DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A MOBILE LEARNING SYSTEM
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 OVERVIEW OF THE CASE STUDY
1.2 INTRODUCTION TO MOBILE LEARNING
1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
1.4 AIM OF THE STUDY
1.5 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NEW SYSTEM.
1.7 SCOPE OF THE NEW SYSTEM
1.8 CONSTRAINTS ON THE NEW SYSTEM
1.9 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
1.10 DEFINITION OF TERMS
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 HISTORY OF INTERNET BASED LEARNING SYSTEM
2.2 OVERVIEW OF THE MOBILE LEARNING SYSTEM
2.3 REVIEW OF EXISTING LITERATURE
2.4 PEDAGOGICAL CONSIDERATION IN M-LEARNING SYSTEM
2.5 CURRENT TRENDS IN MOBILE BASED LEARNING
CHAPTER THREE: SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
3.1 ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT SYSTEM
3.2 ANALYSIS OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM
3.3 SYSTEM DESIGN
3.3.1 INPUT DESIGN
3.3.2 OUTOUT DESIGN
3.3.3 DATABASE DESIGN
3.4 SYSTEM PERFORMANCE DIAGRAM
CHAPTER FOUR: SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION AND DOCUMENTATION
4.1 SYSTEM REQUIREMENT
4.2 SYSTEM CHANGE OVER PROCEDURE
4.3 IMPLEMENTATION
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY,CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 SUMMARY
5.2 CONCLUSION
5.3 RECOMMENDATION
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 OVERVIEW OF THE CASE STUDY
Yaba College of Technology was established in 1947 as Yaba Technical Institute, Yaba College of Technology holds the enviable distinction of being the first institution of higher learning in Nigeria. Following increasing global Information Technology demands, the department of computer technology was established in 1989/1990 session. The department runs both ND and HND programs in computer science. The department is one of the fastest growing department in the College; it is also one of the leading IT institution in the country with software development, bureau services as some of her numerous information technology services. The department also offers certificate courses such as Certificate in Information Processing (CIP), which is a short course, Certificate in Information Maintenance (CIM) with UNESCO, Computer Engineering and Maintenance and Desktop Publishing with very experienced lecturers. The department has in view the B.Tech Computer Technology programme (www.yabatech.edu/deptinfo).
In terms of size, the department has more than one hundred and fifty personal computers and other related equipment spread over its four different laboratories and a central laboratory used for servicing other department in the College. The Department is currently headed by Mr. Oludipe, O.
1.2 INTRODUNCTION TO MOBILE LEARNING
The internet is highly used today as it plays a major role in globalization, affecting a range of situations from interpersonal communication to politics and economic growth. The internet is simply the interconnection of various computers, devices and servers with the aim of sharing resources; it basically allows a wider range for data searching and resource sharing compared with other smaller networks. (Liu & LaMont, 2005)
Learning involves the acquisition of knowledge through forms like reading, listening and observation. The Mobile learning system is a Web-based Learning environment, which enables students pass information within themselves in order to improve their learning capabilities over the internet through the use of uploaded books, tutorial videos, study materials and also test materials. This would inadvertently help to improve students learning process and study skills as available technologies today makes it easier for them to obtain such materials anywhere and at any time (Mak, 1996)
The main objective of the Mobile Learning system is to help reduce study problems due to students absenteeism from lectures for serious reasons or non-conducive learning environment due to overcrowding during lectures and improper impartation of required knowledge on the part of the lecturers to the students.
The case study or field to which this application is to be applied is the Department of Computer Technology, Yaba College of Technology. The web application would allow uploads of student materials and also books by the student (main administrator of the application).
1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The normal learning process has its shortcomings; these problems have hindered the ability of some, if not most, students in the department of Computer Technology (our case study) to learn effectively and efficiently. This is due to the inadequacy of learning environment, in terms of space to accommodate the large population of students that attend lectures, the lack of zeal in teaching by some of the lecturers who sometimes get discouraged by class size and the improper dissemination of study materials might find their way to a set of students who in turn, due to laziness or other issues fail to pass it further to their peers, inadvertently stunting their academic development.
1.4 AIM OF STUDY
The real value of Mobile learning lies not in accessing knowledge at any time, any place and for anyone, but helping the right students to acquire the right skills and knowledge at the right time in order to function as active and collaborative participants in the information based society. Thus, the aim of this project is to design a web-based learning system, which would provide the right students with the flexibility and motivation required for knowledge and skill acquisition and self-reflection in todays information driven society.
1.5 OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
The objectives of this proposal include:
? To study the existing learning system being used in the department of Computer Technology, Yaba College of Technology(the case study)
? To highlight the defects in the existing learning system; and
? To design and implement a Mobile-based learning system, using PHP for the backend, while for the communication with users, we are making use of IONIC framework to enable user interact with the system properly, CSS for the interface design and presentation in HTML for rendering the document contents to the browser.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NEW SYSTEM
This project of high importance in the following ways:
1. Reducing the need for physical presence of a lecturer in class and improving the conduct of classes with the students
2. Students with health problems can still have access to course materials and view lecture notes, thereby reducing the need for students physical presence
3. Students running full-time programmes and still work in the evening period or night can have an avenue for accessing necessary study materials wherever they may be, thus reducing their total work load concerning their academics.
4. The study would improve students ability as regards the use of web applications.
1.7 SCOPE OF THE NEW SYSTEM
This project is focused on the creation of s fully functional, user friendly, Mobile based learning system for the Department of Computer Technology, which would allow for a level of user control in the sense that the application users have the option of selecting the best available method they can learn or study with. The application would have an administrative section, managed by a super user which is the main administrator of the application.
1.8 CONSTRAINTS OF THE NEW SYSTEM
1). Time, involving the update of files in the web application, in the event that new materials are available and the old ones, on the server have to be updated, due to the general busy schedule of students; such crucial updates might be a problem.
2). Web traffic management, as regards the consistent use of the application in terms of uploads and downloads of files or streaming of videos content from the web application server, which could slow down or halt its performance from time to time, especially considering the volume of students that would be using the application
1.9 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The following methods were utilized in obtaining facts and gathering information as regards the topic:
1). Internet (Secondary data collection).
2). Observation.
These methods were used in carrying out on-the-spot assessment on the issues that occur or affect the conduct of lectures in the case study.
The technologies used for implementing the Mobile learning system are the scripting languages: Angular2; PHP for the backend (database), HTML/CSS and divers tools for uploading images, text and other multimedia elements. Mobile based learning environment WBLEs are tested in a heterogeneous computing environment that includes multi-platforms such as android apk, IOS and also windows operating systems and multimedia support, that is, for text, images and files like word documents.
1.10 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Online Education: There are many terms for online education. Some of them are; virtual education, Internet-based education, Web-based education and also education via computer mediated communication. Hence, online education is characterized by:
? The separation of teachers and learners which distinguishes it from face-to-face education;
? The influence of an educational organization which distinguishes it self from study; and
? Private tutoring
Mobile learning: It is defined as interactive learning In which the learning content is available online and provides automatic feedback to the students learning activities. Online communication with real people may or may not be included, but the focus of mobile learning is usually more on the learning content than on communication between learners and tutors.
Mobile learning system: A mobile .earning system is a system that supports online education
Pedagogy: Pedagogy refers to the profession of a teacher, it also refers to the activities of instructing or teaching, or activities that impart knowledge or skill from a teacher to a learner