Browsing by Author "Makhanu, Everlyne"

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    A mobile application (I-Masomo) for enhancing information access for university course selection in Kenya
    Makhanu, Everlyne; Musila, Kim
    The use of Mobile device in our everyday life has become inevitable due to their availability, affordability, portability and network coverage. In learning, mobile devices present a solution to a number of educational problems (West, 2013). Mobile phones, smart phones, tablets and Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) are all examples of mobile devices. This category of mobile devices may serve multiple purposes. Apart from the traditional use of sending and receiving voice communication, the devices may have advanced features such as internet access; take pictures, play music and some are even equipped with Global Positioning Services (GPS) functionality and many more. According to Jacobs (2013), while mobile technologies provides a way of accessing academic content effectively, students can extend learning beyond the classroom environs while collaborating and sharing with peers. Teachers can also guide students in active learning beyond the standard class times. This paper is based on a mobile application developed at iLabAfrica as part of a Masters dissertation. The main objective of this research was to develop a mobile application and a web portal that would assist students, parents and guardians in decision making through access of relevant information in relation to university courses and admission requirements. To enhance access to university information, a mobile application “i-Masomo” was designed, developed and tested. In addition, a web portal was also incorporated to ease information access and decision making from a central point. Consequently, it aims to collate and avail such information on a platform accessible to the students, as well as other interested parties, via mobile phones and web platforms. In Kenya, there has been an increase in demand to access university education. This has been attributed mainly to the increase in number of candidates who obtain the minimum university entry requirement grade of C+ and above in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination. The need to identify the right course and career of choice is evident despite the few slots offered in public universities. This study addresses the recurring problem of students seeking admission to Kenya’s public universities having to manually peruse through large volumes of University Calendar entries in search of their desired degree programs and the requisite requirements for admission to such programs. In Kenya, there is still no integrated system that can be used to identify the right course based on the performance of a student. This paper describes the step by step design and development techniques and process of the i-Masomo mobile application and the web portal. The findings of this study express that majority of prospective students, parents and teachers access academic related information from the internet. The study also ascertains that the i-Masomo mobile application and the web portal has a significant potential in dissemination of information about university course selection and university enrollment in Kenya.
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    A mobile-based leave application (M-La) for government institutions: the case of the Teachers Service Commission of Kenya
    Makhanu, Everlyne; Kipkoech, Bernard
    In government institutions in Kenya and particularly the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), leave management has been done, but little consideration has been made for the possibility of mobile leave application. With the rapid changes in Information Communication Technology (ICT) and in particular introduction of m-government, mobile leave management is inevitable. Yet to be seen is a mobile leave management system being introduced in the TSC so as to cater for the ever changing ICT trends. This paper therefore reports about the current systems being used for leave management and the success factors that can lead to the use of a Mobile Leave Application (M-LA). The research also analyses successful m-application in the government and also in different parts of the world and considers the applicability of the same in the TSC. From the literature reviewed, it was found out that there have been some successful m-government applications in different sectors which include transport and energy. However, little has been done in the education sector which is still struggling to adapt to m-government. Factors that have led to failures in the current system were looked at and from them; focus was put on the applicability of M-LA in the government. The normal way of Leave application by teachers is through the manual system which is not very efficient, because a lot of paper work has to be done which takes a reasonable length of time to prepare and process. Due to the increasing number of teachers applying for leave, management of data has becomes a difficult task. As a solution, a Mobile-based Leave Application system (M-LA) should be used for leave management in the TSC. Apart from phones being available to over 70% of the population, more trust has developed on m-applications in Kenya since the advent of m-pesa. M-apps are also reliable and they eliminate a lot of paper work with security also being assured. M-LA additionally enables faster and reliable processing of data since the interaction between the employer and the user is through a mobile phone which is easily accessible. The research involved development of a mobile leave application (M-LA) model that was used as a proof of concept in the research. This model application was implemented using, Java Micro Edition for mobile phones, php/html web application framework, windows operating system, MySQL as a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) and other reliable open source products. The Mobile Leave Application (M-LA) will be implemented within the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and for the teaching staff only to solve problems associated with leave management. A formal observation and interview with experienced staff that are using the current manual application was conducted to gain more information. It is this application together with a questionnaire and a set of interview questions that data was collected and analyzed. From the data collected, it was found out that the main factors that will lead to the introduction of a mobile leave application (M-LA) in the TSC include its availability, acceptability and speed of data processing by the user which bases itself on the cases of preceding applications. Finally, for further research, this paper recommends a look at the security flaws that can be encountered in an m-government application as this can lead to serious loopholes in the system.
