Section 3: Mobile commerce
Section 3: Mobile commerce
Overarching inquiry question
How do mobile technologies influence trade?
This section explores trade through the lens of eCommerce and m-commerce. The way we interact with our marketplace, trade in goods and services and transport products is constantly evolving with advancements in technology. Mobile technology is enabling more people in more countries to access, compete and engage in commercial enterprise leading to social and economic benefits for people in places.
Online shopping is associated with social media product influencing, convenience in purchasing and
efficiency in distribution and logistics. Students will engage practically with m-commerce to recognise the factors for its growth, trading patterns and issues associated with the global marketplace.
Technology not only allows us to purchase online but provides information to the conscious consumer providing for more sustainable choices to be made. Students will explore apps and online content that help us become informed and conscience global citizens. Identification of the global marketplace associated with m-commerce allows students to investigate trade issues through the geographical inquiry process.
A fieldwork inquiry
Students will be asked to visit a local market to investigate how local trade connects us to places and the impact m-commerce will have for the future. Issues surrounding
trade on the local scale will be identified. Students will follow the steps of fieldwork
inquiry to plan and conduct their fieldwork.
Questions for inquiry:
How does local trade connects us to places?
What impact will m-commerce have for the future?
Activities
Acquiring geographical information
- Develop a set of inquiry questions for the fieldwork investigation.
- Select fieldwork activities that will help collect the information and data required.
- Prepare interview questions if required.
- Plan the equipment needed for the fieldwork such as cameras, clipboards, questionnaires.
- During the fieldwork, collect appropriate data for the investigation.
Processing geographical information
- Represent data in a range of different forms.
- Represent spatial patterns using maps that conform to cartographic conventions.
- Analyse the data to identify spatial distributions, patterns and trends and infer relationships.
- Draw conclusions from the data.
Communicating geographical information
- Present findings in a range of communication forms selected to suit your audience.
- Reflect on the inquiry undertaken.
Learning intention
Students will identify the differences between traditional methods of commerce, eCommerce and the growth of m-commerce. A classroom inquiry into current statistics on teenage use of m-commerce will be investigated and communicated. The in-class survey provides students the opportunity to enhance their skills and use tools to collect primary data for geographical inquiry.
Teacher notes
Where electronic commerce (eCommerce) provided the commercial market with an electronic space in which to transact, m-commerce provides commercial transactions of buying and selling to be conducted with mobile wireless technology or a smartphone. Currently m-commerce makes up 11% of the eCommerce market in the United States. The US Census Bureau predicts this will rise to 45% in 2020. A report by PayPal in Australia states that almost one in two Australians use their mobile device to make purchases or payments at least once a week. This is expected to rise.
Questions for inquiry
- What is eCommerce?
- What is mobile commerce (m-commerce)?
- What are the current trends in teenage usage of eCommerce and m-commerce in our class?
Stimulus
Examine the graphic Growth of m-commerce shoppers January 2017.
Resources
Activities
Activity 1
View the ACMA Prezi, M-commerce in Australia (2.44min). Complete the following activities:
- Define the terms eCommerce and m-commerce.
- Explain what is meant by traditional commerce.
- Identify the demographic most likely using m-commerce.
- Identify the m-commerce services people use.
- Explain the factors behind the growth of m-commerce.
- Predict how m-commerce will impact your life in the future.
Activity 2
Investigate personal experiences of eCommerce and m-commerce?
The Australian Government’s Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), made the following comment following research undertaken in teenage behaviour online.
“Teens remained far less likely to transact online than adult internet users. In comparison to adult Australians, only a small percentage of teens undertook transactional activities online in the year to June 2015—banking and finance transactions (12 per cent) or buying, selling and shopping transactions (20 per cent). However, in a trend to view, one in five teens now use online shopping services compared to just over one in 10 at June 2011.”
The data was collected in the first half of 2015.
Survey the class to gather more recent data on student experiences of eCommerce and m-commerce in your place using the following procedure:
- Create the question for inquiry.
- Create survey questions.
- Survey participants using digital platforms such as Kahoot, Google Forms or Plickers.
- Collect and represent data in appropriate forms.
- Analyse and draw conclusions.
- Communicate the findings.
Suggested apps
- Kahoot
- Google Forms
- Plickers
- Socrative
- Excel
- Numbers
Learning intention
This lesson introduces the importance of trade to Australia’s economy, our trading partners and the goods and services we import and export. Students are encouraged to make meaning of statistics through the development of graphic representations and infographics. Infographics created digitally develop skills in numeracy and digital literacy.
Teacher notes
Students will interact with The Department of Foreign Affairs to investigate Australia’s trading patterns, both traditional and current.
Questions for inquiry
- Who are Australia’s major trade partners?
- What are Australia’s main exports?
- What are Australia’s main imports?
- How important is trade to Australia?
Stimulus
Australia and the world – trade and Australia’s trade statistics at a glance located on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website.
Resources
Activities
Activity 1
Students will interpret geographical information to draw conclusions about Australia’s trading relationships and consider the impacts of m-commerce. Interact with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website and Australia’s trade statistics at a glance webpage to create graphical representations or an infographic that represents Australia’s trading partners and main exports and imports.
Activity 2
- Explain the importance of trade to Australia.
- Predict the impact m-commerce will have on Australian trade.
Suggested apps
- Google Charts
- Canva
- Piktochart
- Venngage
- Infogram
- Grafio
- Mindmeister
- Maptini
- InFoto
Learning intention
Students will identify and describe goods and services and recognise trading patterns and relationships locally, nationally and globally. Students will investigate the ability to access goods and services through eCommerce and m-commerce channels and the influence this has on future trade.
