Mobile learning through indigenous languages: learning through a constructivist approach

Abstract

AbstractAn increase in accessible electronic pedagogy available in African languages is vital in extending learning resources to resource constrained schools and multilingual communities. The lack of appropriate mobile and electronic resources in these contexts often limits learners from participating in the digital age and discovering knowledge through technology. South Africa, used as the context for this study, has eleven official languages and promotes their use for education in schools. There are however limited bilingual resources that support bilingual education. The different challenges, such as the limited resources that enable an effective learning environment, often make it difficult for teachers to create new learning environments that embrace technology in classrooms. This paper presents a case study that evaluates the potential use of mobile learning to support the current informal learning process for resource constrained multilingual high school learners. In the study learners created their own audio based bilingual learning material on mobile phones using a constructivist learning approach, in the subject area of physical science. A total of 32 high school learners and their teacher from a South African school participated in the study, and though semi–structured interviews and questionnaires learners reported on their experiences. Infrastructure challenges, including limited access to free electronic resources, and slow and expensive Internet access, became the main hurdles in supporting a constructivist learning environment. The mobile learning process however gave learners an opportunity to create their learning content in their own languages at any location at any time, and use the content later for revision.