Assessing the use of mobile educational tools for enhancing innovative teaching and learning in higher education institutions in Tanzania

Abstract

mobile technologies have impacted people’s lives by enhancing the way activities are performed in industries in different sectors including the education sector. The use of mobile devices by teachers and students in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have brought up online sharing and exchange of educational materials. This mode of educational communication has influenced (or impacted) the performance of students and teachers specifically in the academic field through innovative teaching and learning. However, in Tanzania little is known on the extent of the use of mobile education tools (METs) for enhancing innovative teaching and learning. This study, therefore, applied the modified technology acceptance model (TAM) to assess the use of METs for innovative teaching and learning in Four HEIs in Tanzania. The study was mainly quantitatively combined with an initial qualitative study whereby nine (9) teachers and twenty-one (21) students were purposefully selected for semi-structured interviews. In total 600 participants from the four HEIs in Dar es Salaam participated in the study. The qualitative data were thematically analyzed and the quantitative data were analyzed using IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 descriptive analysis based on means and standard deviations. Findings revealed that electronic learning (e-learning) systems are generally operative in all of the four HEIs as well as learning management systems which have some educational tools embedded for the improvement of exchange and sharing of educational materials between teachers and students. Apart from e-learning systems, the use of METs is not formal so that teachers can use their own educational tools for teaching purposes.