Teacher notes
In preparation for this lesson a physical shopping basket of goods needs to be gathered by the teacher. The basket should include a mixture of products such as foods, personal items, electrical equipment, clothing, grocery items and service products perhaps in the form of a voucher or ticket. Students will acquire an understanding of these products and services as it applies to m-commerce and trade.
Activity 2 encourages students to examine eCommerce and m-commerce through practical experience. Through the exercise students will understand the difference between goods and services and identify interconnections on a variety of scales. The activity does not require students to purchase a product but to examine the process of buying online and to identify details about the product and the production process. No financial transactions should be made by students.
The investigation will produce findings that students evaluate in the next lesson.
Questions for inquiry
- What goods and services are traded across scales?
- How does m-commerce influence local, national and global trade patterns?
Stimulus
A shopping basket of goods.
Resources
Activities
Activity 1
Students investigate a teacher-prepared basket of shopping products. Present the findings as graphic representations or concept maps.
- Identify and classify the products and services into goods and services.
- Are the products made from natural or processed materials?
- Is the product made from multiple components?
- Examine the products to identify where the product was made.
- Select one food product and calculate the food miles this food has travelled using the Food miles calculator.
- Define what is meant by the term food miles.
- Explain the impact food miles has on our environment.
Activity 2
Interact with m-commerce to investigate the process for purchasing online products and services.
- Read the Roy Morgan research findings, “Amazon set to benefit from Australians’ love affair with online shopping” and rank the top five product categories Australian’s bought online in 2016.
- Select a virtual product (good) from the top five categories Australian’s bought online in 2016 to purchase.
Identify the product.
Provide reasons for your purchase.
Outline the steps using screenshots with annotations to purchase the good.
Rate and extrapolate on your experience of shopping online. - Predict and assess future patterns of trade with the predicted growth of m-commerce then:
Construct a T-chart outlining the benefits and detriments for consumers and businesses when shopping online. A circle of viewpoints will provide an insight into different perspectives.
Formulate an opinion on the future growth of m-commerce. Justify your reasoning.
Extension task
Create a video or animation to communicate one benefit or one detriment to teenagers on using m-commerce when shopping online.
Suggested apps
- Sketches
- Procreate
- Padlet
- iMovie
- Stop Motion Studio
- Clips
- Adobe Spark Video
Learning intention
Students interact with GIS real-time freight routes and assess the potential for social and environmental impacts through our consumption decisions. Through the virtual shopping experience and viewing GIS real time freight routes, students will recognise some of the issues surrounding our global connections through trade.
Teacher notes
Trends and issues resulting to m-commerce include:
- Globalisation of the supply chain where a product may be owned and designed in one country, produced from raw materials in another and manufactured in another
- the difficulty of finding out where our stuff really comes from
- laws introducing transparency in the supply chain within the global marketplace
- the inequity of global trade for people in different places the worldwide movement towards ensuring trade is ethical and fair
- global transportation of goods may lead to unsustainable shipping practices and concerns around shipping pollution, port congestions, shipping debris and wildlife migration disruptions
- environmental impacts through unsustainable farming practices in places and the concept of food miles
- animal welfare and live meat export
- protecting your personal and financial information online.
Amazon was launched in Australia in December 2017. The impacts this will have on traditional consumption and trade is yet to be determined. Students may wish to investigate the impact Amazon Australia will have on Australian patterns in m-commerce and trade.
Questions for inquiry
What are the consequences of our trade connections?
Stimulus
Interactions with GIS apps.
Resources
Activities
Activity 1
View and interact with Marine Traffic, real time shipping connections. Complete the following activities:
- Locate and identify a selection of cargo ships across the globe.
- Research the cargo being shipped.
- Identify cargo shipping routes.
Activity 2
Identify the consequences of our global trade.
- Brainstorm using visible thinking strategies such as free write to identify social and environmental impacts from global trade.
- Create headlines on the key issues identified.
- Research one issue associated with global trade.
Activity 3
Amazon, considered the world’s largest online retail store, launched in Australia in December 2017.
- What potential impact will this have on traditional spending?
- What impact will this have for the future of in m-commerce and trade in Australia?
Suggested apps
- Flight Tracker
- Marine Traffic
- Ship Finder
- Plane Finder
- Earth Observer
Learning intention
With predictions of m-commerce playing a vital role in the future of commerce and trade, students will investigate sustainability initiatives and possible futures for people and places. Students will produce a story that communicates the issue, the solutions and informs the global citizen.
Teacher notes
Digital storytelling is a powerful way to communicate issues that affect our world. Encourage students to be creative in the development of their stories. Create multiple audio-visual presentations and app smash them together in movie making apps to produce the final product.
Questions for inquiry
How does our consumption choices affect places? What strategies can be incorporated to achieve a sustainable trading future? How can individuals make better consumption choices?
Stimulus
View Dave Hakkens Made In (2:50min).
Resources
Activities
Activity 1
Evaluate Dave Hakken’s video “Made in…”.
- Identify the underlining message.
- Identify the intended audience.
- Assess the effectiveness of the video in describing the issue.
- Describe the filming techniques used to present the message.
- List the techniques you can use to create a similar digital story.
Activity 2
Create a digital story that will inform people on one issue surrounding global trade.
- Describe the trade issue and how it impacts on people and places.
- Investigate current campaigns that provide more sustainable practices around the issue.
- Identify apps that provide information on this issue for people to make better consumption choices.
- Provide the audience with information that will allow them to be more informed global citizens.
Suggested apps
- iStopmotion
- Procreate
- VideoScribe
- Google Slides
- PowerPoint
- Keynote
- iMovie
- Adobe Spark
- Weebly