International journal of

ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES

EISSN: 2313-3724, Print ISSN:2313-626X

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 Volume 6, Issue 6 (June 2019), Pages: 6-14

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 Original Research Paper

 Title: The mobile blackboard system in higher education: Discovering benefits and challenges facing students

 Author(s): Ayman N. Alkhaldi 1, *, Abdallah M. Abualkishik 2

 Affiliation(s):

 1Management Information Systems Department, Community College, University of Ha’il, Ha’il, Saudi Arabia
 2Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, Sohar University, Sohar, Oman

  Full Text - PDF          XML

 * Corresponding Author. 

  Corresponding author's ORCID profile: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4292-6771

 Digital Object Identifier: 

 https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2019.06.002

 Abstract:

Although m-blackboard has an extensive role in the educational context, the adoption of m-learning in higher education institutes is still in its infancy. However, m-blackboard faces various types of challenges that could affect its acceptance and usage. The previous studies on m-blackboard generated general findings, and studied frequently common factors, did not adopt a focused view of organizational and technology infrastructural factors. These studies investigated the adoption of m-learning in general and did not focus on M-LMS in particular, which is different to m-learning because m-learning is more personal, where learning content is personalized for the individual learner. These promising findings call for more focus from the perspective of the authors of this study. This study used a mixed research methods (i.e., qualitative and quantitative methods). For the qualitative method, researchers interviewed eight staff from the University of Ha’il. As for the quantitative method, a survey questionnaire was employed. This paper contributes to enrich the literature by reviewing, comparing, and analyzing previous works that have examined m-blackboard systems. The respondents using m-blackboard report significant benefits; e.g., it provides easier access to information, increases productivity, makes wise use of time and money, and is accessible anywhere and anytime. On the other hand, some challenges remain; these include the weakness of mobile network signals, the small size of mobile device screens, the costs of connecting mobile devices to the internet, and the time needed to download the m-blackboard application. Researchers recommended that the University of Ha’il should move forward with the m-blackboard platform; and to examine the challenges and benefits in different settings, technologies, and countries. 

 © 2019 The Authors. Published by IASE.

 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

 Keywords: Mobile blackboard, Mobile learning, Electronic learning, Course management system, Learning management system

 Article History: Received 7 January 2019, Received in revised form 30 March 2019, Accepted 30 March 2019

 Acknowledgement:

Researchers heart-fully acknowledge the support of the students in University of Ha’il for sharing information to use in this study. This research was funded by Deanship of Academic Research of University of Ha’il, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The research project number is: 0150401.

 Compliance with ethical standards

 Conflict of interest:  The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

 Citation:

 Alkhaldi AN and Abualkishik AM (2019). The mobile blackboard system in higher education: Discovering benefits and challenges facing students. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 6(6): 6-14

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