Assessing Tablets’ Adoption by ODL Learners: A Mauritian Case Study Perienen Appavoo and Premanand Koonjal
Open University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius
[email protected] and [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Mobile learning technologies have great potential
to transform the learning paradigm. The Open
University of Mauritius offers a free tablet to all
learners reading for a degree course. This paper
investigates the extent to which these tablets are
contributing to the learning experience of the
learners. Hundred and fifty learners studying in
different courses at the University agreed to
complete a questionnaire. Focus group discussions
were held with four groups of 4-5 learners in view
of triangulating the data and unveiling other details
that could not be captured in the questionnaires.
Data analysis reveals that learners, mostly working
adults, are frequent users of technology with many
of them using the computer for more than an hour
daily; learning being one of the common activities.
Learners demonstrate a positive perception of the
pedagogical worth of ICT. The major obstacles to
tablets use is also highlighted and include the
following: frequent breakdowns, small screen size,
slow processing power and short battery life.
Despite these obstacles, learners value the
flexibility tablets offer to learn anywhere, anytime
and at their own pace. This combination of
technology provision and perception of use as
revealed in this paper shows that learners are well
poised to embrace tablet use in their learning.
Keywords
ODL, tablets, learning, technology, ICT.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The advent of computers has brought
innovative changes in various sectors of the
economy and has altered the way business is
being done including the educational sector,
which is also undergoing a lot of
transformations. Nowadays, students grow up
amidst technology from a tender age and their
learning expectations at school are high. They
are the ‘digital natives’ who mandate the use of
technology to complement their learning
activities, and if educators or institutions do
not bend to this trend, they will miss a golden
opportunity to address learning demands with
the new Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) tools already flooding the
market and making a difference in other
spheres of life. The present ‘grammar of
school’ will thus keep the system lagging
behind and stagnating in the archaic den.
Today tertiary level education is witnessing a
tremendous boom, with Open and Distance
Learning (ODL) becoming a preferred mode of
study for the many learners who are opting for
qualification upgrade while keeping their jobs
or doing some other activities. There is
definitely scope in the delivery of courses
through ICT tools, and coupled with the
affordability and portability of tablets, this
integration of technology in learning holds a
promising future. The prevalence of ICTs and
its far-reaching effects can, therefore, have a
profound impact on the ways teaching and
learning will evolve. At the Open University of
Mauritius (OU), which is a young and fast
growing university, with a population of
around 4000 students in the last 2 years, the
policy has been to maximize on the
affordances of ICT for the effective delivery of
course content, for interacting with and
mastering the learning content, and for learner
Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015
ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 ©2015 SDIWC 35
support as well. In this endeavour, more than
3000 tablets have been distributed freely to all
learners enrolled on a degree course.
Expectations are high, but to what extent are
these tablets fulfilling the demands and needs
of tutors and learners? Has the integration been
a smooth process or are learners still struggling
to make good use of this tool. Success with
mobile-learning initiatives requires a close fit
between the instructional design of the
learning content and the affordances of
technology. This research study attempts to
zoom in the intricacies of this integration and
bring to the surface perceptions and even
apprehensions regarding the effective usage of
tablets for learning purposes.
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
Due to increasing longevity, extended age of
retirement, coupled with the need for ongoing
professional training in a dynamic labour
market, the focus on ODL as a mode of
learning and training is being accentuated
every year. Calvert [1] purports that ODL is
considered nowadays as the most
viable means for broadening educational
access while improving the quality of
education, advocating peer-to-peer
collaboration and giving learners a greater
sense of autonomy and responsibility
for learning. ODL favours ubiquitous learning
that can meet the needs of the emerging digital
learning society, providing in the same breath
greater learning opportunities to the non-
traditional student segment of the learner
population. Massive Open Online Courses
(MOOCs) offer high quality courses at
affordable cost to reach nearly every corner of
the globe, and a serious enabler of this exciting
venture is none other than technology itself.
