Just yesterday I posted that I was interested in putting together an unconference on Using Social Media to Reach Stakeholder Communities. Today I’ve seen an article that illustrate exactly what I’m thinking about.

In this eSchool news article, Nora Carr discusses the numbers, demographics, and usage patterns of cellphone users in the US. They are largely the exact same populations that school districts thoughout the country are looking to become more involved in the system. We want the Hispanics and African-Americans and the highly mobile populations to have a voice, to have a way to connect, a way to take an active role in the education of their children.

The usage patterns she describes in the article are:

Among adults under 30 years of age, cell phone saturation is nearly universal. Currently, 84 percent of English-speaking Hispanics under 30 have cell phones, as compared with 74 percent of white Americans and 71 percent of black Americans.

and

The trend is particularly strong among Hispanics, 73 percent of whom say they send or receive text messages. This compares with 68 percent of African-Americans and 53 percent of white adults.

and finally

For example, 65 percent of English-speaking Hispanic internet users and 54 percent of black internet users have accessed the web wirelessly, compared with 49 percent of white internet users.

So, what does this tell us? That these populations are:

1. These populations are using mobile phone technology at a very high rate.
2. They are using the phones for non-voice uses of text messaging, email, and web browsing at higher rates than their white counterparts.

Do we really want to reach and include everyone in our schools? If so, why aren’t we making better use of mobile technologies to enfranchise not just the aforementioned populations, but the professionals and students who have also embraced this culture of text and mobile email?