Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

A formative evaluation of the UCT PMD Programme

Personal mobile devices (PMDs) such as tablets (also referred to as tablet computers or tablet pc) have become important educational technology components for university students. Although advances in wireless, mobile technology have resulted in PMDs becoming widely available and less expensive, PMD...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Velloo, Ilhaam
Other Authors: Goodman, Suki
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Institute for Monitoring and Evaluation 2018
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613208219484160
access_status_str Open Access
author Velloo, Ilhaam
author2 Goodman, Suki
author_browse Goodman, Suki
Velloo, Ilhaam
author_facet Goodman, Suki
Velloo, Ilhaam
author_sort Velloo, Ilhaam
collection Thesis
description Personal mobile devices (PMDs) such as tablets (also referred to as tablet computers or tablet pc) have become important educational technology components for university students. Although advances in wireless, mobile technology have resulted in PMDs becoming widely available and less expensive, PMD ownership still presents a substantial capital outlay beyond the means of many South African university students. Thus, there is a need to explore the opportunities low cost PMD initiatives present. Thus far, limited research has been conducted on if and how flexible learning is achieved through low cost PMDs in the South African higher education context, where access to technology and internet access is inconsistent amongst the student population. This study aims to evaluate the outcomes of the PMD Programme at the University of Cape Town (UCT). The programme aims to create a flexible teaching and learning environment for students in higher education, through the use of low cost tablets. This study focused on whether the programme's short‐term outcomes, namely, improved mobile technology knowledge, portability, mobility, communication, information sharing and collaboration were achieved. The extent to which the programme's medium‐term goals (digital literacy and access to course information) were achieved, were also investigated. Lastly, the degree to which students believed the low cost tablet was good enough for their studies was assessed. This evaluation found that the UCT PMD Programme plays a crucial role in providing students with access to affordable mobile technology in the form of low cost tablets and has demonstrated enhancement of students' ability to learn in a flexible manner. The UCT PMD Programme facilitated improvement in students' mobile technology knowledge, mobility of learning and portability of information immensely. Improved communication and collaboration between peers and lecturers were noted. Information sharing was not enhanced through the use of the tablet. Students' digital literacy skills increased and access to information improved immensely through using the tablet. Overall, through the use of the tablet, improvement in students' flexibility of learning was achieved and students found the low cost tablet adequate for their studies.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/28161
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:32:29.432Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2018
publishDateRange 2018
publishDateSort 2018
publisher Institute for Monitoring and Evaluation
publisherStr Institute for Monitoring and Evaluation
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/28161 A formative evaluation of the UCT PMD Programme Velloo, Ilhaam Goodman, Suki Programme Evaluation Personal mobile devices (PMDs) such as tablets (also referred to as tablet computers or tablet pc) have become important educational technology components for university students. Although advances in wireless, mobile technology have resulted in PMDs becoming widely available and less expensive, PMD ownership still presents a substantial capital outlay beyond the means of many South African university students. Thus, there is a need to explore the opportunities low cost PMD initiatives present. Thus far, limited research has been conducted on if and how flexible learning is achieved through low cost PMDs in the South African higher education context, where access to technology and internet access is inconsistent amongst the student population. This study aims to evaluate the outcomes of the PMD Programme at the University of Cape Town (UCT). The programme aims to create a flexible teaching and learning environment for students in higher education, through the use of low cost tablets. This study focused on whether the programme's short‐term outcomes, namely, improved mobile technology knowledge, portability, mobility, communication, information sharing and collaboration were achieved. The extent to which the programme's medium‐term goals (digital literacy and access to course information) were achieved, were also investigated. Lastly, the degree to which students believed the low cost tablet was good enough for their studies was assessed. This evaluation found that the UCT PMD Programme plays a crucial role in providing students with access to affordable mobile technology in the form of low cost tablets and has demonstrated enhancement of students' ability to learn in a flexible manner. The UCT PMD Programme facilitated improvement in students' mobile technology knowledge, mobility of learning and portability of information immensely. Improved communication and collaboration between peers and lecturers were noted. Information sharing was not enhanced through the use of the tablet. Students' digital literacy skills increased and access to information improved immensely through using the tablet. Overall, through the use of the tablet, improvement in students' flexibility of learning was achieved and students found the low cost tablet adequate for their studies. 2018-05-25T07:52:59Z 2018-05-25T07:52:59Z 2018 Master Thesis Masters MPhil http://hdl.handle.net/11427/28161 eng application/pdf Institute for Monitoring and Evaluation Faculty of Commerce University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Programme Evaluation
Velloo, Ilhaam
A formative evaluation of the UCT PMD Programme
thesis_degree_str Master's
title A formative evaluation of the UCT PMD Programme
title_full A formative evaluation of the UCT PMD Programme
title_fullStr A formative evaluation of the UCT PMD Programme
title_full_unstemmed A formative evaluation of the UCT PMD Programme
title_short A formative evaluation of the UCT PMD Programme
title_sort formative evaluation of the uct pmd programme
topic Programme Evaluation
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/28161
work_keys_str_mv AT vellooilhaam aformativeevaluationoftheuctpmdprogramme
AT vellooilhaam formativeevaluationoftheuctpmdprogramme