Today there are flooding studies purporting
that technology is becoming a strong driver of
the educational process, providing an
abundance of learning opportunities for a wide
spectrum of learners coming from all walks of
life [2], [3], [4], [5]. Mobile learning is already
a grounded concept where learning takes place
with the help of a mobile/handheld device [6].
Hutchison et al. [7] found that iPads have
learning affordances to enhance engagement
and motivation, improve face-to-face and
online collaboration amongst students and
personalize learning while improving learning
outcomes. These gains were ascribed to the
features of the device, and to teachers’ ability
to differentiate instruction to cater for mixed-
ability groups, and the ease with which
learners could personalise their learning
experience. Moreover, Clarke and Svanaes [8]
reported that students described the main
benefits of a Tablet as having ‘everything in
one device’, which was felt to make it easier to
organise their learning. Tablets are also
bringing a new learning experience to adults.
To ensure that technology-based instructions
can benefit this category of learners, Wolfson,
et al. [9] report that such instructions must:
1. Be highly structured
2. Provide feedback and guidance
3. Include metacognitive prompts
4. Incorporate principle derived from
cognitive load theory and cognitive theory
of multimedia learning.
5. Include a user interface that is simple and
consistent throughout the course.
Tablets have been touted as “revolutionary
learning devices” holding huge potential to
reconstruct our educational system. A study by
Shuler [10] has revealed that 10% of the
650,000 applications (Apps) on Apple store
and 300,000 on the Android market have been
designed for educational purposes. He posits
that mobile Apps will unlock new avenues to
support the learning process. He does,
however, draw attention to the dearth of
research to back the educational worth of these
apps. In 2014, tablet ownership reached 350
million and this number is expected to treble
by 2017, reaching 15% of the world population
Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015
ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 ©2015 SDIWC 36
[11]. By 2015, one third of the US population
will be iPads and other tablets users, with a
large majority involved in learning activities,
thus making these devices the fastest growing
technology in education [12]. A new frontier is
being crossed and the trend is towards the
concept of “Bring Your Own Device
(BYOD)”, where individuals take their
personal (usually mobile) devices to
workplaces or schools and university campus
[13].
Due to its affordability, portability and
functionalities, educationalists are nourishing
great hopes to see this device revolutionize the
educational world. There is a novelty value in
the introduction of tablets for learning
outcomes. Their viability as a response tool to
the emerging learning demands of a digital
society makes it a compelling choice for many.
The multi-touch interface is probably the
greatest draw of tablets as compared to laptops.
In 2011, South Korea announced its $2.1
billion initiative to transfer all of its school
textbooks to digital form by 2015 [14], with
students accessing their needed texts using
tablet computers [15]. Using cloud computing,
it is expected that users would be able to access
a database of all digital textbooks and choose
what they want from their tablet PCs. Thailand
has initiated the world’s largest tablet
experiment project to provide One-Tablet-Per-
Child (OTPC) with the intention to deliver
more than 800,000 tablets in schools [16].
Among the developing countries, Kenya is at
the top of the league with the “Kids on the tab”
project instigated in 2012 [17]. It includes pre-
loaded materials in compliance with the school
curricula on a tablet given to students to assist
them in their learning activities as well as to
help them improve their e-literacy skills.
Furthermore, the free laptop project in Kenya
has been the largest such project in the African
continent with 400,000 laptops distributed to
first graders, while Rwanda has already
circulated around 200,000 laptops [18]. In
2014, in its endeavour to transform the island
into an intelligent nation in the vanguard of
global process and innovation, the Ministry of
Education of Mauritius has distributed some
26,000 tablets to secondary school Form V
students (age 15-16 years) and teachers. A
similar number has been earmarked for
distribution in 2015. At the Open University of
Mauritius, management has initiated the
swapping of traditional learning materials for
digital ones, thus anticipating the future,
whereby the global surge of tablets will
revolutionize the way learning takes place.
Investigating the contribution of tablets in the
context of ODL has significant importance for
Africa, which has great potential to expand its
e-learning market [19]. Both the affordability
and portability of this tool line up with the
concepts of ODL which are grounded in
flexible delivery and learning, whereby the
latter takes place anywhere, anytime, -
seamless learning.
