Recommendations given by students for the improvement or precautions to consider for

According to the findings of this study, students, with the support of their teachers, have raised important recommendations to the school authorities for safeguarding the effective use of smartphone technology for academic purposes. They have brought up pertinent issues and they advise other students and parents on precautions to ensure that technology is used effectively, without causing harm to the students. If these recommendations are considered seriously by the

parties concerned, the Zimbabwean education system can effectively implement and incorporate the academic use of smartphones as one important ICT innovation recommended in the new education curriculum.

5.4.1 Recommendations to the school authorities and the teachers

Students and teachers in this study in collaboration with the researcher have proffered the following recommendations to the school authorities regarding the academic use of smartphones.

i. The Ministry of Education should make the academic use of smartphones as part of the education policy implemented by all schools. They should make it mandatory for all schools to adopt the use of smartphone technology. This is against the background that some schools, especially boarding schools, are alleged to be prohibiting students from bringing to school and using smartphones. School authorities must appreciate that technology is fast-moving. As a nation, we need to embrace such changes, not resist them. The participating teachers also support this recommendation.

ii. The students advocate that it should be made mandatory for all A-level subject teachers to embrace the use of smartphones by their students for learning purposes. Most of the students who are currently using smartphones as a learning tool at Harare High School are in the sciences and the commercial subject classes only. Participating students are of the view that all subjects should be given an equal opportunity when it comes to using technology. In support of the students’ recommendation, I maintain that all subjects should be treated on an equal platform when it comes to using smartphones as a teaching and learning tool. This will ensure that students are accorded an equal opportunity of using the current IC technologies for their academic benefit.

iii. The students and teachers recommend that only senior and more mature students at the school be allowed to use smartphones. Schools should equip their laboratories with sufficient computers and laptops which are easy to track and monitor, to allow junior students in the school to access the Internet on these machines for research purposes. This is in accordance with the justification given by the participating students, who proclaim that junior students are too immature to handle the negative effects of using smartphone technology. I personally agree with the idea of restricting smartphone use in the case of junior students at the primary level of education. However, when it comes to secondary school students, such students should be allowed to use their smartphones. This is in light of the new curriculum in Zimbabwe. This curriculum has introduced e-learning from pre-

school, that is, ECD level. Following the current trends, smartphone technology, coupled with adequate monitoring strategies, will soon be used as a learning tool even at the early stages of children’s learning experiences.

iv. Students and teachers also recommend that there be close monitoring of the smartphone and networks to ensure that the technology is not abused. Each student should have an individual password, which may be accessed by the IT manager; and there should be a track record of each user. Spot checks should be conducted on students to ensure that they do not abuse that facility. Prefects and class monitors should be empowered to help in monitoring the use of smartphones to avoid abuse. A timetable should be drawn up which facilitates the controlled use of the smartphone. In support of this recommendation, I believe that schools should have wide consultations with specialists in ICT, offering strategies and guiding rules that regulate the use of smartphones for academic benefits while curbing abuse of the technology. However, caution must be taken to ensure that these regulations do not restrict students from participating. Only academic sites on the Internet should be made accessible to students. According to the literature, there are some applications which can help teachers in controlling what students can see on their screens. Teachers can use such products as ‘Nearpod’. This application offers powerful, multiple functions in one platform that is integrated and can connect students to content and to their peers (Frontiera, 2013). Armstrong (2014) recommends one other software suitable for tablets and smartphones, namely, ‘Lan- School’, suitable for classroom management. This system is designed to help teachers control or limit abuse and distractions of the smartphones for students in the class.

v. Students also advocate the training of teachers on the academic use of smartphones because some teachers may not know how to use these devices as a learning tool. Training of teachers to be smartphone literate should be prioritised, in order for them to adopt use, and encourage their students to use the technology in their learning processes. In this regard, seminars may be arranged to fill the gap. However, as a long-term solution, teacher training colleges should incorporate the use of smartphone technology as a teaching method in their courses, to ensure that they move with current trends. There are some applications, such as ‘ResponseWare’ that convert smartphones into classroom “clickers” that can answer multiple-choice questions. Clickers, or student response systems, are a technology used to promote active learning (Martyn, 2007).

