TY - JOUR
T1 - A design based research framework for implementing a transnational mobile and blended learning solution
AU - Palalas, Agnieszka
AU - Berezin, Nicole
AU - Gunawardena, Charlotte
AU - Kramer, Gretchen
N1 - Funding Information:
The doctor-patient ratio in Ghana and in many parts of Africa is at an all-time low. The severity of these statistics was corroborated by the Director of Health Service for the Greater Accra region, Dr. Linda Van Otoo (), who confirmed that a doctor in Ghana attends to approximately 15,259 patients a year, a Physician Assistant sees about 38,000 patients in a year and midwives and nurses - about 6,000 and 1,400 patients respectively. In response to this urgency, members of the PA Program at the Central University College partnered with the University of New Mexico and Athabasca University to address these healthcare needs by training more PAs using mobile technology and blended learning. The transnational team comprised a Primary Investigator, Financial Officer, Program Manager and IT Officer from CUC, as well as instructional design and m-learning consultants from Canada and the USA. The team received support from a Grand Challenges Canada grant award which enabled the launch of the DBR study in May 2013. This ongoing project has leveraged mobile and e-learning technologies to support knowledge building and skill acquisition amongst PA practitioners in remote areas in Ghana. The educational intervention designed in the study blends innovative distance learning approaches, including e-learning and mobile learning content, resources, strategies and tools, with occasional face-to-face (f2f) clinical sessions to provide a hybrid PA program. The project has been nicknamed Physician Assistant Hybrid E-Learning Program (PA-HELP) to cohere the blend of mobile and f2f with more traditional e-learning approaches. The collaborative process of the design and implementation of the PA-HELP solution has been guided by the previously mentioned ILDF model - a DBR framework that has been progressively modified to reflect the real-life application of the transcultural research project. The effectiveness of the framework has been examined across all stages of its implementation, as part of the Evaluation Phase of the project, as well as retrospectively, resulting in refinements to the original framework and the conclusions presented hereby.
Funding Information:
The CUC IT Officer, for instance, leveraged the power of collectivism by offering various strategies to build capacity of the faculty, staff, and the learners through frequent formal and informal “orientation to innovation” meetings. These fundamentally participatory knowledge-exchange meet-ups included both planned and impromptu f2f and virtual interactions, responding to questions in one-on-one and group meetings and, most surprisingly (to the North American group), unplanned spur-of-the-moment personal phone calls and SMS messages which were welcomed and returned with enthusiasm by students at any time or place. Another example of capacity building tactics included collaboratively creating “culturally- aware” job descriptions and hiring practices in order to recruit and train local project personnel and provide ongoing support. Once again, this support was provided virtually, by phone, SMS messages, and through in-person visits. The team made every effort to respond to questions and requests for assistance within 24 hours and to provide any support necessitated to collectively build a strong community of learners.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2015, IGI Global.
PY - 2015/10/1
Y1 - 2015/10/1
N2 - The article proposes a modified Design-Based Research (DBR) framework which accommodates the various socio-cultural factors that emerged in the longitudinal PA-HELP research study at Central University College (CUC) in Ghana, Africa. A transnational team of stakeholders from Ghana, Canada, and the USA collaborated on the development, implementation, and subsequent modification of the DBR framework. The recommended framework is a result of lessons learned during this project in Ghana and as such, it is shaped by the need to be responsive to the local cultural and contextual contingencies. The article offers practical recommendations on the implementation of a mobile learning project in a cross-cultural setting, and provides a discussion of the salient cultural factors and the corresponding culturally-sensitive adaptations needed in the design research process. The Cross-Culture Design-Based Research (CC-DBR) framework is proposed to inform future transcultural m-learning studies.
AB - The article proposes a modified Design-Based Research (DBR) framework which accommodates the various socio-cultural factors that emerged in the longitudinal PA-HELP research study at Central University College (CUC) in Ghana, Africa. A transnational team of stakeholders from Ghana, Canada, and the USA collaborated on the development, implementation, and subsequent modification of the DBR framework. The recommended framework is a result of lessons learned during this project in Ghana and as such, it is shaped by the need to be responsive to the local cultural and contextual contingencies. The article offers practical recommendations on the implementation of a mobile learning project in a cross-cultural setting, and provides a discussion of the salient cultural factors and the corresponding culturally-sensitive adaptations needed in the design research process. The Cross-Culture Design-Based Research (CC-DBR) framework is proposed to inform future transcultural m-learning studies.
KW - Cross-Culture Design-Based Research (CC-DBR) Framework
KW - DBR Framework
KW - Diverse Cultures
KW - M-Learning Implementation
KW - Mobile Learning Strategy
KW - National Culture
KW - Organizational Culture
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84945193101&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.4018/IJMBL.2015100104
DO - 10.4018/IJMBL.2015100104
M3 - Journal Article
AN - SCOPUS:84945193101
SN - 1941-8647
VL - 7
SP - 57
EP - 74
JO - International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning
JF - International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning
IS - 4
ER -