The use of cellular phones to improve curriculum practice in economic and management sciences classes

[摘要] The study aimed to design a framework for the use of cellular phones to improve curriculum practice in economic management sciences classes. Twenty-first century learners and the reforms in South Africa require that our education system accommodates intense use of technology in our classrooms. Effective use of technology for teaching and learning promotes effectiveness and competence in education. Most of the learners who reside in rural or poor areas have little or no exposure to an inspirational environment that could enrich their education, consequently, maximum learner participation, critical engagement and collaborative learning are not experienced. In order to redress the educational challenges facing South Africa, pedagogical approaches that encourage effective participation and collaboration prepare the learners for the life-world. This was possible, because critical emancipatory research, which advocates peace, hope, emancipation, respect and social justice, was used as the theoretical framework to ensure that the design of the framework is completed through the contributions of different people. Connectivism, by Van Dijk, was drawn on as the learning theory to strengthen the lens of the study. The collaborative and emancipatory agenda of the study aimed at addressing power relations, and led to participatory action research being put into action for generating data. Two focus groups consisting of learners and adults, were used for generating data through minutes of meetings. Data analysis was performed using critical discourse analysis, which is suitable for educational research and for discourses between social structures. The findings revealed that using cellular phones has the potential to transform the learning environment and assist learners to gain information.

[发布机构] University of the Free State