Another application, ‘TurningPoint’, allows students to answer interactive questions through their smartphones. This has been proven to increase student retention while

engaging learners and allowing teachers to immediately assess students’ understanding. Students may also use web-enabled devices to participate. Their responses are collected in real time, where teachers can ensure that content is resonating, and objectives are met vi. The government, in its new education curriculum, should incorporate the teaching of media literacy. Students advocate the inclusion of topics like media literacy, and character education, in subjects or learning areas like ‘Guidance and Counselling’. Such will prepare students so that they are empowered to deal with the challenges of mass media, using the Internet in a profitable way.

vii. Students and teachers recommend that schools should levy parents in order to raise funds to buy smartphones for all students. This is because not all students at Harare High School own smartphones. This situation may be attributed to the economic strictures of parents, leading them to prioritise other issues at the expense of buying a smartphone. On the other hand, this may be owing to the parents’ negative perceptions of the use of this technology. However, if the purchase of the devices is initiated and enforced by the school, this will ensure that all students have an equal opportunity of owning a smartphone. This will also solve the technological challenges emanating from the use of differing types of smartphones by students.

5.4.2 Advice to the parents

i. All parents need to adopt a mind-set of embracing the academic use of smartphones by their children. To this effect, they should provide funding for the purchase of smartphones that are suitable for academic use by their children, purchasing data bundles for their children to access the Internet from home.

ii. Parents should not ignore their role of teaching their children how to use smartphones for academic purposes. Although this task may depend on the literacy level of each parent, there are some basic tips parents can give their children. However, if parents are unable to assist in this area they should look for professional people to assist in this regard.

iii. Parents should monitor their children when they are using smartphones at home. Parents should control their children as they use these smartphones because irresponsible use can destroy their children’s future. They should never be too busy to monitor their children. They also need, as parents, to comply with set rules and regulations by the school authorities, as the schools govern the use of these smartphones.

5.4.3 Advice to the students

viii. Students, being the sole players in the academic use of smartphones, need a high level of discipline in order to realise the full benefits of smartphone use in their academic work. Participating students in this study are encouraging other students to focus on schoolwork more than on social activities on their smartphones. Students need to appreciate and adopt the smartphones as a learning tool and not as a device for entertainment only.

ix. Smartphone users should be sufficiently disciplined to adhere to academic sites and avoid visiting irrelevant or questionable Internet sites.

x. Students should not use passwords: parents must be easily able to access their phones for monitoring purposes.

xi. Each student should make a timetable to follow when using a smartphone. The student should learn to limit the time on the smartphone to allow for other processes in life to take place.

5.4 Summary

This chapter deliberated on the research outcomes of this research. It demonstrated that students at Harare High School use their smartphones for research, downloading e-books and academic papers, for the storage of notes and past examination papers, and for the sharing of notes and assignments through social media platforms. The perception of the students, teachers, and parents on the academic use of smartphones was also discussed in this chapter. Besides usage of smartphones for learning purposes, analysis of such use has revealed that participating students also use the smartphone as an entertainment device for listening to music, watching television, video viewing, for viewing soccer, for playing games, and social networking amongst other items. However, there are certain challenges noted which are associated with smartphone use. These include financial constraints, technical challenges, distraction, and abuse of the device, addiction, and ownership challenges. This chapter also deliberated on the role of the school environment, teachers and parents, in promoting the academic use of smartphones. The recommendations made by the students, teachers, and parents on improving the academic use of smartphones, was also presented.

CHAPTER SIX

Main findings and recommendations

This chapter reflects on the whole study. It presents the main findings of this study, which are classified into three segments following the three research objectives and research questions. The chapter also highlights the contributions of this thesis to new knowledge: these are classified as methodological and theoretical contributions. The research gaps and recommendations for future research are also given in this chapter.