The potential of mobile phone as a learning tool for basic school students in Efutu Municipality

Presented By

Benjamin K. AiduenuInstitute for Educational Research and Innovation Studies

University of Education, Winneba

Introduction Purpose Benefit Research questions and hypothesis Methodology Result and Discussion Recommendation and Conclusion

Overview

The use of wireless technology devices such as laptops, tablets, and mobile phones all over the world has become part of human activity

According to Geddes, (2004), mobile learning (M-learning) is the acquisition of any knowledge or skill through the use of mobile technology, anywhere and anytime,

In 2013 the total mobile-cellular subscriptions in the world was almost 6.8 billion with 3.5 billion coming from Asia-Pacific (ITU, 2013)

Introduction

The total mobile share subscription in the developing world was equivalent to 73% between 2005 and 2010, (Wang S. and Hiroshima S, 2006).

Africa penetration rates were projected to attain an estimated 41% at the end of 2010 as compared to that of 76% globally (Wang S. and Hiroshima S, 2006)

Introduction Cont’

According National Communication Authority report released on May, 2015, the Mobile Voice subscriber base increased by 0.41% to end of March, 2015 at 31,154,420 in Ghana

The penetration rate for the period in Ghana was 115.64%. An indication that mobile phone is widely used in Ghana (Calls, SMS, whatsup, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.)

Introduction Cont’

According to Ross (2010), 50% of the classrooms in six countries Sub-saharan in Africa that were studied had no textbooks at all, as a result of cost and logistical issues. (Ghana is no exception)

Only Botswana out of the 19 countries studied had adequate textbook provision for all subjects in all grades (Goundar, 2011)

Introduction Cont’

Ghana like Sub Saharan Africa countries has challenges in getting books which are essential item in education to most of the schools.

The constraints faced by most educational institutions in acquiring Information Communication Technology resources like desktop computers, laptops, ICT infrastructure and internet for e-learning are enormous

Purpose of the study

As publishers turn to e-book publishing, attention on textbooks (hard copies of information) will gradually be reduced because it is cheaper for both publishers and their readers in terms of cost.

Some communities and University libraries around the world are also digitizing their collection of text books to e-books which can be accessed by their members or students anywhere in the world.

The problem of lack of textbooks, lack of library facilities could be addressed to some extent and information search made available and easy to access using mobile devices like mobile phone and tablets

Purpose of the study Cont’

Mobile devices like mobile phones (smartphones) and tablets have most of the features of a computer (laptop) which are comparatively much cheaper

The purpose of this study was to find out the prevalence of mobile phone ownership among basic school students and examine the potential use of mobile devices (phones or tablets) as tool for learning activities in Effutu Municipality

Purpose of the study cont’

Students can read not only the books that are required in their classrooms but obtain additional information and knowledge through the internet in their learning activities.

The phone can be a calculator and the cameras can be used to film and record details of practical lessons as well as during excursions or field work to facilitate learning.

It will enable students to gain some level research skills which form a solid foundation for research capability in the future.

Benefits

What is the prevalence of personal mobile phone ownership among the students of public and private basic school in Effutu Municipality?

What is the prevalence of personal mobile phone ownership among students in terms of gender at the basic schools in Effutu Municipality?

To what extent can basic school students use their phones to access the internet?

Research questions

Is there an association between gender and students who own mobile phone at the basic schools?

Is there an association between the school type (Private and Public) and students who own mobile phones?

Hypothesis

The study employed quantitative research approach and adopted the cross-sectional design. Questionnaires were generated from the research hypotheses for the study.

Nine (9) basic schools were randomly selected from schools in Effutu Municipality

The selected classes were primary 6, JHS1, JHS2 and JHS3 with fifteen (15) randomly selected students in each class.