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    Adoption of e-Assessment in Strathmore University
    Makhanu, Everlyne; Sevilla, Joseph
    ICT can contribute to the development and efficiency of education management and administration. Efforts to introduce ICT in teaching, learning and assessment aim to help meet a wide variety of goals in the education sector. This paper is based on a research project that was carried out in Strathmore University by @iLabAfrica, funded by the Kenya Education Network (KENET). The research was driven by challenges facing traditional assessment of large classes. It aimed at identifying e-assessment tools, evaluating if differences existed between performances of students examined with traditional assessment and those examined with e-assessment and investigating the feasibility of implementing e-assessment to complement eLearning in the University. Findings revealed that a variety of tools existed and that e-assessment was better than traditional assessment in terms of students’ performance, management of large classes, flexibility and cost effectiveness
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    Motivational factors influencing citizens to use M-Government services: a case of Kenyan ministries
    Makhanu, Everlyne; Sevilla, Joseph; Marini, Clement
    Information Communication Technologies (ICTS) have offered a wide range of opportunities to transform traditional governance in ways government services are offered. Growing research demonstrates the potential of mobile communications to radically transform service delivery by the government. M-Government is therefore emerging as the next big wave for ICT use in the public sector. This paper is based on a research done in 2012 at @iLabAfrica in Strathmore University as part of findings from a Masters dissertation. The purpose of the study was to investigate the role of m-government projects on service delivery to citizens in Kenya in order to enhance public service delivery. One of the study objectives was to evaluate motivational factors that influence citizens to use m-Government services. The study used a descriptive survey design and employed questionnaire and interview techniques to collect data. It was carried out in all the headquarters of 31 Ministries of the Government of Kenya in Nairobi County. Random sampling was used to select citizens in each Ministry. Purposive sampling was used to identify the government officials working in the ICT units. A questionnaire was designed to gather information. Data was analyzed and presented in frequency and percentage outcomes or tables. The findings reveal that most Kenyans contact the Government Ministries via Mobile phone mostly to enquire about a particular service, entitlement, or application. In terms of citizens’ awareness about m-Government services, 58.8% respondents were not aware of any m-Government services. Data on citizen interactions with m-government service reveals that the respondents on the whole had more negative experiences than positive experiences. This indicates that there is room for improvement in Kenyan service delivery. Kenyan citizens prefer services communicated or delivered via mobile phones because: relatively lower cost of mobile phone technology; access through shared usage and ownership; and mobile phones reach areas where there is no other ICT infrastructure. Recommendations included: services must be easy to use with valuable and timely content in order to ensure the service is relevant for end users; true transformation needs governments to pay close attention to re-engineering processes, reforming institutions, and creating an environment for greater accountability and transparency.
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    Student academic management mobile application: a case of Strathmore university
    Ateya, Ismail Lukandu; Makhanu, Everlyne; Balala, Fatma Khalid
    Over the last decade, Students in higher education around the world have been facing a number of challenges and potential threats to attain academic excellence. The major problem identified in this research was the lack of a solution based on current technology and data infrastructure to provide response to address student challenges. Most of the students face poor time management skills, unavailability of academic records, and lack of communication with lecturers and insufficient bursary' information and last but not least the lack of instant event notification. The dissertation is an applied research which implemented research tools such as observations, interviews and questionnaires with the aim of identifying the common challenges encountered in higher education and thereafter proposing a hi-tech unified solution for the students. The research sample was drawn from Strathmore University students, who were provided with questionnaires. The data collected was used to draw important conclusions for the design algorithm. Control data was collected by interviewing few students from a public university, which doesn't have a technological solution. Eventually a comprehensive review of challenges and current solutions were presented from findings of the survey. The suggestions obtained from the literature review and conclusions of research findings' influenced the design of an academic solution. Hence an android based mobile application was developed to address student challenges in the following sections: Planner, Timetable, Records, Communication and an instant notification service. The prototype application was tested among a few Strathmore students and an acceptance level of 81.5% calculated from findings. The test results showed that the application has improved students time management skills by 25%, enhanced communication by 33% and has improved the students' general performance by a grade difference of 15%. These values are a proof of the positive impact it has on university and college students. The dissertation has systematically identified the student challenges, literature about common architecture and solutions, carried out a survey using questionnaires and interviews, analyzed the results and drew conclusions. Finally a mobile application was designed to fill the identified technological gap and tested to prove its acceptance and effectiveness.
