ISSN: 2249-1945 Oladipo.O.Francisca et al, GJCAT, Vol 2 (1), 2011, 822-825
Okonkwo, O.Raphael. (PhD) 1, Oladipo, O. Francisca. (PhD)1, Okechukwu C. Lilian2, Okeru C. Ifeoma3 1
Department of Computer Science, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Information and Communication Technology Unit, Anambra State University, Uli 3 Power Holding Company of Nigeria, Onitsha, Anambra State, Nigeria.
2
Abstract— This paper studies the prospective and the performance of a high-speed third-generation (3.5G) networking technology for delivering and sending information to those living in rural areas. The paper analyses various information on e-learning which can be downloaded with 3.5G phones and delivered to those living in rural areas through a computer system. This work was able to improve quality of education and information communication technology in rural and outlying areas, optimize teaching and learning for academic researchers, educators, trainers and those who have a general interest in education and elearning.
Learning Games and Simulations: learning by performing simulated activities that requires exploration and lead to discoveries. Mobile Learning: learning from the world while moving about in the world. Aided by mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablet devices, mobile learners participate in conventional classroom courses and standalone e-learning while out and about. They may also participate in activities where they learn by interacting with objects and people they encounter along the way. Social Learning: learning through interaction with a community of experts and fellow learners. Communication among participants relies on socialnetworking media as online discussions, blogging and txt-messaging. Virtual-Classroom courses: online classes structured much like a classroom course, with reading assignments, presentations, discussions via forums and other social media and homework (Horton, 2010).
Keywords— 3.5G phones, affordances, Information Communication Technology.
I.
E-learning,
INTRODUCTION
E-learning is unquestionably the major ‘mission critical’ in education systems the world over, and is likely to remain so for the forseeable future. There are many reasons for it being so much in vogue, not least the globalization of commerce and citizenship, and the burgeoning of information and knowledge available on the internet (Holmes et al., 2006). E-learning according to Horton (2010), e-learning is the use of electronic technologies to create learning experience. This definition is deliberately open-ended, allowing complete freedom as to how these experiences are formulated, organized and created. E-learning can also be defined as instruction delivered on a digital device such as smart phone or a laptop computer that is intended to support individual learning and Organizational performance goals (Clark R.C et al., 2008). II. VARIETIES OF E-LEARNING E-learning comes in many forms
Standalone courses: courses taken by a solo learner. They are self-paced without interaction with a teacher or classmates.
III. ADVANTAGES OF E-LEARNING A. Benefits to Business Significant reduction or elimination of costs associated with instructor fees and materials. 2. Reduction of learning time and the amount of time employees are away from their jobs. 3. Increased retention by users and enhanced hands-on application to the job over traditional training methods. 4. Instruction and progress are managed within the framework of a company web portal. 5. Short videos or hands-on exercises offer practice and assessment activities designed to confirm that a learner has mastered the performance objectives of the course or lesson. 6. A user's progress is automated and can be monitored by or shared with one's supervisor 7. Interactivity engages users, pushing them rather than pulling them through training. 8. Advanced learners may choose to speed through a course and bypass instruction that is redundant. 1.
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ISSN: 2249-1945 Oladipo.O.Francisca et al, GJCAT, Vol 2 (1), 2011, 822-825 9.
10. 11. 12.
13.
Beginners or slower learners may determine their own pace and progress, eliminating frustration with themselves, their fellow learners, and the subject matter. Knowledge is cumulative; lessons build upon one another and may be taken in any order. Anytime-anywhere learning can greatly increase knowledge retention. Learners may also view or print simple, one-page "quick start" Job Aids that have step by- step procedures and graphic workflow charts illustrating tasks to be performed. Testing is self-paced. Olaniyi S. (2006).
IV. THE 3.5G PHONES 3.5G phones promises fast wireless access to the Internet, plus streaming of music videos and live television through your handset. 3.5 or HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) services are being rolled out across Asia and Europe and distributed across the whole world. By last month some 100 services had
been launched in more than 50 countries. Technically, HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) phones can receive data 10 times faster than current smart phones. That means mobile devices could start to compete with your average computer's broadband access, though current services have not reached that level yet. So for now, many service providers are trying to create fixed-price packages to lure customers to 3G phones which offer near-unlimited access to the Internet, before they attempt to migrate customers to 3.5 packages. The system is a collection of mobile telephony protocols that extend and improve the performance of existing Universal Mobile Telecommunications Standard (UMTS) protocols and commonly abbreviated as 3.5G to denote the high speeds that they offer relative to standard 3G technologies. Figure 1 shows the system’s operational diagram.
