Towards improving teaching and learning in colleges of education using mobile learning – the Nigerian perspective.

Abstract

The teaching and learning conditions, for example classrooms, learning materials, and manpower in colleges of education in Nigeria, which were established with a mandate to train foundation-level (primary school) teachers, are grossly inadequate. Compounding the situation is the high population growth and the high level of insurgency in Nigeria. The result is poor access to education, inadequate training of teachers and an overall negative effect on nation building. This study considers m-learning (mobile learning), as one viable way of addressing some of the challenges. To explore this possibility, the study is conducted in two stages. A mixed methods approach is employed across the entire study. The main research strategies used are surveys and interviews while observations are used in some cases. The preliminary stage investigates the perceptions of stakeholders or possible factors that may influence their intention to use m-learning. Study samples of 375 and 30 were used for the quantitative and qualitative components respectively. First, the preliminary study explored the experiences and usage of mobile devices by stakeholders, thereafter, their perceptions or factors that may have some influence on their intention to use mobile learning and social networking sites were ascertained. The second stage tests the implementation of the m-learning approach in four courses in colleges of education using study samples of 330 and 15 for the different components. While the preliminary study is guided by UTAUT (a subset of the conceptual framework), the second stage is underpinned by the entire conceptual framework derived from UTAUT, information systems success model and educational use of the Facebook model. Descriptive statistics and structural equation modelling (SEM) are applied to analyse the quantitative data while the qualitative data is analysed using content analysis aided by Nvivo. Findings from the preliminary stage reveal that stakeholders are positive about mobile learning, signalling their readiness to accept the technology. In the final stage, the study reveals that m-learning significantly improves the teaching and learning conditions in colleges of education, specifically by reducing the inadequacies of physical facilities, and by improving the reading culture and performance of students. The results further indicate that most of the stakeholders are satisfied with the benefits of m-learning and wish to continue using the technology. The research also contributes to theory and practice, extending m-learning implementation literature, through the development of an m-learning implementation model, which will be of value to colleges of education in Nigeria and beyond.