Usability Testing of a Mobile-based Learning Management System for Teacher Continuous Professional Development in Tanzania

The last two decades have seen the growing adoption of mobile devices to enhance the quality of teachers' continuous professional development (TCPD) in low-income countries. Using mobile devices, typically not designed for educational use, presents new usability challenges, preventing teachers...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational journal of education and development using information and communication technology Vol. 19; no. 2; pp. 75 - 92
Main Authors Kondoro, Aron, Maro, Salome, Mtebe, Joel, Haßler, Björn, Proctor, Jamie
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bridgetown University of the West Indies 01.01.2023
Subjects
Data Analysis
Developing countries
Digital technology
Education
Educational Needs
Educational Resources
Electronic Learning
Elementary schools
Focus groups
Human error
LDCs
Learning activities
Learning management systems
Online instruction
Primary Education
Professional development
Questionnaires
Teachers
Teaching Methods
Usability
Usability testing
Web browsers
Tanzania
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Summary:The last two decades have seen the growing adoption of mobile devices to enhance the quality of teachers' continuous professional development (TCPD) in low-income countries. Using mobile devices, typically not designed for educational use, presents new usability challenges, preventing teachers from effectively accessing learning materials in learning management systems (LMS). Therefore, it is important to test usability to improve the delivery of TCPD via mobile devices. This study evaluated the usability of TCPD-focused mobile-based LMS accessed via a mobile web browser and mobile app. The evaluation used a hybrid think-aloud method involving 63 teachers from 12 schools in Tanzania. Half of the schools were evaluated using a concurrent think-aloud method, and the other half using a retrospective think-aloud method. The study found that teachers encountered many usability problems in using the mobile app compared to those who accessed the LMS via mobile web browsers. The study also found usability flaws in the registration and login process, poor language translation, technical errors, and issues with quiz questions. These findings show the importance of user testing, even for well-developed LMS, such as Moodle. Additionally, this work provides useful guidance for those who want to implement mobile learning via an LMS in low-income countries.
ISSN:1814-0556