Design and Development of Mobile Learning Lesson Plan (MLLP) Template: A Design Relevant to African Context

Abstract

Effective planning for instruction is time-consuming and thought intensive. However, planning well up-front pays-off over time. Without effective preparation and planning for a lesson, teaching becomes a gamble. While teachers are not rigid in developing their lesson they must have a clear sense of purpose so that students would not be easily distracted and disinterested. As emphasis is placed on effective planning, it must also be noted that in a digital world, no educational establishment can arguably achieve result without integrating technology into the aspect of lesson planning and execution. Teachers must always keep in mind the extensive potentials of technology in lesson planning. In Sub-Saharan Africa especially in Nigeria, the mobile phone subscription is at an exponential rate but this massive revolution has not translate into its use in the secondary schools due to challenges such as; very large classes and high cost of internet access, inadequate requisite skills, training to embark on mobile learning instruction among others. To surpass these challenges, a simple and cost effective strategy for the teacher to use to plan, develop and deliver their lessons through the mobile phone called Mobile Learning Lesson Plan (MLLP) template was designed and developed. The MLLP template equips teachers to organise, plan, design, and evaluate the lesson effectively. It is a roadmap of what is to be taught using the mobile phone, it allows the teacher to provide detailed information of the lesson and provide sequence of activities that is to be carried out using the mobile phone. Sequel to the development of the MLLP template, it was used and validated by pre-service teachers. Their comments suggest that MLLP template is should be incorporated into teacher training curriculum because it helps in effectively developing mobile learning instruction. This paper assesses the development, validation and uses MLLP template in relations to the cultural context.