Today there is mounting pressure on school
administrators and teaching staff to embrace
technology for boosting learning performance
and addressing varying learning styles. But
how far are we from technology provision to
knowledge acquisition? Both the South Korean
and Thai projects have received comments and
critics worthy of our consideration. We cannot
afford to repeat the same mistakes and carry
false hopes. Despite what numerous studies
reveal about the potentiality of tablets to
educate, we must caution “exaggerated trust”
in digital education and investigate if wireless
education means better quality. That
technology offers affordances for pedagogical
gain is beyond doubt; but how is the
integration implemented, remains the true
dilemma? This research study at the Open
University will bring to the front some key
findings of tablet usage by ODL learners,
which can fuel further research in this area and
help guide the implementation of similar
projects, so that learning expectations do not
remain a disappointed dream.
Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015
ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 ©2015 SDIWC 37
2.1 Aims and Objectives
The aim of this research paper is to investigate
the extent of tablet usage for learning benefits
by ODL learners of the Open University of
Mauritius reading for a degree program,
following the policy of free distribution of this
device over the last two years. The findings
are expected to help review or revisit this
policy in order to maximize on the much
acclaimed attributes of mobile technologies for
learning.
The research objectives will be addressed in
the following four main questions:
1. What is the current usage of technology by
ODL learners at work and/or at home?
2. What is the current usage of tablets by
ODL learners for learning purposes?
3. How do ODL learners perceive the
pedagogical worth of ICT?
4. What are the most common barriers in the
successful integration of tablets for
learning?
3.0 METHODOLOGY
A mixed method approach, both quantitative
and qualitative in nature, was adopted in the
collection of data. A questionnaire comprising
52 items, was designed and distributed among
learners of the Open University. Thirty four
items, using a three-point Likert rating scale,
covered such aspects as learners’ demography,
daily use of technology, the types of activities
most preferred, computer-related learning
activities, perceptions of the pedagogical
worth of tablets for learning, and the barriers to
the effective integration of tablets in ODL. The
Cronbach Alpha analysis was carried out to
validate the items testing a particular construct.
The option “frequent use” for some of the
items implied the device was used for more
than three times in a week, and “moderate use”,
1-3 times per week. In the initial stage, a pilot
testing of the questionnaire was carried out
among 15 students and the final questionnaire
was accordingly modified to take on board the
suggestions and remarks made by the
respondents. Stratified sampling was used to
ensure that both female and male students from
all major courses offered at the university,
participated in the survey. Two hundred and
thirty questionnaires were distributed to
students following courses in Finance,
Management, Education, Humanities and IT.
Focus group discussions were held with 3
groups of 5-6 learners over approximately one
hour. Focus group research is “a way of
collecting qualitative data, which—
essentially— involves engaging a small
number of people in an informal group
discussion (or discussions), ‘focused’ around a
particular topic or set of issues” [20, p.177].
Such group interaction can be productive in
widening the range of responses, activating
forgotten details of experience, and releasing
inhibitions that may otherwise discourage
participants from disclosing information [21].
Focus groups produce data rich in detail that
are difficult to achieve with other research
methods. So using semi structured questions,
more in-depth information were sought on the
aspects mentioned above. Data collected were
then recorded and analysed using statistical
tools like SPSS 21.0 and Excel 2010. Various
analyses, like Mann Whitney U and Kruskal
Wallis tests were carried out to investigate any
correlation between the items of the
questionnaire. The major findings of the group
discussions were also compiled to support,
where appropriate, those derived from analysis
of the questionnaires.
4.0 DATA ANALYSIS
4.1 Descriptive Analysis
Hundred and fifty participants studying at the
Open University successfully completed the
questionnaires. The majority of them were
female learners (68.7%). Most of the
participants (93.3%) were below 45 years, with
around two thirds in the 19-35 age group.
Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015
ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 ©2015 SDIWC 38
Many learners were already graduates
(68.7%), and were currently working full-time
(96.4%). They were studying to upgrade their
qualifications for professional development.