Fig 1: Network Diagram of High Speed Packet Access (HSPA). http://www.prolink2u.com/new/products/index.php?cid=168. (Accessed February, 2011)
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ISSN: 2249-1945 Oladipo.O.Francisca et al, GJCAT, Vol 2 (1), 2011, 822-825 The system’s operation is based on any of the two standards, High-Speed Download Packet Access (HSDPA) and High-Speed Upload Packet Access (HSUPA). HSDPA gives download speed of up to 7.2Mbps and currently, most devices sold on the market are only capable of 3.6Mbps, though some are firmware upgradable to 7.2Mbps. The theoretical maximum speed for HSDPA clocks in at 14.4Mbps. HSUPA, on the other hand, specifies up to 1.9Mbps of upstream bandwidth. This is an enhancement compared to the default upstream of just 386kbps available with HSDPA, Mah P. (2008). It is on this level that we see its application to ehealth possible for efficiency, speed and better throughput. 3.5G or 3G+: HSDPA is theoretically 6 times faster than UMTS (up to 3.6 Mbytes/sec) Practically speaking, this would mean downloading an MP3 file would take about 30 seconds instead of something like 2 minutes. 3.5G phones promise fast wireless access to the Internet, plus streaming of music videos and live television through your handset. 3.5 or HSDPA services are being rolled out across Asia and Europe and employed to all parts of the world for better and fast data transfer and access. With these facilities of audio and
video downloads, health delivery facilities is achievable and practically. V. SYSTEM OPERATION’S STYLE The system can use two implementation strategy, Real time, and Store and Forward implementation strategy. In Real time Operation, the expert will send the e-learning information which will be relayed instantly as the information is being sent to target audience. This does not usually give avenue for the coordinator to edit the information before it is sent to the registered members. For Store and Forward Implementation Strategy which the work adopted, the information is first sent to the system coordinator, who can now edit, store the information and then forward to the registered members (alerts of invitation or immediate problems/information) to the remote areas’ populace. The stored information can now be projected on the screen for the audience to view and make use of. The system operation supports only the coordinator to own a 3.5G cell phone while the participant can be associated with and text acceptable cell phones (2.5G inclusive). Table 1 shows sample of text messages (alert) sent to rural populace with respect to request and information dissemination on E-learning via cell phone.
TABLE 1. SAMPLE OF TEXT MESSAGES (SMS) ALERT SENT TO RURAL POPULACE Code
Name
Year
1
Chidimma
2011
2
Jude
2011
3
Chris
2011
4
Ikenna
2011
Date 3/10/2011 13:00 PM
Location Ihiala
Type of information Education
Detail
There will be lecture on type of Education system we have in Nigeria is 6 3 3 4 by 9 am at Village market on 5/10/2012 12/11/2011 Akpo Education There will be lecture on Computer by 10 12:00 PM am to 5 pm at Central School on 13/2/12. 1/10/2011 Enugu Education There will be lecture on Sex Education at 14:00 PM Eke Market square from 11am to 5pm on 4/10/2012. 10/11/2011 Ihiala Medicine Malnutrition and its causes at village health 11:00 AM centre From 10am to 4pm on 14/05/2012. Table 2 shows List of Registered Members TABLE 2. LIST OF REGISTERED USERS
Name Obietonwu
Sex Male
Phone 08034046347
Email
[email protected]
Address 1 Uwani st. Enugu
Uchechukwu
Female
08034354312
[email protected]
6 Ziks Aveue, Awka
Azubuike
Male
0803450282
[email protected]
Ogoamaka Ikenna
Female Male
08023465423 08036349765
[email protected] iyko @yahoo.com
Kelechi
Male
08034567839
[email protected]
Female
08032456789
[email protected]
Male
08092345678
[email protected]
Lilian Chidimma Jude Okpalla
No 2 Enugu Road Akpo 5 Enugu Rd Awka Ihiala,Anambra State No 6 Ikeja Road Onitsha No 5 Stephen Road Akpo Eziani Village,Ihiala
LGA Uwani Enugu North
State Enugu
Awka Ihiala
Anambra Anambra
Aguata
Anambra
Ihiala
Anambra
Ihiala
Anambra
Enugu
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ISSN: 2249-1945 Oladipo.O.Francisca et al, GJCAT, Vol 2 (1), 2011, 822-825 Table 3 shows sample of received information (on cell phone) by registered members TABLE 3.SAMPLE RECEIVED INFORMATION ON CELL PHONES Name Year Date Location DEDetail Code 1
Joseph
2011
2
Rose
2011
3
Chidimma
2011
3/10/2011 13:00 Pm 12/10/2011 12:00 Pm 12/3/2011 10:00 am
Ihiala Akpo Uga
