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A mobile e-learning environment for developing

countries: the Bangladesh Virtual Interactive
Classroom
a b
Åke Grönlund & Yousuf M. Islam
a
Swedish Business School , Örebro University , Fakultetsgatan 1, Örebro, 70182, Sweden
b
Daffodil International University , Dhaka, Bangladesh
Published online: 05 Oct 2010.
To cite this article: Åke Grönlund & Yousuf M. Islam (2010) A mobile e-learning environment for developing countries:
the Bangladesh Virtual Interactive Classroom, Information Technology for Development, 16:4, 244-259, DOI:
10.1080/02681101003746490
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02681101003746490
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Information Technology for Development
Vol. 16, No. 4, October 2010, 244–259
A mobile e-learning environment for developing countries:

the Bangladesh Virtual Interactive Classroom
Åke Grönlunda∗ and Yousuf M. Islamb
a
Swedish Business School, Örebro University, Fakultetsgatan 1, Örebro 70182, Sweden;
b
Daffodil International University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
This paper reports a project working to improve distance education in Bangladesh by means of
a low-cost, large-scale interactive learning environment using video, mobile phones, SMS-
based tools administered in a learning management system, and innovative pedagogy based
on the student-centered learning model. The paper addresses the question of how to use
Downloaded by [Linnaeus University] at 19:24 11 October 2014
existing mobile telephony technical infrastructure to create interactive learning

environments which can reach a majority of the population, be able to include thousands of
students, and be sustainable from a resource perspective. This question includes challenges
relating to pedagogy and teaching methods, technical tools for learning and communication,
and institutional arrangements. The paper addresses these challenges by the illustrative case
of the Bangladesh Virtual Interactive Classroom testing the tools and ideas in course at
Bangladesh Open University. We find that our tools are feasible and usable but also that
sustainability requires meeting organizational and social challenges.
Keywords: e-learning; m-learning; SMS; mobile phones; student-centered learning
1. Introduction
This research tries to make distance education more accessible, by means of using existing Infor-
mation and Communication Technology (ICT) in innovative ways, and more student-centered,
by means of making it interactive, so that students can take part better and teachers can under-
stand students better and improve courses accordingly.
Education is a major factor for development (Soriyan, Mursu, Akinde, & Korpela, 2001;
UNDP, 2005; UNESCO, 2005; WSIS, 2005), but education in developing countries is a huge chal-
lenge (Dhanarajan, 2001; Evans, 2005; Grönlund, Andersson, & Hedström, 2005; Heeks, 2002;
Rajesh, 2003). As a complement to traditional education, distance education is established in
many countries, increasingly working to benefit from new technologies (Al-Omari, 2009; Anders-
son, 2008; 2008b; Halse & Mallinson, 2009; Komba, 2009). In Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Open
University (BOU) provides distance education to some 300,000 students all over Bangladesh.
Major problems include low throughput,1 lack of interaction between teachers and students,
traditional inefficient teaching methods, and underdeveloped use of local learning centers.
Using Internet technology for distance tuition is not practical due to extremely low
penetration, but the existing infrastructure for mobile telephony is very good in Bangladesh
and worldwide. The World Bank estimates that 77% of the world’s population is within the
reach of mobile phone networks and it is estimated that the number of cell phone subscribers
in developing countries will continue to increase (Kenny & Keremane, 2008). In Bangladesh
mobile networks today cover about 97% of the country’s population and 82% of the land area
(ASDB, 2007). Competition among mobile operators has significantly reduced tariff rates and
∗
Corresponding author. Email: ake.gronlund@oru.se
Peter Wolcott is the accepting Associate Editor for this article.
ISSN 0268-1102 print/ISSN 1554-0170 online

# 2010 Commonwealth Secretariat
DOI: 10.1080/02681101003746490
http://www.informaworld.com
Information Technology for Development 245
availability of low-cost phone sets has attracted subscribers also from financially constrained
groups. Although nearly half of Bangladesh’s more than 140 million people live on less than
a dollar a day, there are 39 million mobile phone subscribers (BTRC, 2008) – on average, at
least one in every family – and the number is forecast to increase (ASDB, 2008). Our own esti-
mates suggest that access to mobile phone at the household level is approaching 90% in urban
areas and 70% in rural ones (Rahman, 2007).
Based on these preconditions, the Bangladesh Virtual Interactive Classroom (BVIC) project
develops interactive teaching methods and technical tools designed for the existing infrastruc-
ture in developing countries. The originality lies in non-Internet/broadband dependence, good
alignment to technical trends viable also in rural areas of developing countries, and good fit
with social needs of target groups. Also, as there is no technology investment necessary, the
BVIC can provide a promising business case in terms of economy as well as time to implemen-
tation. BVIC uses TV/video and SMS (Short Message Service) together with a learning manage-
ment system (LMS) to implement interactive, student-centered, pedagogy. The project is a joint
effort between Örebro University, Sweden (ÖU) and BOU.