Data collected revealed that 98% of learners
rated their ICT skills as excellent or average.
Most of the participants (80.1%) stated that
their job required mastery of computer skills.
The respondents therefore demonstrated a high
technological profile, with nearly all of them
having access to the Internet. In fact most of
OU learners (71%) were using the computer
daily for more than one hour.
4.2 Computer-related Activities
The first section of the questionnaire sought to
investigate the popular computer-related
activities performed by the respondents. The
high Cronbach Alpha value of 0.743 validated
the reliability of the items measuring the
construct of computer usage. Respondents
were regular users of technology, and among
the most common activities were learning,
online communication, Internet search, office
work and entertainment (Figure 1).
Finding 1: Use of computers (or computer
usage) was very high among ODL learners.
Using technology for learning purposes was
reported by 97% of respondents, hence
confirming that technology has already paved
its way in the learning process of the large
majority as reported in numerous studies [2],
[3], [4], [5].
Figure 1: Use of Computer/Laptop/Tablets
A Mann Whitney U test was carried out to
investigate if there was gender bias in the
practice of various computer-based activities
and analysis revealed p values higher than
0.05 for all the items, except for “searching
general information” where female were more
frequent users (U=2046, p=0.04).
4.3 Specific Use of Tablets
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%
Learning purposes
Searching general information
Communication (Email/Chat/Facebook/Twitter
etc.)
Work (Office) purposes
Entertainment (Music/Video)
Online services (e.g e-banking, tax return, online
applications)
Online shopping
Frequent use Moderate use (1-3 times/week) Never
Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015
ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 ©2015 SDIWC 39
The second section of the questionnaire
investigated the specific use of tablets by
learners. The items of this section were very
reliable with a Cronbach Alpha value of 0.9,
hence confirming that all items reliably
measured the construct of tablet usage. Figure
2 shows that the most common use of tablets
was for studying the course materials (81%),
with a more restricted number using them for
assignments purposes (42%). The use of OU
tablets for learning-related Internet search was
reported by 57% of the learners, and around
43% for communication with tutors and peers.
This result aligns with a previous study carried
out by Shuler et al. [22] where they found that
the ease of accessing emails and messaging on
a mobile device enhanced communication
between tutors and learners.
Finding 2: Tablets provided by OU were
significantly being used by OU learners for
learning purposes. This is a positive outcome
of the University’s policy to introduce the free
distribution of this tool to its students. This
finding is in line with the comments of Traxler
[6] which posits that mobile learning is now a
grounded concept in learning.
A Mann Whitney U test yielded p values
greater than 0.05 for all the items, showing that
gender was not an issue in the extent of use of
tablets.
In order to investigate if age group had any
influence on the extent of use of tablets, a
Kruskal Wallis test was carried out and it
revealed that this was not the case - all p values
being greater than 0.05.
Figure 2: Extent of tablet use by OU learners
4.4 Beliefs and Attitude Regarding ICT
as a Learning Tool.
The items of the third section of the
questionnaire, which sought the beliefs and
attitudes of learners regarding technology use
for learning purposes were reliable with a
Cronbach Alpha value of 0.64 when two of
them were excluded from the computation.
Figure 3 shows that learners had a high opinion
of technology as a learning tool. The most
preferred concept (95%) was that ICT offers
flexibility for learning (anytime, anywhere).
They opined that ICT makes course materials
easier to assimilate (90%), namely because it
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%
Studying course materials
Downloading learning materials
Downloading general materials
Doing assignments
Submitting assignments online
For online social networking (Facebook, Twitter…
Communicating with tutors and peers
Entertainment (Music/Video/Games)
Frequent use Moderate use (1-3 times/week) Never
Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015
ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 ©2015 SDIWC 40
presents the materials through different media;
like graphics, colourful texts, video clips and
animations. They found ICT appropriate tools
for doing assignments (92%) and believed that
tutors should use them to facilitate learning
(85%).
