Click here to access fulltext: Using Mobile Phones to Encourage Cooperative Learning In an Introduction to Computers Course at Bindura University A Critical Discourse Analysis Perspective.pdf
Abstract
The bodies governing the universities in Zimbabwe, the Ministries of education and ICTs are policies that give universities pressure to move with the times and try to meet the set Millennium Development Goals. The pressure to implement these changes comes from a number of stakeholders including students who are advocating for change in the way education is delivered and the university academic body which seeks ways to maintain the University's image worldwide. This investigation is motivated by the heavy need for mediation in terms of Information and Communication Technologies as an intermediary in delivering education at Bindura University. This paper uses the domains and factors as articulated in the matrix by Laura Czerniewicz and Shaheeda Jaffer (2007). A mobile application is then introduced as an intermediary proposal to work hand in hand with the current Learning Management System at the university. Responses from students' postings are analysed by using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as adapted from D Ng'ambi, (2008). Fairclough's three-dimensional framework of Description (text analysis), Interpretation (process analysis) and Explanation (social analysis) is used to analyse posting made by students on the mobile application describing how they feel this intervention will achieve in their overall learning goal.