Towards a Mobile Centric Framework for Inclusive Sustainable Interactions (original) (raw)
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How Mobile-phone Technology Can Support Open and Distance Learning: Malawi's Own Context
The Cambridge International Conference on ODL: Collected papers and abstractsrning 2009, 2009
Mzuzu University was established in 1998 by Act of Parliament as the country's second National University with the aim of addressing limited access to tertiary education in Malawi. As of 2008, statistics indicate that the two universities, using the face-to-face and residential mode of delivery, had only managed to enroll 0.03% of the pupils who complete secondary school education due to lack of bed and teaching space. This figure is well short of the 30% expected enrollment of secondary school leavers into tertiary education. In view of this, Malawi has two options for increasing admissions into tertiary education; expand classroom and hostel infrastructure. This option is expensive in terms of finances and time. Alternatively, programmes could be offered in open and distance learning mode which seems cheap and feasible given the relative poverty of Malawi. Consistent with this, Mzuzu University established the Centre for Open and Distance Learning (CODL) in 2006 to put the generic degree programmes on ODL. From the way CODL has started, it is likely that it will use print media as the main instructional mode supported by selected electronic media. The issue with this model concerns the selection of the most appropriate and effective technology to support learners. This paper accordingly discusses the effectiveness and appropriateness of using mobile-phone technology in supporting ODL in Malawi. Finally it attempts to provide information which should constitute a basis for Mzuzu University's identification and selection of the most appropriate technologies within the circumstances.
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2013 International Conference on Adaptive Science and Technology, 2013
Students enrolled at Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institutions tend to combine study and work and to succeed they have to optimize free time for studying. Therefore, many ODL students access and interact with information in a mobile context, which implies that interaction takes place in dynamic and changing environments. This presents students with a number of overlapping contextual challenges that need to be managed when accessing and interacting with information. Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) are also confronted by these challenges as they strive to provide access through technologies that are accessible, usable, scalable and sustainable to students. Against this background, it is important to have an understanding of the categories of information that students would want to access and interact with through the devices that they privately own, of which mobile phones are the most common. This study investigated the categories of information that students would want to access through mobile cellular phones. The data capturing involved both qualitative and quantitative data. In order to get a comprehensive and representative set of information access needs it was necessary to start with openended questions. Based on the analysis of the 50 responses to the open-ended questions, fixed-response questions were formulated. The 84 responses to the fixed-response questions were then analyzed to determine the importance of the information access needs as well as the access frequency. The contribution of this paper is a set of prioritized information needs that provide some insight into the mobile centric information needs of students at the University of South Africa (UNISA) as an example of an ODL institution.
Cost and access have always been the two major factors that hinder wider participation in education. Even in the distance mode of instructional delivery these two major considerations have been translated to cost of and access to technologies which are used in delivering instructional content and student support services especially to online or e-learners. The challenge is even more pronounced in a third world setting where the digital gap is more of the rule than the exception. This paper will discuss how the University of the Philippines Open University is using a very simple, inexpensive and accessible technology, the cellular or mobile phone, to promote wider participation in education even from the sectors considered to be “digitally disadvantaged”. Specifically, the paper will touch on 1. the decision-making considerations on the use of cellular/mobile phone in distance education; 2. the evolution on the use of cellular/mobile phone to support instruction in a distance education setting; and 3. the current uses of cellular/mobile phone in an educational setting where elearning has become the buzzword. The paper will also try to draw lessons and provide recommendations that can serve as guide for educators in selecting appropriate technologies to build a knowledge-based society through open and distance education. The data used in this paper came from the journal of the author who has been and still part of the whole process of using the cellular phone as one of the tools in delivering education through the distance mode.
2012
Developing countries and South Africa in specific have shown phenomenal growth in the mobile sector. This has ushered in a new era of challenges and opportunities for alleviating digital poverty through distance education. One of these challenges is that many students are mobile primary and accustomed to incorporating their mobile devices' information capabilities into their daily routines while institutional information access is personal computer based. The rapid pace of mobile technology development may well create a mobile divide where educators, administrators and policy makers do not understand the students' usage of mobile devices in teaching and learning. Therefore they may be reluctant to promote mobile-centric access and this will lead to a disparity between information provision and students' information needs. Distance education is often the only higher education opportunity available to developing communities and these communities are generally more mobile centric than pc-centric. Therefore, there is a need at institutional level to understand the mobile information access needs of mobile primary users and to develop strategies that facilitate mobile cellular technology access to services, content and participation. This study investigates students' needs and expectations regarding mobile cellular technology access to educational services, content and participation mechanisms in an open distance learning (ODL) university. The context of this study is the University of South Africa (Unisa). The contribution of the paper is to identify Open ODL students' needs regarding mobile phone access needs to information. The research design includes capturing the students' mobile information access needs by using an open ended survey.
