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Using MyLSU app to enhance student engagement and promote a smart town at a rural university in Zimbabwe
By Maphosa, V.
This paper discusses the evaluation of an app that was developed to enhance student engagement, thereby transforming a rural university into a smart town. This account provides an opportunity to strengthen the deployment of smart services and digital technologies that enhance student engagement. Developed countries have integrated virtual and physical systems to support education and industrial processes while developing countries such as Zimbabwe seem to be lagging. Government and funding organisations for higher education institutions have expressed interest in clear strategies that encompass student engagement in their policies and activities. The study focused on developing an app that enhanced student engagement aspects related to off-the classroom activities such as voting for leaders, sports and social activities. The study employed design science research methodology, a paradigm used for the development of artefacts that are aimed at solving real-world problems. A user-centred design methodology was adopted to guide the app development process as it enhances user acceptance. A total of 220 participants successfully evaluated the app through a questionnaire. The results of the evaluation revealed that the app was usable, easy to learn, and they would recommend it to others and agreed that they could use the app with no assistance. The results show that the app promoted student engagement and promoted concepts of a smart town. These results will help policymakers and educators to refine the app features and content to improve student engagement. Recommendations proffered can help researchers to explore how mobile apps can be used to promote smart-university towns. © 2020 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
A UTAUT evaluation of whatsapp as a tool for lecture delivery during the COVID-19 lockdown at a Zimbabwean University
By Maphosa, V.
Focusing through the lens of the (COVID-19) lockdown which was enforced on the 30th of March 2020, it became apparent that students from rural resource-constrained educational institutions had to adapt to sustainable online learning platforms from traditional content delivery. WhatsApp a social networking app, but due to its low data consumption, it became a de-facto teaching and learning tool for Lupane State University (LSU) students in Zimbabwe. Prior studies have focused on the use of WhatsApp as an alternative lecture delivery platform but very few have evaluated its role as the sole platform for lecture delivery. With no government or institutional support for data acquisition, students failed to utilise other e-learning platforms that were in place due to exorbitant data costs. This study seeks to evaluate the success of WhatsApp mediated teaching and learning at LSU during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a randomized evaluation of weekly lecture delivery through WhatsApp to LSU students. A questionnaire based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology?s main constructs was delivered to 200 students that were randomly selected. The results revealed that student?s attitudes, behavioral intention of using WhatsApp for learning as well as the platform?s usefulness were rated highly, implying high adoption. The positive perceptions suggest that it would be easy for the institution to formally integrate the platform to augment traditional lecture delivery or for use during an event that disrupts traditional face-to-face lecture delivery. Results revealed that WhatsApp can support 21st century learning through autonomous, collaborative and learner centred education. © 2020, Sciedu Press. All rights reserved.
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