From this table, Joseph received the alert of E-learning on Diabetes and is now invited at the town’s Village square by 10am for demonstration on the causes and solution. Rose received a text from the coordinator on Education and is invited to the village health center for demonstration and lecture on Computer Education which can be achieved through store and forward or Real time based on available data or plane. The system implementation requirements include: 3.5G cell phone (for data/information reception from experts for dissemination) Cell phone (minimum of 2G with text reception capabilities) Projector and computer system V. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the remote areas are saddled with lack of adequate infrastructure such as lack of electricity, good water and other social amenities. They lack expertise medical access and information on Education, this situation prevented the majority of people living in these areas from meeting up with certain informational needs. This paper has fully analyzed the 3.5G phones and how it can be used to send e-learning information to the people living in remote areas. This will alleviate the problems faced by those living in the remote areas in getting access to information especially on e-learning and Education, thereby bridging the gap between those living at those areas and the urban one. REFERENCES Clark R.C, Mayer R.E. (2008): E-learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of multimedia learning, Third Edition. Published by Pfeiffer, San Francisco. Pp.7 Holmes B., Gardner J. (2006): E-learning: Concepts and Practice. Sage Publications ltd., London. Pp.1 Horton W. (2010): E-learning by Design Second Edition. Published by Pfeiffer, an imprint of Wiley, San Franscisco. Pp 1-2. Mah P. (2008) My Experience with 3.5G Mobile Broadband. Http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/wireless/my-experiencewith-35g-mobile-broadband/176. Accessed January 2010. Olaniyi S. S., (2006): E-Learning Technology: The Nigeria Experience, Nigeria Shape the Change XXIII FIG Congress. Pp.3. http://www.prolink2u.com/new/products/index.php?cid=16 8. Accessed February 2011
E-learning on Diabetes Holding at Village square by 10am. E-learning on Computer Education Venue: village market by 11am E-learning on Government Policies Holding at village Central School by 9 am. AUTHORS’ PROFILE
Okonkwo Obikwelu Raphael holds a PhD in Computer Science from Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki Nigeria. He is the immediate past head of Department of Computer Science, Nnamdi Azikiwe university Awka Nigeria, a currently a Sub-Dean School of Postgraduate of the same institution. Dr Okonkwo is a chattered member of the computing profession in Nigeria, having been registered by the Computer Professionals Regulatory Council of Nigeria. Oladipo, Onaolapo Francisca holds a Ph.D in Computer Science from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria; where she is currently a faculty member. Her research interests spanned various areas of Computer Science and Applied Computing. She has published numerous papers detailing her research experiences in both local and international journals and presented research papers in a number of international conferences. She is also a reviewer for many international journals and conferences. She is a member of several professional and scientific associations both within Nigeria and beyond; they include the British Computer Society, Nigerian Computer Society, Computer Professionals (Regulatory Council) of Nigeria, the Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet), International Association Of Computer Science and Information Technology (IACSIT ), the Internet Society (ISOC), Diplo Internet Governance Community and the Africa ICT Network.
Okechukwu Chidimma Lilian holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria. She has just completed an MSc in Computer Science and currently enrolled in a PhD programme in the same institution. She is a registered member of the Computing profession in Nigeria and she is a member of the Nigeria Computer Society. Currently, she works as a Programmer at the Information and Communication Technology Unit, Anambra State Univesity, Uli, Nigeria. and M.Sc. in Computer Science from Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka.
Okeru, Ifeoma is completing her MSc in Computer Science at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Nigeria. She obtained a BSc in Computer and she is presently of the Computer Department of Power Holding Company Of Nigeria Plc, Onitsha Business Unit. 825
