The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) released a report consisting of an analysis of over 4,000 surveys in seven developing countries on reading from mobile devices.

Titled "Reading in the Mobile Era: A Study of Mobile Reading in Developing Countries," UNESCO acknowledged the inability to read from books are "receding" due to the spread of inexpensive mobile technology. Mobile phones have paved the way for "new, affordable, and easy-to-use" methods to reading materials. The report comes after a year-long study and explains the demographic profiles, habits, and preferences of mobile readers of seven countries -- Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan and Zimbabwe.

"The world faces a fundamental challenge: how to bring text to the millions of people who do not have enough," noted the report on digital books and mobile reading. "Fortunately, the internet is helping to level the playing field."

The UNESCO report added that the Internet has "accelerated" the spread of information and "democratized" access to it. With the addition of digital networks, computer processors, and liquid crystal display (LCD) screen, the production costs of reading materials have decreased.

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Despite the positive efforts, gaps still exist. According to UNESCO, 40 percent of the world's population has Internet access. Among developing countries, 16 percent fewer woman use the Internet than men. In Africa, 7 percent of households have connections to the Internet, which is a significant drop compared to European household with 77 percent connectivity.

The report stated, "The question remains: How do we bring text to the unreached? How do we make reading material accessible to, say, a girl from a poor family in the northeast of Ethiopia where over 50 per cent of her female peers will never go to school? How do we provide text to young people in remote Pakistani villages, or adults living in slums outside Rio de Janeiro? What mechanisms exist to get books into the hands of the poorest people on Earth?"

A mobile device, especially phones, was the immediate answer to UNESCO's own question. U.N. data stated six billion of the seven billion populating Earth have access to functioning mobile phones.

Referenced as a "gateway to long-form text," mobile phones can access the same book for a fraction of a physical book's price.

Surveying over 4,000 people across Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan and Zimbabwe, respondents were asked if and how reading on mobile devices changed their habits or attitudes towards reading, what they wanted to read, what enables them to continue reading, and what were central barriers to mobile reading.

"The findings are significant," the UNESCO report revealed.

The U.N. organization learned that more people read on mobile devices. The study showed more people read books and stories to children from the mobile devices. The study also stated that governments should take a lesson on the impact and expansion of mobile technology rather than traditional paper-based technology.

"It is UNESCO's hope that mobile reading will be integrated into broader educational systems that teach people how to use text productively -- from access to comprehension, and all the stages in between," the report added.

UNESCO does recognize that the expansion of mobile devices may not immediately solve illiteracy, but can help provide people the tools to enhance and sustain their literacy skills.

"[Mobile devices] can help people find good books and, gradually, cultivate a love of reading along with the myriad advantages that portends -- educationally, socially and economically."

The principal author of the report was credited to UNESCO's Mark West with the support of numerous contributors including Nokia, which sought to help governments and other organizations use mobile devices for education purposes. The survey was conducted through an in-app survey by books and stories application Worldreader Mobile from April 1 to May 31 last year.

For more data on the study, click here.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

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