Supporting University Learning Through Mobile Technologies: A Global Perspective
The workplace in the modern world continues to demand higher qualifications and refined competencies. In the recent past, workers would respond to such demands through learning by correspondence. When the Internet and e-Learning emerged, it received widespread accolade as a solution to the challenges experienced by distant learners. The technology was also seen as an opportunity for educational institutions to leverage their technological uptake to benefit regular students. However, desktop computers and Internet connectivity, which were the drivers of e-learning technologies, were expensive, bulky and scarce. So when mobile technologies emerged, educationist saw an opportunity for addressing the limitations associated with correspondence, "e" and tethered learning. Mobile devices being cheap, portable and reliable received widespread acceptance and possession. So, educators, hardware designers and program developers started to design hardware and applications that would infuse learning content into the devices. The purpose of this review is to demonstrate the potential of mobile technologies in the education market place, highlighting global initiatives and trends. The paper will also review how universities around the world, Africa and in Kenya have oriented themselves for learning with mobile technologies. The study was a documentary analysis of virtual documents stored electronically for access through the Internet, text books, archival repositories and encyclopedias. The study observed a significant high global mobile ownership and usage rates, but was able to demonstrate that despite its pedagogical advantages, the use of the technology for learning purposes at university level is still at the infantry.
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Young people are fascinated by new information and communication technologies. This is evident in the attraction to social networks and new modes of communication offered by mobile telecommunication networks. Beyond communicating with others, new generation mobile phones enable users to perform an assortment of tasks which were hitherto inconceivable. The youth use mobile technology to create and maintain social interactions while also relying on it for educational purposes. This paper, based on empirical research, examines the educational and social uses of mobile telecommunication services by first-year Information Technology (IT) students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The study provides insight into the usage of mobile telecommunication services for different academic and social activities from students' perceptions. The study identifies some factors that influence the adoption and usage of mobile phones in education. Students' use of mobile telecommunications services is analyzed using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the theory of planned behaviour.
The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast characteristics of use and adoption of mobile learning in higher education in developed and developing countries. A comparative case study based on a survey questionnaire was conducted with 189 students (undergraduate and postgraduate) from Makerere University in Uganda and the University of Adelaide in Australia. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was employed as the theoretical framework. The results indicated that higher education students in developed and developing countries use a range of technologies for learning, with major differences between Uganda and Australia. The study concludes that mobile learning in higher education in developed and developing country contexts is still at an experimental stage with students using mobile devices in pedagogically limited ways.
Learning with mobile devices - insights from a university setting in Ghana
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Mobile learning is the newest and emerging technology embraced by universities and this seems to be fast establishing itself as the preferred mode of learning in many countries. However, ways in which mobile devices are used to meet learning goals seem under-researched and may require more effort from researchers, especially in the context of Africa. This empirical study sought to investigate the state of mobile usage among higher education students, their experiences, and available facilitating conditions that influence mobile learning in a Ghanaian university setting. A total of 222 students (distance and vacation students) were engaged to respond to the questionnaires employed for the study. Findings revealed that mobile learning exists in a somewhat structured form as the environment showed most of the salient characteristics of mobile learning but largely remained unharnessed. To a large extent, facilitating conditions for mobile learning were available; students showed positive experiences with their mobile devices and their use in accessing learning, but largely such learning did not occur via the deployed learner management system of the institution. Implications for policy formulation for the Institution and other similar ones that are striving to incorporate mobile technology to increase access and improve the quality of instruction delivery are discussed.
Exploring Mobile Phone Usage at Higher Education: A Case Study of Kampala University, Uganda
Cell phone that is used for multiple purposes and functions across the world is considered as the fastest growing technology of 21st century. This paper surveyed the usability of cell phone amongst the undergraduate students of Kampala University, studying under the School of Computer Science and Information Technology. A survey questionnaire approach as a research method was used to collect data from the respondents. The findings of the study revealed that most of the Kampala University students own smart phones and they are using them to carry out various activities that include calling, sending and receiving email, sending and receiving text messages, scheduling appointments, banking, watching movies, listening audio clips, on line shopping, library, interacting on social media networks, playing non-academic interactive games, and reading documents.
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In South Africa, the potential of mobile phones as tools that facilitates inclusive information access and interaction at Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) has not been fully realized. A number of factors could be attributed to the slow growth and they include technological factors, economic factors and human factors. This study focuses on human factors as a source of slow growth in providing students with mobile centric services for information access and interaction. The human factors are the focus of this study because lecturers are critical in the provision of mobile centric services in HEI. Hence, the objective of this study is to investigate the factors that could affect the readiness of lecturers in providing mobile centric services that facilitate students' information access and interaction at HEIs in developing countries. The research was undertaken within the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) context in South Africa. Qualitative data was captured by interviewing fourteen lecturers and the data was analysed using the Framework for Qualitative Data Analysis. The findings of the study revealed that lecturers' readiness is affected by their technical skills in designing mobile phone content and services, workload, motivation and access to resources for designing mobile phone content and services. The contribution of this article is to identify the factors that affect the readiness of HEIs lecturers in providing mobile centric services.