Abstract:

Higher education institutions continue to move away from traditional, lecture-based lessons towards new, innovative teaching and learning methodologies to facilitate emerging pedagogies and strategies, thereby enhancing student learning. The adoption of technological innovation could promote the unfolding of a social process that over time could enhance social connectedness among young students and their older adult educators. The increased need for nursing professionals and the promotion of quality and effectiveness in nursing education has become crucial. It is thus important to establish learning environments in which personalised guidance and feedback to students regarding their practical skills and the application of their theoretical knowledge within clinical learning environments is provided.

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the affordances of mobile learning in an undergraduate nursing programme at a higher education institution in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. The methodological design used in this research study was the systematic, yet flexible Integrative Learning Design Framework of Dabbagh & Bannan-Ritland (2005), a design-based research model. This framework includes three phases, namely the exploration phase, the enactment phase and the evaluation phase.

The exploration phase (situational analysis) of the study used quantitative and qualitative research methods to inform the development of a plan for intervention. Quantitative data was collected using a survey while qualitative data was collected through focus groups and individual interviews students and educators and a discussion with educators. The data analysis by the researcher was guided by Tesch’s (1990) systematic process, and an independent coder reviewed the data and, through consensus, themes and sub-themes were confirmed. During the enactment phase, a plan was developed for the integration of theory and clinical practice and the intervention was conducted through three iterations. Participants in this phase submitted electronic reflections at the end of every of the three iterations, followed by focus groups after the third and final iteration. The evaluation phase of the intervention described recommendations to guide educators on how to enhance the integration the theory and clinical practice.

The findings identified the need to include training in information and communication technology into educational practice at higher education institutions to ensure the necessary competency of educators in instructional design was identified. WhatsApp Messenger was identified by students and educators as the best method of online communication, enhancing integration of theory and clinical practice due to affordances offered. WhatsApp Messenger afforded real-time communication as educators were able to respond to activities submitted by students immediately, which afforded a great learning platform. Challenges with Internet connectivity and the availability of data bundles impacted accessibility to online learning tasks communicated to students using WhatsApp Messenger.

It can be concluded that the mobile learning platform created, WhatsApp Messenger, proved effective in providing a platform for the engagement of students and educators.

Keywords:

Mobile learning, undergraduate nursing programme, Integrative Learning Design Framework, design-based research, WhatsApp Messenger.