With the increasing access to mobile devices in developing countries, the number of pilots and projects embracing mobile devices as learning tools is also growing. The important role it can play in improving education is also positively received within education communities. But, providing a successful mobile learning service is still significantly challenging. The considerable problems arise due to existing pedagogical, technological, political, social and cultural challenges and there has been a shortage of research concerning how to deploy and sustain this technology in a resource constrained educational environment. There are studies mainly conducted in sub-Saharan countries, India, and Latin America, which provide some guidelines for incorporating technology in the existing educational process. However, considering the contextual differences between these regions and other countries in Asia, such as Nepal, it requires a broader study in its own challenging socio-cultural context. In response to this difficulty, the aims of this exploratory research work are to study the distinct challenges of schools’ education in Nepal and evaluate the use of open-source devices to provide offline access to learning materials in order to recommend a sustainable mobile learning model. The developmental study was conducted in University of West London in order to assess the feasibility of these devices. The main study in Nepal explored i) the overall challenges to education in the challenging learning environment of schools with limited or no access to ICT, ii) how ICT might be helping teaching and learning in the rural public schools, and iii) how an offline mobile learning solution based on the open source platforms may facilitate English language teaching and learning. Data collection primarily involved interviews, questionnaires, observations and supplemented by other methods. This thesis presents the sustainable model for deploying and supporting mobile technology for education, which is based on the findings emerging from completed exploratory studies in Nepal. It highlights all the aspects that need to be addressed to ensure sustainability. However, to translate this understanding to a design is a complex challenge. For a mobile learning solution to be used in such challenging learning contexts, the need is to develop simple and innovative solutions that provide access to relevant digital learning resources and train teachers to embed technology in education. This thesis discusses these findings, limitations and presents implications for the design of future mobile learning in the context of Nepal.

Submitted by Izabel Franco (izabel-franco@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-08T14:56:27Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DissGSL.pdf: 9005052 bytes, checksum: d9b619f58dbd479ce4480f95d118e9f7 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marina Freitas (marinapf@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-12T17:19:06Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissGSL.pdf: 9005052 bytes, checksum: d9b619f58dbd479ce4480f95d118e9f7 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marina Freitas (marinapf@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-12T17:19:54Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissGSL.pdf: 9005052 bytes, checksum: d9b619f58dbd479ce4480f95d118e9f7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-12T17:20:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissGSL.pdf: 9005052 bytes, checksum: d9b619f58dbd479ce4480f95d118e9f7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-27 / Não recebi financiamento / The aim of this work is to discuss whether the lessons of Technological Experience, taught students of elementary school, the network of Industry Social Service SESI São Paulo / SP, is a pedagogical strategy that helps students in school literacy and digital autonomy . It is noticeable trend of increasingly frequent use of computers and other technology in school education, therefore, Technological Experience has been deployed in the network to enhance the teaching and methodological aspects of teaching and learning. Therefore, this research aims to analyze the dynamics of this moment of "Technology Experience," which received the grant from the constructivist theory, and whether the classes in the Computer Lab and assemblies and programs in Science and Technology Laboratory, with the blocks assembly, contributing to the achievement of teaching methodologies related to the development of thinking, reasoning, problem solving, the reading and writing practices. We will use mainly as a theoretical framework, related to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), the authors: Belloni (2009), Kenski (0000), Levy (1993), Papert (2008), Valente (1998) that address the interaction technology with society. To the field of literacy and literacy, we will use the Blacksmith's research (2001), Kleiman (1995), Miller (2010) and Smith (2007). We opted for the research methodology, Case Study for the development of objectives, which adopted the semi-structured interviews, participant observation and document analysis (LUDKE; ANDRÉ, 2012), involving two teachers from SESI network / SP, a the first year of elementary school and one of the room "Technological Vivencia" it is formed of educational computing area, working as an IT support analyst. The research sought to understand the relationship between the two professionals, identifying the link between the educational material, computer classes and regular classes in the classroom the first year. This work enabled the deepening of characteristics, evaluating the quality of the relationship and socialization between these two spheres training for the student's first year of elementary school, identifying the methodological procedures and also investigate the professionalization of educational agents and their training. / O objetivo desta dissertação é discutir se as aulas de Vivência Tecnológica, ministradas aos alunos do Ensino Fundamental I, da rede do Serviço Social da Indústria de São Paulo SESI/SP, é uma estratégia pedagógica que auxilia os docentes no processo de ensino e aprendizagem e os alunos na autonomia digital. É notória a tendência do uso cada vez mais frequente de computadores e outras tecnologias na educação escolar, por este motivo, a Vivência Tecnológica foi implantada na rede para potencializar os aspectos didáticos e metodológicos para o ensino e aprendizagem. Por essa razão, esta pesquisa objetiva analisar a dinâmica deste momento de “Vivência Tecnológica”, que recebe o subsídio da teoria construtivista e contribuições de duas profissionais, verificar se as aulas no Laboratório de Informática e as montagens e programações no Laboratório de Ciências e Tecnologias, com os recursos de blocos de montagem, contribuem para uma abordagem metodológica de ensino relacionada ao desenvolvimento do pensar, do raciocinar, da resolução de problemas, das práticas de leitura e escrita, e se pode ser referenciada como estratégia pedagógica. Utilizaremos, principalmente, como referencial teórico, relacionado à Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC), os autores: Belloni (2009), Kenski (2000), Lévy (1993), Papert (2008), Valente (1998) que abordam a interação tecnologia com a sociedade. Para o campo da alfabetização e do letramento, recorreremos à pesquisa de Ferreiro (2001), Kleiman (1995), Monteiro (2010) e Soares (2007). Optou-se pela metodologia de pesquisa, “Estudo de Caso”, para o desenvolvimento dos objetivos, que adotou a entrevista semi-estruturada, observação participante e análise de documentos (LUDKE; ANDRÉ, 2012), envolvendo duas professoras da rede SESI/SP, uma do primeiro ano do Ensino Fundamental e outra da sala “Vivência Tecnológica”, cuja formação é da área de informática educativa, atuando como analista de suporte em informática. A pesquisa buscou o entendimento das relações entre as duas colaboradoras, identificando a articulação entre o material de ensino, as aulas de informática e as aulas regulares na sala de aula do primeiro ano. Este trabalho possibilitou o aprofundamento das características utilizadas, avaliando a qualidade da relação e socialização entre estas duas esferas formativas para o aluno do primeiro ano do ensino fundamental, identificando os procedimentos metodológicos e ainda, investigar a profissionalização dos agentes educacionais assim como sua formação.