning into diagrams and pictures. I am aware that I am capable of learning using reading, but I would never consider it as my primary method for learning, as I like to skim read versus read a full piece of text.
My least favourite style of learing according to VARK is Aural, this, I am in agreement with, as I do find simply listening a hard way of learning - as without note taking, it is very hard to stay focused.

My visit to the library

For my research paper, I am required to have visited the university library.
This week I chose to visit the library to look for books on my chosen topic "mobile phones and their effect on society".
I started my using the libraries search system, which allows me to browse hundreds of journals, E-books, news articles and book titles that the library has in stock.
Firstly I found a journal, which was a book review of a book titled "the mobile connection: the cellphones in impact on society by Rich Ling"
From the review, I learn that:
-It is written by American working for a mobile company
-It focuses on mobile phones use in everyday life especially amongst teenagers
-It's based on a variety of studies
-Over 30,000 interviews in 10 European countries and Israel were used in the writing of
-It is an open-minded pragmatic review
-Its focus includes how phones provide a lifeline, how security is lost and how it lowers the need for a time-based society
-It also includes a section on text in and how it's changed the language we speak
-The book has three major downfalls all being related to the fact that the book is limited to covering mainly teenagers

After this I noticed that is a book that was reviewed is offered by the library. I was able to pull up the information about where it is located and I then went to see if it was in stock. However the book was not available so I reserved the book.
Later on however I obtained a digital version of this book off the Internet which means I do not need to wait for it to become available.