The appropriation of mobile devices in immigrant citizens: The second level of digital divide

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the type of use and appropriation of mobile devices by immigrant citizens and, their relevance to social inclusion. The research has followed a methodology based on participatory design. In this article, we describe the results obtained in the first iteration of the study focused on the analysis of the use of mobile technology. The data were obtained through five contextual workshops carried out in five accompanying organizations of immigrants in Barcelona. In total, 52 people (16 women and 36 men). The results show a high use of the mobile phone and a generalized knowledge of applications that are mainly used for communication. However, the knowledge and use of applications is much more limited in issues related to language learning, job search and knowledge of the context.