Framework for adoption of mobile learning in institutions of higher education

Abstract

In a bid to satisfy students’ academic needs, Universities in Uganda are targeting to provide adequate education materials. The National Council for Higher Education, set conditions which if achieved, education materials are considered to be adequate. The conditions include computer-student ratio which should be 1:20, essential textbooks-student’s ratio should be 1:5 and two subscriptions to national and International procurement journals. However, universities are facing educational challenges such as high students computer ratios, inadequate staffing, inadequate classroom space, which negatively relate to achieving adequate education materials. With the above challenges, universities are required to adopt to new mechanisms of interacting with students. Information and communication technology (ICT) has proved to be an essential component of the educational system in overcoming these challenges. This research focuses on the development of a framework which enables the use of mobile devices in the learning process as a way of overcoming the above challenges. The research was based in Uganda Martyrs University. The research was achieved through use of the mixed research methodology. In this methodology, qualitative data from was obtained from systems administrators using oral interviews, while quantitative data was collected from students and lecturers using a survey questionnaire. Qualitative and quantitative data collected was analysed using qualitative data analysis and quantitative data analysis methods respectively. The analysis of the data helped to derive the requirements that guided in the development of components of the proposed framework. The linkage of the framework components was based on the theories that relate to the pedagogy. Development of framework was based on the design research methodology, which has three phases. These phases are; Analysis and exploration phase, Design and construction phase and Evaluation and reflection phase. However, due to constraint of inability to identify a mobile learning expert, the framework was not evaluated. Hence as part of future work, the research recommends implementation and validation of the proposed framework