One important implication of technology use is
the need to read on a computer screen. This
aspect was investigated in this section and
surprisingly only 30% of learners preferred the
computer screen to reading on paper (Figure
4). This information was largely confirmed in
one of the focus group discussions.
Figure 3: Beliefs and attitude regarding the use of technology for learning
Figure 4: Computer screen better than paper
Finding 3: ODL learners at OU demonstrated
a strong belief of the pedagogical worth of
ICT in the learning process with more than
70% agreeing to all seven items. They valued
the flexibility offered by tablets for anytime,
anywhere learning. Moreover the Kruskal
Wallis test revealed that age did not
significantly influence responses for most of
the items from respondents regarding beliefs
and attitude. However, the Mann Whitney test
showed that female learners were more in
favour of such beliefs like “Media content
makes learning easier”, (U= 2126, p=0.026)
and “ICT is useful for assignment purposes”,
(U= 2099, p=0.06).
4.5 Barriers to the Effective Use of
Technology for Learning
The last section of the questionnaire
investigated the barriers to the effective use of
technology. With a Cronbach Alpha value of
0.616, the items were found reliable to measure
this construct, when one of them was removed.
Learners were a large majority to concur on the
different barriers, which included frequent
breakdowns (90%), short battery life (87.3%),
lack of tablet printing facilities (86.7%), small
screen size (79.3%) and slow processing power
(69%). The issue of lack of printing facilities
was also reported in a research by Johansson,
as cited in [8]. As regards the screen size
Shuler et al. [22] mentioned the smallness of
tablet screen as a “limiting factor that can pose
challenge to mobile learning”. Nearly 79%
said they preferred the PC/laptop to tablets for
learning purposes.
Finding 4: Although in section two, we noted
a satisfactory use of tablets for learning, yet a
large number of respondents enumerated the
various obstacles standing in the way to the
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%
ICT makes learning flexible (anywhere,…
ICT useful for assignments.
Course materials easier to study.
Multimedia facilitate learning
Tutors should use ICT facilities.
ICT provide feedback.
ICT can help obtain better grades
Agree Uncertain Disagree
30%
24.7%
45.3%
Agree Uncertain Disagree
Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015
ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 ©2015 SDIWC 41
effective utilisation of tablets in the learning
process.
Figure 5: Barriers to the effective use of tablets
4.6 Comparing Tablet Usage with Other
Computing Devices.
Given the high technological profile of the
respondents and the strong lean towards using
technology for various activities, this section
of the analysis sought to compare tablets usage
with other computing devices like the personal
computer, laptop or smart phone. Where
percentage of users was high, we did highlight
the difference between frequent and moderate
use.
Figure 6 shows that although more than 80%
of respondents used technology for activities
like communication, Internet search and
entertainment, yet a much lower percentage
used the tablet for these activities. A large
number of learners (70%) frequently used a
computing device for communication
purposes, but very few of them (10%) used OU
tablets frequently for communicating with
tutors and peers. To another item of the
questionnaire 84.7% of them agreed that
lecturers should use ICT facilities for teaching.
Regarding Internet search once again, learners
had a greater preference for personal
computers and laptops. Although 92% of
respondents believed that computing devices
are appropriate tools for doing assignment, yet
only 42.6% revealed doing so on their tablet,
confirming that the tablet was not the preferred
tool for this type of activities.
More than 80% of the respondents reported
using the tablet for learning, which met OU
objectives of providing free tablets to its
learners. But once again PCs and laptops were
more frequently used than tablets.
A more detailed analysis was carried out for
the 18.7% of respondents who reported not
using OU tablets for studying course materials.
It revealed that these students were neither
using the tablet for other activities like doing
assignments, downloading learning materials,
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%
Frequent technical break-downs.
Short battery life.
Lack of tablet direct printing facilities
Breakdowns cause data lost.
The tablet screen is too small.
PCs/ laptops are more convenient.
Tablets are too slow.
Software incompatibility.
Difficult to transfer files
Agree Uncertain Disagree
Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015
ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 ©2015 SDIWC 42
communicating or for entertainment. However
these learners rated their ICT skills as average
or excellent, and 88 % of them confirmed using
their laptops and computers frequently for
learning.
