Main Results and Contributions

This study focused on designing, developing, demonstrating, and co-evaluating a mobile education tool, the CBEMET prototype, for the innovative teaching and learning, bringing the benefits of mobile technology and connectivity in a meaningful and sustainable manner to HEIs in Tanzania. This dissertation contributes to the body of knowledge by applying and extending the DSR method framework to develop the artefact. In extending the DSR, Activity Theory (AT) was applied to highlight co-design process activities with end-users, and the four-cycle model of IS DSR as an interpretative mechanism during the co-evaluation process of the artefact in the wider environment. While the DSR method framework by Johannesson and Perjons [57] advocates the five iterative components in developing an artefact as a tool to solve practical problems in an environment, the AT advocates the necessity of using tools in human practices for transforming society.

CBEMET development closely follows these two concepts. The mobile device was intended to enhance the online sharing of educational materials that hindered innovative pedagogy in HEIs, taking for example the College of Business Education. The artefact was set to enable teachers and the students in the four campuses to effectively communicate on academic matters which includes assignments, tests, innovative projects and collaborative teaching

students and teachers is insufficient due to the scarcity of classrooms. The key findings from the development and demonstration stages of the mobile education tool indicate that the prototype facilitates the sharing of different educational resources among both teachers themselves as well as between teachers and students. The artefact tackles the problem of scarce learning materials by facilitating the access to shared educational resources. These resources are verified, revised, and formatted by the Quality and Assurance department (Q&A) of CBE that provides support to all teachers in the sharing of their learning materials in a unified format to be presented through the artefact. Through these actions the aim is to change the students’ mindset of only depending on their teacher’s notes for their learning. Likewise, the CBEMET prototype facilitates students’ self-regulated learning (SRL) through supporting collaborative projects among students on all four campuses.

The CBEMET prototype co-evaluation revealed that the artefact supports a change in how teachers and students teach and learn, respectively. That is, teachers switched from depending on old teaching notes and techniques to using modern ways of teaching, employing mobile technologies. Students have also shifted from depending on teachers’ notes only (spoon-fed learning) to self-regulated learning (SRL), thereby improving their learning experience through innovative learning practices [31]. The outcomes or results from the six papers are briefly summarized in the paragraphs that follow, and the 6 papers are attached as an addendum to this dissertation:

Paper I present the results of a survey of the patterns of the usage of mobile devices by both the teaching staff as well as the students at the College of Business Education. One reason for this survey is to explore how to convince teachers and students to use the same mobile devices they possess for learning and teaching purposes. The study is divided into three categories: a usage of mobile devices, readiness of teachers and students for mobile education and the willingness of teachers and students to use mobile gadgets for learning at the College of Business Education. The main result of this paper is that teachers and students are ready for mobile education. Also, they provide some of their expected functionalities of the mobile education tool, for example, discussion forums, shared educational resources, upload, and download capabilities, and mobile education training.

Paper II focuses on developing a mobile education tool to solve CBE teachers’ and students’ practical problems. Consequently, the paper investigates the real requirements of users in the prototype. The paper examines the educational materials and contents they deemed fit for sharing and how to share them using a mobile education tool. The paper, therefore, presents the results of the requirements definition of the mobile education tool prototype. Some of the suggested shared educational materials are teaching manuals. That is, they require that all teachers in each subject on all four campuses have access to the same type of training manuals for consistency. Similarly, lecture notes should be the same format, following the learning outcomes. The students as one of the stakeholders, just like teachers, should have access to the CBEMET prototype to access different educational materials regarding the syllabus and any additional, relevant, and reliable educational materials available online. The main results of this paper are a list of the expected contents of the shared educational materials, for example, syllabus, departmental information, timetable, etc.

Paper III presents the results of the co-designing and development of the CBEMET prototype collaboratively with teachers, the developer, and researchers. This paper is motivated by what was found in Papers I and II basing on the requirements of teachers regarding the modalities of sharing educational materials. The teachers could initially evaluate the prototype to see whether it worked following stipulations in their requirements definition. The demonstration was first done with the same teachers who participated in the co-designing process of the artefact. The purpose was to enable them to relate the functionality of the prototype to what they had proposed in requirements definition. This would allow them to suggest ways in improving the working of the prototype for the iterations that follow. After the demonstration, the teachers were impressed by the initial performance of the CBEMET prototype. However, some of the teachers feared that the teaching materials they shared online could be hacked and misused. The main results from this paper are the prototype itself and the initial demonstration and evaluation.

Paper IV presents the results of the demonstration activity of the prototype

into teachers (whose task was to check the functionality of the prototype regarding teaching), the students (whose primary task was to check the functionality of the prototype regarding learning), and the management team (whose role was to check how the prototype could formally be used as a pedagogical instruction tool). The management team also witnessed how the demonstration transpired. The results from the demonstration showed that access to the prototype, the interface, and suitability for teaching and learning were all satisfactory. However, the recorded audio and general multimedia content for mobile training were unsatisfactory. They thus gave some recommendations for their improvement.

Paper V presents the results of obtained feedback from both CBE teachers and students after the demonstration and after using the prototype. The paper is motivated by the findings of Paper IV, which are concerned with the demonstration. The feedback from the teachers and students was an initial evaluation of the prototype. An experiment was conducted with two groups of students learning management information system (MIS), a cross-cutting subject taken by bachelor students in all departments. One group was set as the control group, while the other was set as an experimental group. Pre-test and post-test results were recorded during the experiment. The test results conducted with students revealed that the prototype improved teaching and learning. That is, the students who were in the experimental group performed slightly better than those students in the control group.

Paper VI presents overall experience in the usage of CBEMET by teachers and students of all four CBE campuses to broaden the evaluation. The focus is on several factors, from the evaluation of the functionality of the prototype to usability and user experience (UX). The findings revealed that the teachers and students had positive perceptions of the usability and a good experience in using the CBEMET compared to SARIS—an LMS application that still had several challenges.

The experiences of the teachers and students about using the CBEMET for innovative teaching and learning are important inputs in developing a fully-fledged mobile education system in HEIs in Tanzanian context.