Mobile Phones
This week’s lesson focuses on a piece of technology that 20 years ago was a rarity in even the richest countries, but is now used by almost half the world’s population – the mobile phone. Telephone technology has certainly come a long way since Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, made the world’s first ever phone call on 10th March 1876 .

Related Websites 
This BBC Newsround forum asks if the mobile phone is a ‘must-have gadget’, and is followed by a large number of responses from British children and younger teenagers. There are also links to other Newsround pieces on mobile phones, such as a short article revealing that around half of all British ten-year-olds own mobiles. Accessible to pre-intermediate level.

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_5350000/newsid_5359600/5359632.stm

 
An article from the Cool Planet section of the Oxfam website, looking at how mobile phone technology is improving people’s lives in some of the poorest countries in the world. Suitable for intermediate level.

 http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/kidsweb/bringbring/phoneworld.htm

 
Another article on the role of mobile phones in developing countries, this time from the BBC. A challenging text for intermediate-level students.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6339671.stm