Mobile Applications in Supporting Open and Distance Learning Students’ Research

Abstract

Honours students, who are mostly new to research, require support in finding, selecting and sharing information resources to conduct research. Providing students with access to information resources becomes problematic in Open and Distance Learning (ODL), especially in developing countries due to constraints that are introduced by distance among the students, and between students and the supervisors. The constraints include isolation, lack of peer collaboration, the cost of Internet facilities, and time management for working students. Mobile applications could offer solutions, but the extant literature offers little guidance on the functional design of such applications. This design science research study presents a mobile tool with an interface for information access, information sharing and collaboration. The evaluation results show that the tool supports collaboration effectively by allowing students to access and share information. Besides the proof of concept, the theoretical contribution also lies in sharing the recommendations for improving the functionality of similar applications.