Figure 6: Technology-related activities
Finding 5: The large majority of learners
reported frequent or moderate use of
computing devices for different activities like
learning, communication, Internet search and
entertainment but the tablet was not the
preferred choice. Regarding learning many
users mentioned using the tablet, but other
computing devices were used more frequently.
4.7 Group Discussions
As a source of triangulation, focus group
discussions were also carried out to collect
additional data from three groups of learners.
The discussions proved very informative and
confirmed many of the findings revealed so
far. They also brought in some clarification,
deeper insights and additional details to some
of the previous findings:
The first group, comprising IT students, was
initially very apprehensive of the quality and
performance of the tablets. Some common
comments included:
“We do not use it at all; the small screen
freezes too often”
“The battery lasts only for a few minutes after
long hours of charging”
“They are very slow and the touch screen
sensitivity is very poor”
“They are no good for programming, being
incompatible with all programming software”
“We use mostly our PCs or laptops”
However, the participants expressed high
beliefs in the use of technology including
tablets for learning purposes. They purported
that better quality tablets like iPads would
certainly make a difference.
When more in-depth information was sought
from the learners, they finally confessed that
tablets are very convenient for revision
purposes and to access the course materials
especially when “on the go”. All reading
materials in PDF formats were most welcome
for this endeavour. However, further
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Communication Learning Internet search Entertainment
Any computing device
Tablet only
Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015
ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 ©2015 SDIWC 43
discussions revealed that they would have
preferred an interactive content to plain text,
with pop-up windows, graphics, 3D
animations and short video clips. Most of the
students expressed their preference for
Facebook as a one-stop-shop, where they
coordinated all their activities, like listening to
music, chatting and communicating with peers
about the course requirements. Facebook was
more commonly used than the University’s
official online platform Moodle for all
communication purposes.
The second group comprising MBA and BSc
Management students were not regular users of
OU tablets, pointing once again to the poor
quality of the tablets, especially their short
battery life and low processing power. Where
available they used mostly the provided
printed learning materials. They did
acknowledge though that tablets did come in
useful/handy to access the learning materials
while they were travelling by bus, saving them
the pain of carrying the numerous textbooks.
They voiced their preference for PCs/laptops
when doing and submitting assignments. One
interviewee explained how tablets can be
practical in cases of power cuts at night, when
printed materials cannot be used. When
questioned about the ease of using tablets,
discussants expressed the wish to be provided
with printed instructional manuals on how to
use the device especially for those who could
not even get started with it. When prompted
about the use of technology during tutorials,
they confirmed that many learners brought
their own laptop or tablet.
The third group comprised students doing their
Masters in International and Comparative
education. Most of their comments and
suggestions were practically along the same
line as the other two groups. They were eager
to maximize on the potentiality of technology
to improve their learning. However, they were
often put off by the technical limitations of the
tablet which some found only useful for
accessing learning content while travelling.
In a nutshell, the group discussions confirmed
that technology is a familiar tool and well
poised to become a revolutionary factor in our
fast evolving digital learning society. While
learners are enthusiastic about the integration
of ICT in their learning journey, they are
neither prepared to trade quality and
performance for cheap equipment nor willing
to accept poor instructionally designed
learning content and plain digitized text. The
outcome of the group discussions thus
corroborate to a large extent with the findings
revealed by the questionnaires.
5.0 CONCLUSIONS
The prime finding of this study rests with the
positive perception that ODL learners hold
about the pedagogical worth of technology,
including tablets, in facilitating the learning
process [23]. This belief is possibly related to
the already high usage of technology in the
learner’s daily life, including office work. A
relatively significant percentage of learners
make moderate or frequent use of tablets for
learning purposes, including download of
supplementary learning materials from the
Internet and doing assignments. The
frequency of use would probably have been
higher if the different obstacles to the effective
use of tablets could have been resolved.
Frequent technical breakdowns, short battery
life, lack of tablet printing facilities and small
screen size were among the greatest culprits
pinpointed by the respondents.
