Thesis Title: E- learning Technologies Deployment Framework Based on Learning Management System and Smartphone platforms for Self-directed Learning: Case of University of Dar es Salaam

Student’s Name: Tumaini Meckphason Makundi

Supervisors Names:

1.Dr. Anselemo Peters Ikoha

2.Mr. Juma Kilwake

Abstract:

The growth of Information and communication technologies brought a significant change in learning. The spread of covid pandemic also forced universities to implement eLearning to support the students. eLearning is supported by different technologies and the universities are using amalgamation of eLearning technologies in supporting the teaching and learning processes. These technologies disorient the users when they want to integrate them during teaching and learning process. The purpose of this study was to integrate Learning Management System and Smartphone platforms to support the learners in self-directed learning. The study was guided by four objectives: ‘establish the eLearning technologies being used in university of Dar es Salaam’; ‘analyze the eLearning usability heuristics for learning management system platform usability heuristics towards self-directed learning’; ‘evaluate the smartphone platform usability features towards self- directed learning’ and ‘develop a self-directed eLearning deployment framework for universities. The study adopted a case study research design based on University of Dar es Salaam. A sample of 392 respondents were used and this was obtained through stratified and simple random sampling techniques. The study used a questionnaire as the data collection tool. The validity of the tool was determined by IT expert consultation while the reliability was determined by Cronbach’s alpha after the pilot study. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive, exploratory and inferential statistics. The findings on eLearning technologies show that Web conferencing technology, Learning Management System University services web access, Mobile web access to university services and Social Networking were the most preferred since they had the weighted means above the average weighted mean of 3.42.  while the poor technologies were E- mail, E-Forums and E-Portfolio with the weighted mean of 2.87, 2.63 and 2.652 respectively. The findings on Learning Management System Usability Heuristics shows that the LMS is easy to use, it is useful, easy to learn and feedback is guaranteed. This was because the means of the responses ranged between 1.78 to 1.98. Moreover, the findings on the smartphones platform usability feature depicted that the learners’ smartphones are compatible with different software, high degree of sensitivity and can be connected to the internet and other devices to facilitate self-directed learning. This was so because the mean among the constructs were ranging between 1.55 and 2.00. Moreover, 97% of the respondents were aware of self-directed learning and they are confident to rely on self-learning skills. 92% of the respondents claimed that the use of LMS can assist them in self-directed learning while 87% highlighted that the smartphone can be of help in self-directed learning. The deployment framework was developed using Learning Management System usability heuristics which contributed a weight of .560 and the smartphone usability features which contributed .440 to the framework. This implies that it is the fundamental component required for the eLearning Technology Deployment in the universities. This need to be given first considerations before the other as it forms the backbone effective interconnection