2014 e learning innovations conference

1. A MOBILE APPLICATION (I-MASOMO)
FOR ENHANCING INFORMATION ACCESS FOR
UNIVERSITY COURSE SELECTION IN KENYA
DR. EVERLYNE MAKHANU
AND
KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA
STRATHMORE UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
2014 eLearning Innovations Conference

2. DR. EVERLYNE MAKHANU & KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA
STATHMORE UNIVERSITY
Introduction
•Demand to access university education in Kenya
•Limited intake capacity in public universities
•Increased number of Qualified students
•Placement is based on merit, applicants choice
& criteria (KUCCPS)
•Limited access to courses information

3. DR. EVERLYNE MAKHANU & KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA
STATHMORE UNIVERSITY
Research Problem
• Demand for Univ. edu. is ever increasing surpassing the present
capacity of public universities in Kenya
• Majority of students fail to secure chances of admission to
universities or pursue courses of interest due to limited info. on
various degree programmes and requirements for admission.
• Information is still manual or, where available electronically it is
incomplete or not easy for prospective students to make
informed decision
• Therefore, the study sought to address the recurring problem of
students seeking admission to institutions of HE.

4. DR. EVERLYNE MAKHANU & KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA
STATHMORE UNIVERSITY
Significance of the study
• Prospective students will be able to access relevant information and
make well informed decisions on course and career selection
• Give insight on how mobile phones can be used to enhance student
enrolment
• Help in Policy formulation in education sector
• Provide awareness on information access via mobile in Ed. sector .
• Help in addressing existing research gaps or in relation to the use of
mobile phone in ed. sector
Assumptions of the Study
• Prospective students, parent and guardians have access to mobile
phones (internet enabled)

5. DR. EVERLYNE MAKHANU & KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA
STATHMORE UNIVERSITY
Research Question(s)
1. How is mobile phone technology being used
currently for admission in higher education?
2. What are some of the current mobile applications
initiatives in higher education in Kenya?
3. Which design requirements are considered when
developing the mobile application?
4. What are the challenges to utilizing mobile phone
applications in Kenyan Universities?

6. Literature review
1. Theoretical Framework
Study anchored on Task
Technology Fit (Goodhue
& Thompson, 1995)
model
The model affirms that
technology is developed
to aid an individual
accomplish a specific
task.
DR. EVERLYNE MAKHANU & KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA
STATHMORE UNIVERSITY

7. DR. EVERLYNE MAKHANU & KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA
STATHMORE UNIVERSITY
Literature Review
• Technology in Education - traced back to early 1980’s (White, 2008)
• Importance of ICT in Education – Schools used computers for
administrative work, records keeping and management.
• WWW -> more Research, >info sharing and eased Communication
• Mobile Technology in Education: -
• (West ,2013) Mobile phone has become inevitable in human life
• (Jacobs, 2013) Mobile have extended learning beyond classroom.
• Mobile apps. adopted in Education
1. Credible Kenyan Colleges - registered colleges, courses, contacts
2. ChaguaPlus web portal – help students make decision based on rating (Okwero, 2011)
3. Mprep - quiz system developed to serve primary school

8. DR. EVERLYNE MAKHANU & KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA
STATHMORE UNIVERSITY
Research design
• Descriptive Survey: Used to collect data from the targeted population
comprising - students, parents and teachers
• Target population: 4th year students/graduates, parents and teachers
• Sampling methods: Probability (stratification) and non-probability
(purposive)
• Stratified random sampling used to select schools
• Purposive sampling used to sample parents and teachers

9. DR. EVERLYNE MAKHANU & KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA
STATHMORE UNIVERSITY
Research design
• Data collection: Questionnaires administration - 2 types
• Pre-test – to aid in system development
• Post-test for solution testing
• Data Analysis: Descriptive data analysis was done (SPSS)
• Ethics: All ethical aspects of research were adhered to
including:
• Authorization letter to conduct research
• Integrity of handling questionnaires
• Assurance of confidentiality

10. Nokia
47%
Samsung
24%
Huawei
2%
Techno
15%
Others
12%
Mobile Phone Used
Nokia Samsung Huawei Techno Others
DR. EVERLYNE MAKHANU & KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA
STATHMORE UNIVERSITY

11. DR. EVERLYNE MAKHANU & KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA
STATHMORE UNIVERSITY
Results and Analysis – (Pre-test) • There was no
difference in mean
attitudes of the
perceptions
towards access to
university course
and admission
information
among the three
sampled groups
(student, parent
and teachers) via a
mobile app.
37.9
31
22.4
84.5
60.3
69
77.6
15.5
0 20 40 60 80 100
Access infor. via internet
Access academic infor.
Awareness of existing Mobile apps
Can mobile phone influence decision making
on academic related ways
Percentage
Mobile Phone Usage
No
Yes

12. DR. EVERLYNE MAKHANU & KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA
STATHMORE UNIVERSITY
Results and Analysis – (Post-test)
• *Age, status
(i.e. whether
student,
parent or
teacher) and
education
level, no
difference
existed in
user
satisfaction of
“i-masomo”
utilization
among the
respondents.
91.6
83.3
91.7
99.7
83.3
8.4
16.7
8.3
0.3
16.7
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
General Satisfaction
Usability (accessibility to infor)
Accessing to specific infor
Ease of use
Information Comparison
Percentage
User Satisfaction (i-Masomo)
Disagree/Strongly Disagre Strongly Agree/Agree

13. System Design and Architecture
Architecture: Client Server (3-tier)
• Presentation/Logic/Data layer
Main Components:
• User End System/Back End
• Infrastructure
Development Environment:
• Java/MySql /PHP
DR. EVERLYNE MAKHANU & KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA
STATHMORE UNIVERSITY

14. DR. EVERLYNE MAKHANU & KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA
STATHMORE UNIVERSITY
Conclusions
 Mobile technology can suitably be used in HE sector
 Adoption of mobile apps will enhance access to HE related
information
 Integration of Mobile apps to the existing academic
management systems will positively enhance information
access in the HE sector.

15. DR. EVERLYNE MAKHANU & KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA
STATHMORE UNIVERSITY
Limitations of the Study
• A detailed portfolio for the different universities could not be fully
achieved as some universities viewed the exercise as exposing them
to their competitors.
• Despite of the level of access to mobile phones high students didn’t
have mobile phone at their disposal at schools (school policies)

16. DR. EVERLYNE MAKHANU & KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA
STATHMORE UNIVERSITY
Recommendation for future study
• Mobile application developers and various stakeholders within the HE
sector should embrace use of mobile apps in their processes.
• Although industry specific, “i-masomo” mobile app can be used to
stimulate experimentation and innovation in the education sector and
other sub-sectors
• Diversification/improvement of “i-Masomo” mobile application could
be enhanced for multi-platforms and infrastructure in order to
increase user acceptance within the target population.
• Stakeholders in HE could invest in mobile technology infrastructures
to enhance adoption of mobile application in the ed. sector

17. DR. EVERLYNE MAKHANU & KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA
STATHMORE UNIVERSITY
Mobile App Demo

18. DR. EVERLYNE MAKHANU & KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA
STATHMORE UNIVERSITY
Web portal Demo
KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA | 073618

19. DR. EVERLYNE MAKHANU & KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA
STATHMORE UNIVERSITY
Back-end Administration
KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA | 073618

20. THANK YOU
DR. EVERLYNE MAKHANU & KIM MUSYOKA MUSILA
STATHMORE UNIVERSITY