Three (3) public basic schools from Winneba Central and two (2) public basic schools from Winneba East and two (2) from Winneba West. Two (2) private basic schools were also randomly selected within the Municipality

Questionnaires were administered to 329 students from all the randomly selected schools

Methodology

The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS data analysis

The chi-square test for independence was also used to determine whether there was an association between gender/‘school type’ and personal mobile phone ownership among the students of basic schools in the Municipality

The investigation involved a 2x2 table design where gender was measured on two levels (i.e. male and female) and students personal mobile phone ownership also measured on two levels (i.e. Yes and No)

Methodology Cont’

The investigation also involved a 2x2 table design where ‘type of school’ was measured on two levels (i.e. public and private) and personal mobile phone ownership also measured on two levels (i.e. Yes and No). ‘Yates’ Correction for Continuity which compensate for the overestimate of the chi-square value was used for the 2x2 table with its corresponding Asymptote and Significance (2 sided) value, Pallant, (2003).

Methodology Cont’

The result shows 45.3% of the basic students responded having their own personal mobile phones.

Of the students who had their own mobile phones forty eight percent (48%) could access the internet with their phones.

The percentage within gender indicates that 55.4% of the male basic students had their own phones as against 35.0% of their female counterparts who also had their own personal phones.

The percentage within ‘Type of School’ shows that 46.5% of the basic school students from the public schools had their own mobile phones as compared to the 43.2% of the basic school students from the private schools.

Results

The chi-square test for independence was performed to determine whether these differences were enough to be significant

Results Cont’

   

Chi-

Square

 

df

 

n

 

phi

 

p-value

 Gender

 13.07

 1

 329

 -0.21

 0.01

 School type

 0.20

 1

 328

 -0.03

 0.65

The tests reveal that the proportion of male students who had their own personal phones was significantly different from the proportion of female students who also had their personal phones(X2 =13.07; df=1, p< .05).

In effect, there was an association between gender and phone ownership among students of basic schools.

Discussion

The proportion of basic school students from the public schools who had their own personal phones was not significantly different from the proportion of students from the private basic schools who also had their personal phones(X2 =0.02; df=1, p>.05)

There is no association between the school type (Private or Public) in relation to students’ personal mobile phones ownership.

Discussion Cont’

There is the opportunity to create content platform (cloud computing) which can be accessed by students using their mobile device.

The content to be hosted should include the electronic copies of all prescribed textbooks at all levels for various subject disciplines for students to assess themselves.

To address the challenge of charging the mobile device solar charger can be procured especially in schools in rural areas where electricity is a major problem to power the mobile devices.

Recommendations

Teachers need to be trained to acquire the skills of using mobile devices such as mobile phone and effectively incorporate it in teaching and learning process in classroom environment. It must be noted that mobile technology will involve different method of instructions.

A sound pedagogy should be developed to enable teachers to adapt. The tertiary teacher training institutions could incorporate into their curriculum the use of mobile device in teaching and learning and the pedagogy that goes with it in order to achieve successful learning outcome.

Recommendation Cont’

Critics of the use of mobile device in teaching and learning are of the view that it has potential of distracting students from learning by engaging in chatting, texting and surfing the internet which are not helpful to them. In view of these concerns, there must be well-structured school rules and regulations together with effective enforcement to address these challenges.

Recommendation Cont’

For a successful use of mobile devices to enhance education in general, there is the need for great collaborations among all stakeholders. The stakeholders include the following:

The ministry of education (politicians and their policies)

Ghana Education Service (implementers of government policies)

The education providers (schools, colleges, teacher training institutions, tertiary institutions such as the polytechnics and the universities)

Stakeholder’s Contributions

The teachers (class teachers, subject teachers, school heads, lecturers, principals and Vice-Chancellors)

The students (primary, secondary, tertiary) The school management ( PTAs, school

boards, school management committees, school alumni)

The government (Executive and the Legislature)

Telecom companies (service provider)

Stakeholder’s Contributions Cont’

Mobile devices like mobile phones and tablets in the near future are likely to become the main technology for use in education.

These devices are gradually becoming more advanced in terms of several functionalities that will facilitate effective learning and easy to use for various categories of learners.

Conclusion

There is now opportunity to train teachers to find more innovative ways of integrating the use of these mobile devices like the mobile phones or tablets from the traditional use of blackboard in classroom lessons, into 21st century technology based student-centred learning to improve teaching and learning activities in education delivery in the country.

Conclusion Cont’

Thank you