Design Guidelines for Technology-Enhanced Learning via Mobile Devices in a Tertiary Education Context in South Africa

Abstract

AbstractSmartphones and tablets are ubiquitous in educational contexts, where students on-the-move access learning material via digital devices, on and off-campus. Successful m-learning experiences can be facilitated by mobile learning environments that are multi-facetted and effective, and that meets students’ versatile needs. This study synthesizes a comprehensive set of guidelines for designing and developing mobile-learning environments, with the aim of supporting successful m-learning experiences. The research is a secondary outcome of the development and evaluation of a real-world learning environment for tertiary education, called Mobile Learning Research (m-LR). An initial set of theoretical guidelines emerged from an extensive literature study and was used in the generation of m-LR. Findings from iterative evaluations of m-LR, in turn, contributed to the evolution of a further set of guidelines from real-world practice. These guidelines emerged from positive and negative feedback in the findings of heuristic evaluations by experts and questionnaire surveys among students.KeywordsDesign and development strategyDesign guidelinesDigital devicesEvaluationMobile learning environmentTertiary education