Following various analyses, it was found that
responses in general were not gender biased,
be it for various computer-based activities,
beliefs and attitudes towards technology as a
learning tool or extent of use of tablets, where
both sexes expressed more or less similar
opinions. Students also voiced for better tablet
quality which would certainly have cost
repercussions; but cost which can be offset by
the ultimate learning gain. Of the many
Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015
ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 ©2015 SDIWC 44
attributes of tablets, respondents highlighted
the “on the move” factor that probably matches
most the flexibility mode of ODL. Because of
the nature of their busyness, learners enjoyed
the possibility to access their learning content
on a single, handy, light tool [8] anywhere and
anytime. This preference for the tablet would
certainly gather more adherents, if only
functionalities like durability, reliability and
processing power could be reviewed for these
devices. The overarching truth of this research
is that ODL learners in Mauritius are well
poised to embrace technology and more
precisely powerful tablets in their learning.
6.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
The findings of this research paper should help
fuel the debate on the distribution of free
tablets to learners. Once again, we see
technology coming a long way to transform the
learning environment. However, we are
certainly still far from maximising on the
affordances of technology to advance the
learning agenda. As Kaganer et al. [24] rightly
suggests, success with mobile-learning
initiatives requires a close fit between course
design and the mobile functionality being
offered so that the benefits of multimedia can
transform learning content into formats which
will make them easier to understand, assimilate
and process. Mobile learning initiatives should
be viewed as long term; expected benefits may
not come quickly, and management must guide
and support learners through the process of
evolving their practices. This research study
confirms this statement which compels us to
depart from the illusion that technology
provision automatically leads to knowledge
acquisition.
On one hand learners are asking for better
quality and hence more expensive tablets,
while on the other hand there is a need to
provide tablets to a maximum number of
learners, which might imply lower quality
tablets. Should we provide more students with
tablets of inferior quality or less students but
with tablets of superior quality? Striking the
right balance is not an easy game. ODL
learners are willing to embrace mobile learning
technologies in their learning, be it
smartphones or tablets; however, they do not
want to be put off by the poor features of low
quality tablets. The focus group discussions
revealed that those who had better quality
tablets demonstrated higher frequency usage of
the device. It is therefore imperative that
proper technical specifications of tablets are
spelt out by the IT department before
purchases are done.
The critics can be many, and rightfully
justified but the good side of the coin indicates
that a journey in technology integration has
been undertaken and now it is important to
map the route properly to ensure we come
close enough to those same learning outcomes
that initially triggered the implementation of
these technology-based projects. Policy
makers and educationalists must combine
efforts and capital to forge the ideal learning
conditions for an emerging digital learning
society.
Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015
ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 ©2015 SDIWC 45
REFERENCES
[1] J. Calvert, “Open and Distance Learning:
Lessons and Issues,” The Fourth Pan
Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning,
2006. [Online]. Available from:
http://pcf4.dec.uwi.edu/foundations.php.
[Accessed 16 October 2014]
[2] H. M. Judi, H. M. Amin, A. M. Zin, and R.
Latih, “Rural students’ skills and attitudes
towards information and communication
technology,” Journal of Social Sciences, vol.7,
no. 4, pp. 619-626, 2011.
[3] J. Hahn and H. Bussell, “Curricular Use of the
iPad 2 by a First-Year Undergraduate Learning
Community,” Library Technology Reports,
2012. [Online]. Available from:
www.alatechsource.org. [Accessed 14
November 2014]
[4] W. Miller, “iTeaching and Learning Collegiate
Instruction Incorporating Mobile Tablets,”
Library Technology Reports, 2012. Available
from: www. alatechsource.org. [Accessed 6
November 2014]
[5] A. H. Safar and F. A. Alkhezzi, “Beyond
computer literacy: Technology integration and
curriculum transformation,” College Student
Journal, vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 614-626, 2013.
[6] J. Traxler, “Learning in a mobile age,”
International Journal of Mobile and Blended
Learning, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1–12, 2009.