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    Student academic management mobile application: a case of Strathmore university
    Ateya, Ismail Lukandu; Makhanu, Everlyne; Balala, Fatma Khalid
    Over the last decade, students in higher education around the world have been facing a number of challenges and potential threats to attain academic excellence. The major problem identified in this research was the lack of a solution based on current technology and data infrastructure to provide response to address student challenges. Most of the students face poor time management skills, unavailability of academic records, ineffective communication links to lecturers and no guide to funding/bursary information and lack of instant announcement notification. This paper is based on an applied research which implemented research tools such as observations, interviews and questionnaires with the aim of identifying the common challenges encountered in higher education and thereafter proposing a hi-tech unified solution for the students. Strathmore University students were provided with questionnaires to collect data and also inferences were drawn from observation to document the features and services of details of Strathmore system were documented. Few students from a public university were interviewed use response draw comparisons. Eventually a comprehensive review of challenges and current solutions were presented from findings of the survey. The suggestions obtained from the literature review and conclusions of research findings’ influenced the design of an academic solution. Hence an android based mobile application was developed to address students’ challenges in the following sections Planner, Timetable, Records, Communication and an instant notification service. The prototype application was tested among a few Strathmore students and an acceptance level of 81.5% calculated from findings. The test results showed that the application has improved students’ time management skills by 25%, enhanced communication by 33% and has improved the students’ general performance by a grade difference of 15%.These values are a proof of the positive impact it has on university and college students. The dissertation has systematically identified the student challenges, literature about common architecture and solutions, carried out a survey using questionnaires and interviews, analyzed the results and drew conclusions. Finally a mobile application was designed to fill the identified technological gap and tested to prove its acceptance and effectiveness
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    The adoption of mobile technology as a tool for situational crime prevention in Kenya
    Makhanu, Everlyne; Oduor, Collins; Acosta (Dr.), Freddie
    The adoption of mobile technology in crime prevention has substantially grown across the world. However, this is not the case in Kenya, because the public still have to go from one police station to another to report crimes and to receive general services from the police. The crime records are usually recorded manually in police Occurrence Book (OB) and therefore determining the accurate crime trends and rates of reported crimes has proved to be a major hurdle in crime prevention for the Kenya police. This study aimed at developing a mobile application that would aid the Kenyan public to report crimes to the nearest police station, receive alerts on new crime spot areas, query information about arrested individuals and encourage community policing. The study also involved the development of a back-end web-based prototype that incorporated a digitised OB and a criminal database. The mobile Android application was tested on various devices and the test results ascertained. The study revealed that most users would use the mobile-police application because of convenience, reduced fear of victimization and ease of use.
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    The potential of social media as a tool for promoting learning: a case study of Strathmore University
    Makhanu, Everlyne; Maingi, Eunice; Bheny, Delphine; Sevilla, Dr Joseph
    Social media may be thought of as a communication tool that allows users to create, modify and distribute content through the use of devices such as mobile phones, tablets, laptops, etc. on platforms such as blogs, file sharing, social sites and wikis among others. This paper is based on a research that was carried out at @iLabAfrica, a Research Centre in Strathmore University. It was driven by the social media myth which has it that if social media is introduced in the classroom, students will be distracted and grasp little of what the lecturer is teaching. The study aimed at investigating mobile device ownership and usage among the students. Specific objectives of the research were to find out what mobile devices students own or have access to, whether they use social media for learning, what kind of materials they share on social media and how much time they spend on social media. This was to help the researcher understand and harness the learning potential of social media if any, to develop and align social media strategies with teaching and learning outcomes. Desktop research, questionnaires and focus group were used as research instruments to collect data. The university has about 5,000 students from which a sample population was drawn. An in-depth analysis was carried out and a comprehensive report generated. The findings showed that 88% of the students own mobile phones that can connect to the Internet; 5% owned tablets, 38% owned laptops and 7% owned desktops. It was also discovered that 80 % of the students use social media for learning purposes and the kind of materials they share was identified. Furthermore, it was noted that students spend a considerable amount of time per day on the social platforms. The research concluded that, based on the findings, social media could be turned into a potential tool for promoting learning, complementing other existing methods. This however, will need to be supported by policies that align it to teaching and learning outcomes.
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    The relationship between principals’ access to information and communication technology (ICT) and school performance in Kenya
    (Herald International Research Journals, ) Makhanu, Everlyne; Kamper, Gerrit
    Secondary school principals require access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure for a number of reasons. These include their need to adjust to the world of technology change, their need to embed ICT use in their teaching and administrative duties and increasingly, their need to use ICT in their professional studies. Much has been written about the need for ICT use across our school systems and the infrastructure required to allow this to happen has been investigated through research. This paper reports on the findings of a survey to investigate the relationship between ICT access to principals and secondary school performance in the Western province of Kenya.