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Michael Fitzpatrick discovers that in Japan, phones are having to be used to educate the mobile generation
With Japanese youngsters increasingly shunning books, some educators have found they can keep up their literacy and other skills after school through their constant companion: an Internet- enabled phone.
Thanks to their Web-ready, hi-tech mobiles, a generation has arisen that eschews traditional media and even PCs ("too many keys"). They're referred to as the Thumb Tribe, a moniker that refers to most youngster's lightning texting speed on phones that can do as much as any PC.
Catching on to the trend, offline publishers have launched tentative educational content services for mobiles that are being lapped up by young mobile users who think it's cool to read books and magazines via their phone. Language learning - big business in Japan, with an English language learning market worth trillions of yen - is also catching on via mobile, with youngsters and adults alike getting their daily dose of overseas linguas via their phones.
Even teachers who view phones as class disrupters are warming to mobile's e-learning potential, welcoming any extra learning input.
"The trouble is, because mobiles are banned from most schools,...