[7] A. Hutchison, B. Beschorner and D. Schmidt-
Crawford, “Exploring the Use of the iPad for
Literacy Learning,” The Reading Teacher, vol.
66, no. 1, pp. 15–23, 2012.
[8] B. Clarke and S. Svanaes, “Tablets for schools:
An undated literature review on the use of
tablets in education,” Paper presented at The
Children’s Media Conference, 2014.
[9] N. E. Wolfson, T. M. Cavanagh and K.
Kraiger, “Older Adults and Technology Based
Instruction: Optimizing Learning Outcomes
and Transfer,” Academy of Management
Learning & Education, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 26–
44, 2014.
[10] C. Shuler, “ilearnII; An Analysis of the
Education Category of the iTunes App Store,”
New York: The Joan Ganz Cooney Centre at
Sesame Workshop, 2012.
[11] N. Lomas, “Forrester: Tablet “Hyper-Growth”
Will Push Global Installed Base Past 905M by
2017, Up From 327M In 2013,” TechCrunch,
2013. [Online]. Available from:
http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/06/forrester-
tablets/. [Accessed 12 November 2014]
[12] B. Coombs, “Tablets make digital textbooks
cool on campus,” USA Today, 2011. [Online].
Available from:
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/20
11-06-17-digital-textbooks_n.htm [Accessed
12 November 2014]
[13] D. Evans, “What is BYOD and why is it
important?,” Techradar, 2013. [Online].
Available from:
http://www.techradar.com/news/computing.
[Accessed 29 November 2014]
[14] A. Saenz, “South Korea: We’re Spending $2
Billion To Put Our Textbooks on Tablet PCs by
2015. What Are You Doing?,” Singularity
University, 2011. [Online]. Available from:
http://singularityhub.com/ [Accessed 1
December 2014]
[15] A. Knobb, “South Korean Schools To Have
Digital Textbooks by 2015,” Forbes, 2011.
[Online]. Available from:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2011/
07/06/south-korean-schools-to-have-digital-
textbooks-by-2015/ [Accessed 8 December
2014]
[16] A. Harfield and R. Viriyapong, “Facing the
challenges of the One-Tablet-Per-Child policy
in Thai primary school education,”
International Journal of Advanced Computer
Science and Applications, vol. 4, no. 9, pp. 176-
184, 2013.
[17] M. Kinyanjui, “‘Kids on the tab’: Kenya
National Library Service’s Tablet Computers
Project for slum school children,” IFLA 2014
Lyon, 2014. [Online]. Available from:
http://www.library.ifla.org. [Accessed 9
December 2014]
[18] M. Trucano, “Big educational laptop and tablet
projects -- Ten countries to learn from,”
Worldbank Edutech, 2013. [Online]. Available
from: http://blogs.worldbank.org/edutech.
[Accessed 16 December 2014]
[19] “Trends in Global Distance Learning,”
Hanover Research, 2011. [Online] Available
Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015
ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 ©2015 SDIWC 46
from: http://www.hanoverresearch.com.
[Accessed 28 November 2014]
[20] S. Wilkinson, “Focus group research”, In: D.
Silverman (ed.), Qualitative research: Theory,
method, and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage Publications, 2004, pp. 177–199.
[21] R. K. Merton, M. Fiske, and P. Kendall, “The
Focused Interview: A Manual of Problems &
Procedures,” Glencoe, IL: Free Press, 1956.
[22] C. Shuler, N. Winters and M. West, “The future
of Mobile Learning: Implications for Policy
Makers and Planners,” Paris, UNESCO, 2013.
[23] A.K. Awadhiya, A. Miglani and K.
Gowthaman, “ICT Usage by distance learners
in India,” Turkish Online Journal of Distance
Education (TOJDE), vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 242-
253, 2014.
[24] E. Kaganer, G. A. Giordano, S. Brion and M.
Tortoriello, “Media tablets for Mobile
Learning. Communications of the ACM,” vol.
56, no. 11, pp. 68-75, 2013.
Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015
ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 ©2015 SDIWC 47
Top Related