2. Methodologies used in this research
4.4 The system design process
4.4.3 Designing and developing the system
Detailed contents of the M-Thuto system are described in section 4.4.4 while this
section describes how the content was created. In the four participating schools
traditional teaching practices supported by traditional activities were used to enable
learning to occur in the formal environments. The teachers introduced topics through
class notes and the learners’ workbooks. Through this process the teachers engaged the learners asking them questions based on what they were teaching. The learners
then had to practice at home what they had been taught in school. In some instances
learners were expected to raise questions related to what they were being taught or
had already been taught so that their teachers could go over them with the whole class.
The learners were subsequently given formal tests and examinations to monitor their
progress. The pedagogical design of the system was based on the current practice of
formal learning.
Following their conventional teaching methods it was observed that the teachers were
using a blend of conventional learning theories to support learners which were then
used to support the design process: In the system learners were provided with class
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West province along with the teachers inputs created notes for the system) to introduce
topics and allow learners to revise what they had been taught following the behaviourist
approach. Also following the behaviourist approach, through class tests, the manner in
which the learners would answer was monitored by the teachers (Boghossian, 2006).
The learners were also provided with exercises that required them to practice what
they were taught and reflect on their way of answering looking at worked examples
which could only be reviewed once the learners had attempted a question. The learner
would then reflect on other ways in which they could have answered the questions.
This approach followed the constructivist approach where learners used previous and
present knowledge to construct their own reflection of a learning topic (Sharples, 2002).
All learning content was then translated by a language specialist before giving learners
access to the M-Thuto system. Each page of content had alternative English and
Setswana views.
Architectural design
The architectural design of the system followed a basic architecture where the system
had a user-interface which linked the user to their profile and access to learning
resources. Each individual profile was stored in the database with the learner’s records. The M-Thuto system was accessible online through a server. The system architecture
is explained in detail in section 2.4.3 of this thesis.
The system interface
The system interface was presented to appeal to users aged between 16 and 21. It
included graphical elements such as comic pictures appealing to young learners. The
interface was also designed with navigation options which allowed ease of moving
between pages as mobile screens are often small and do not allow a lot of content to
be viewed on one page. Considering that some learners using the system would
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to suit any type of phone. While this age range of learners required active animated
graphics, the system was a learning system and it was important to keep learners
focused on the learning content, therefore there was less use of animation.
4.4.4 Testing and implementation
A pilot study was conducted to test the system before learners from the four mentioned
schools participated in the study which satisfied the implementation stage of the
system. The stage of testing was performed through a pilot study with high school
learners from local schools. A request was sent out to learners to voluntarily participate
in the study after following the mentioned ethical procedures in section 2.3.
Each participant came with their own mobile phone and after subsequent use of the
system gave individual feedback on the system. Results from the pilot were used to
improve the M-Thuto system and the interview and questionnaire instruments to be
used in the study. The results reflected an increased need of class notes per topic,
more animated graphics per page and a need for more subjects such as accounting to
be covered in the system. While some of the results were used to improve the system,
the system was designed for a short study which only covered the mathematics subject
focusing on simultaneous equations. With more resources, the subjects would be
expanded to other subject areas and cover all topics under the presented subject.
The system
Learners were provided with learning material and had an opportunity to go through
various tasks that enable them to adequately prepare themselves in that topic area.
The topic area covered in the learning tool was simultaneous equations that are learnt
in the last three years of study for high school learners. Learners each logged onto the
system with usernames and passwords which were already stored in the database.
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consisted of four sections of study as seen in figure 4.1. The sections are explained in
detail below.
Notes - The first section was a notes section which consisted of related notes formulated by a mathematics department of education provincial (North West
province) subject advisor with inputs from teachers. Each page of notes was
available in English and Setswana. Setswana is one of the South African
languages largely spoken in the area where this research was conducted.
Class Exercises – The second section was a class exercise questions page that allowed learners to attempt potential class exercise questions and potential
exam questions and later view the correct answer to the questions. The
presentations of the answers were extensive providing the learners with ways
that they could have attempted the answer.
Class Quiz – The third section was a class quiz which allowed learners an opportunity to test their understanding of the topic area. Their answers were
sent to the database for teachers to keep track of.
Attributes – The fourth section was an acknowledgement section that
acknowledged the parties that contributed to the development of the learning
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1. Login page – Learners used this portal to log into this system
2. Subject choice – Learners would then choose their subject of study i.e.
mathematics
3. Activity page – Learners would then chose which activity they wanted to do: Class Notes, Class Quiz, Class exercises
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Figure 4. 1 The M-Thuto system interface
4. This page presents the one of the notes pages presented in two different languages allowing learners to interchange between the two pages
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Learner’s options
Learners can move between
Setswana and English notes
1. Notes 2. Class Quiz Answers to the quiz
will be sent to the
database
3. Class Exercises
Learners can reveal the answers and
steps after attempting the questions 4. Acknowledgments
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Figure 4.1 and figure 4.2 illustrate the M-Thuto system. In figure 4.2 learners had a
choice of which subject they would choose. After choosing the subject the diagram
illustrates the view of the notes, the view of the class quizzes and the view of the
class exercises with worked solutions.