Browsing by Author "Macharia, Jimmy"

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    Mobile Applications to Enhance Versatility of Mobile Learning in Higher Education
    (2013-11-30) Macharia, Jimmy
    In recent times, despite the fact that Mobile learning or m-learning is a relatively new concept, it has become a buzz word in academic, researchers and companies developing learning systems and instructional materials. Unfortunately, standards and platforms like those that exist in elearning are still evolving. One thorny issue is that of m-examinations. Although in e-learning setup supervised examination rooms/center, have worked well the ability to authenticate the candidate doing an examination in unsupervised environment on remote place is limited. Moreover, the requirement of internet access throughout the examination session and particularly for the student to be able to submit his answers is also a major limitation. This study was not only an effort to remove the two limitations, but also to do so on the mobile learning environment. The study investigated the concept of sending by email a locked examination as an android mobile application. The student would then download and install the App in their smart devices a few minutes, days or even weeks but will not be able to run the App until the instructor sends a key to the registered student’s mobile hone number in the device to unlock the examination App installed in their phones two or three minutes before the examination start time. The approach used in this study was mixed methods. The first method was experimental where a mobile examination application was developed in Android. Then the mobile examination application was send by email to the 60 students who participated so that they could download it in their smart devices. The second method was a questionnaire survey to capture the student’s perception. The findings of the study show that the effect of Organizational Support (OS), Availability of ICTs (ICT) and Effort Expectancy (EE) on Behavioral intention to use M-learning and particularly m-examination was significant. The findings of this research will not only help m-learning practitioners develop m-learning examinations and promote this new IT to potential users, but also provide insights into research on m-examination acceptance.