Student’s focus group results

Student’s focus group on the use of mobile phones in school activities (7th, 8th and 9th grades)

Some sentences that may give us some notion of what mobile phones mean for young people:
My phone is ... everything, is everything to me. It is where I check the time, it is where I keep notes and alarms so I don’t forget things I have to do. It is the way I connect with people. Without my mobile phone I would no longer know what to do .
…
I sleep with my mobile phone under the pillow, and sometimes I go to sleep holding it in my hand.

After analysing the results of the 3 focus groups with students, I came across these common issues:
» Mobile phone is always present in various contexts of their lives, with one exception: school (classrooms, curricular activities)
» Mobile phone attraction has functional and emotional dimensions
» Mobile phone communication aspect is the most important
» Most used features are low cost or free, and enable communication / connection with others
» Mobile phones use in school activities is perceived as possible and desirable