Gathering requirements

Stakeholders play the most important role in the system design process. In this

research, the stakeholders are the learners and the teachers. In agreement with

this, Roschelle (2003) named the three main components in developing mobile

learning technology as the learner, the teacher and the learning platform. These are

the main contributors enabling the learning process to occur. Having established the

role players, we needed to establish the way in which the technology would be used

to support the stakeholders in the learning process. Shih and Mills (2007) propose a

model of developing learning technology that is rooted in mobile learning designs.

Here, pedagogical perspectives establish the following important considerations

which should be made before development: the possibility of variation in the

individual learner’s way of interpreting educational tasks; the manner in which the application affects the learner’s social activities and formal learning settings; the possibility of variation of the mobile device to be used in the learning process; and

finally the possibilities of implementing enhanced learning processes in the future.

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With greater detail we examine below the role of the stakeholders in the multilingual

mobile learning system. The system requirements are then documented so that they

are used to develop a system based on the users’ requirements.

Learners

In developing pedagogy we needed to understand how children learn and learning

theories play a vital role in supporting the human computer interaction aspects of

the learning tool. Various researchers have identified and defined learning theories

based on their findings. Amongst the various classifications of these learning

theories, behaviourism and constructivism were prevalent (Ang et al., 2008; Boghossain, 2006; Hunter and Benson, 2007; Nagowah and Nagowah, 2009; Shih

and Mills, 2007). Principles of both theories which we explore in greater detail in

section 3.12 of this thesis were used to support the development of the M-Thuto

system, while chapter 4 and 5 details how the principles were used to support

different learning activities.

Educators

Technology use is often popular amongst the younger generation. Learners often

invest much more time and energy into it, making them more fluent with the latest

developments in comparison with adults. An interesting challenge arises where

educators are compelled to facilitate learners who possess much greater skills than

they personally have acquired. Such a situation is prevalent for many educators in

the 21st century. As Peters (2007) highlights, technology-inclined learners have

become a challenge during lessons because they require a style of education that

builds upon their existing knowledge rather than simply accept what they are being

taught. In such a context, teachers may become weary of using technology in their

classrooms.

More positively, Rogers and Price (2008) highlight that the introduction of mobile

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teachers to become more progressive in implementing modern educational

techniques when they are forced to allow learners to use their mobile devices to

explore other methods of learning effectively. Educators are also faced with various

challenges when having to implement mobile learning in their classrooms. These

include the awareness that mobile phones can become a disruption to learners and

that learners also face difficulties in undertaking the collaborative work through a

mobile device. These were the challenges that were considered before embarking

upon the research. The challenges were mitigated by constantly involving the

teacher in the development process. When developing the content structure of each

version of the M-Thuto application, the following question became of key

importance: Were we to develop an authoring tool or an application where we would have to design and update the learning content? The research context in which the case studies were conducted both challenged and contributed to the decision.

Firstly, none of the participating teachers had any form of intense computing

background. Secondly, there was a limit on resources and teachers needed to have

their own computers to update the learning content. Considering that the research

period would be conducted over a month, it would be difficult to teach the teachers

how to use an authoring tool in such a small timeframe. Therefore, it was decided to

develop an application that we could control through their pedagogy support and

update. As I was in constant communication with the teachers this was not a

concern, but it would have been a challenge for a longer period of study. With a

longitudinal study, the teachers can be trained to use an authoring tool or a system

allowing content management support features giving them greater control to be

able to update their own content.

At the beginning of the system design and development process, we initially

engaged with the teachers and principals by firstly explaining mobile learning to

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contribution to research and did not necessarily focus on the teachers’ understanding of technology. We also agreed on the boundaries to be set on mobile

phone use in the classes under observation. Before the research process began I

also liaised with the teachers on the development stage of the application

developing the content based on their contributions described in detail in section 4.4

and 5.4. We discussed and agreed upon the structure of the application used in

Chapter’s 4 and 5 with participating teachers and the North West head of mathematics department.

The teachers and learners thus set the systems requirements based on what was to

be learned, why would it be learned and how would it be learned.

2.4.2 Analysis of user requirements - contextual resources and