A framework for the user experience of teachers using mobile technology in resource constrained environments

Abstract

The use of mobile technology at schools is no longer a dialogue in the boardroom, it has become a reality in South Africa. Various projects are taking place in the education sector that involve implementing the use of technology at schools in teaching and learning. Amongst these projects is the ICT4E project that resumed in 2016. The CSIR was assigned to lead the project, which aims to incorporate the use of mobile technology in teaching and learning in resource constrained environments. A resource constrained environment can be described as an environment with specific conditions,such as limited access to electricity, low levels of literacy within the population, a lack of infrastructure, and technology and technical constraints. In the project, teachers were trained to use mobile technologies (tablets) in teaching and learning. After teachers had completed their training, they were provided with mobile technologies to use at schools with learners. After using the technologies, it was important to ensure that teachers were comfortable with using mobile technologies and that the User Experience (UX) of teachers using mobile technologies was enhanced. The study focussed on identifying the components and factors that may have an influence on the UX of teachers using mobile technologies in resource constrained environments, and aimed to develop a framework that can be used as a guideline in implementing and using mobile technologies at schools for teaching and learning. The framework informs the project implementers, researchers and other stakeholders to focus on the identified components. The study used the explorative qualitative methodology to collect data, and utilised a questionnaire that was developed from a conceptual framework derived from the literature review. The study revealed that most of the components (subcomponents) and the factors that were identified do have an influence on the UX of teachers, and only a few were removed from the final framework. Additional factors that were identified or suggested by the participants (teachers) were included in the final framework. The final product of this study is the User Experience of Teachers using Mobile Technologies in Resource Constrained Environments (UXFTMTR) framework.