The aim of this paper is to address the question of how to use existing mobile telephony tech-
nical infrastructure to create interactive learning environments which can reach the majority of
the population, be able to include thousands of students, and be sustainable from a resource per-
spective including the operational model of institutions providing education. This question
includes challenges relating to pedagogy and teaching methods, technical tools for learning
and communication, and institutional arrangements. The paper demonstrates our approach to
meeting these challenges by the illustrative case of the BVIC. We present technology developed
and achievements in pedagogy and course delivery as well as intermediate research findings, and
we discuss the challenges ahead.
The paper is designed as follows. Section 2 summarizes the research points involved in the
project so far. Section 3 describes the tools of the LMS and frames them in the perspective of
student-centered learning (SCL). Section 4 provides a historical description of the project so
as to provide understanding of the process of testing the tools and achieving support for an
alien pedagogical idea among education providers. Section 5 summarizes the results and
makes brief conclusions and outlooks to further work necessary.
2. Method
As a research and development endeavor, the project involved both practitioners and research-
ers. The general approach can be named Design Science as the basic working method involves
“the analysis of the use and performance of designed artifacts to understand, explain and [. . ..] to
improve on the behavior of aspects of Information Systems” (Vaishnavi & Kuechler, 2004/
2005). The methodological approach was action research, following the principles of canonical
action research (CAR; Davison, Martinsons, & Kock, 2004). These principles pertain to the
cooperation between researchers and practitioners during a CAR project, and are designed to
both ensure scientific quality and get the most direct value for practitioners out of the research-
ers’ participation in the project. A CAR project is designed as a cyclical process involving five
stages: diagnosis, planning, intervention, evaluation, and reflection. This paper mainly reports
stages three and four. The diagnosis is pointed to, but not explained in detail, for reasons of
space and focus. The fifth point is currently underway within the project and will be reported
in forthcoming papers.
The practitioner side in the project was primarily Sida (Swedish International Development
Cooperation Agency) through its affiliate SPIDER (www.spider-center.org), which is focusing
on ICT4D (ICT for development) and acting through a network of Swedish universities. The
246 Å. Grönlund and Y.M. Islam
project was conceived by researchers in Bangladesh and Sweden. Ideas and prototypes were
developed and project ideas were conveyed to education providers in Bangladesh. Finally, a
partnership was set up with BOU and a local software company. The research partner (ÖU)
did all research involved, the software company developed the interactive application, and
BOU supplied teachers, some physical facilities, and administrative support. Video recording
was done at BOU, by local technicians organized by the software company and with partici-
pation of e-learning expertise from the research partner. The research parts of the project
were clearly separated from the development work and come in three stages.
Preparatory grounding. All actions and technology were based on experiences and research
in the core field of teaching and pedagogy as well as the relevant supporting research fields
(information systems development, human – computer interaction, computer-supported
cooperative work, e-learning, development).
Underway research points were identified which require scientific methods and independent
studies; e.g. usability testing of prototypes, sociological investigations of local communi-

cation networks, and technology use patterns.
Post hoc studies. Following real-world implementation in (normal but redesigned) processes
are effect studies, including e.g. effects on learning, uptake, and user satisfaction.
In summary, the findings reported in this paper are based on the investigations summarized in
Table 1 (as yet, no post hoc studies have been conducted).
3. The concept and the tools of the BVIC

This section briefly discusses SCL and some “e-” and “m-learning” projects so as to provide a
framework into which our tools, which are then presented, can be understood.
3.1 Literature review

SCL: In the BVIC project, SMS is used together with TV/video to make lectures interactive as a
step toward the general goal of education focusing more on students and learning than on lectur-
ing. The concept of SCL has been discussed over decades, and is in the literature described by
the following characteristics, as summarized by Lea, Stephenson, and Troy (2003, p. 322).
the reliance on active rather than passive learning,
an emphasis on deep learning and understanding,
increased responsibility and accountability on the part of the student,
an increased sense of autonomy in the learner,
an interdependence between teacher and learner,
mutual respect within the learner teacher relationship,
and a reflexive approach to the teaching and learning process on the part of both teacher and learner.
As an established concept, SCL is already accepted as the norm in Europe and the USA but in
Bangladesh as in many developing countries, there is still a tradition of teacher-centered
repetitive pedagogy (Andersson, 2008; Burn & Thongprasert, 2005; Pagram & Pagram, 2006;
Usun, 2004). SCL requires special pedagogical methods, such as group discussions, independent
projects, peer mentoring among students, field trips, quizzes, debates, writing reflections on
learning, and many more (O’Neill & McMahon, 2005). While the technology we use in the
BVIC project is clearly limited, the set of tools described below is designed to support as
many as possible of these learning principles and methods in a simple but effective manner.
SCL can be criticized from many points of view, for example for requiring time-consuming
Table 1. Research points in overview.

Research
point Study object Test variables Participants Method(s)
Preparatory Feasibility of Use People in rural Interviews
grounding mobile Usability Bangladesh and Tests of pilot systems
technology Acceptance of Cameroon followed by
technology acceptance, usability
and learning
(objective) tests, as
well as subjective
experience
RP 1 Prototype Usability Individual students Test and observation,
LMS tool discussion/interview
(Islam et al., 2005)
RP 2 Teaching Usability Students (classes in Experiment (intervention
action) group and control

group)
Feasibility Questionnaire for
usability and feasibility
Learning effect Test of learning (Islam
et al., 2005)
RP 3 Prototype TV Feasibility for Teachers (mainly at Demonstration and
lessons teaching BOU), BOU discussion, focus
Feasibility for management, BOU groups
implementation administrators,
at BOU Students at BOU
RP 4 “Sharp” TV Doability Teachers Recordings followed by
lessons technical and
pedagogical
evaluations, several
iterations
Teacher Students Questionnaire to students
acceptance
Economic Interviews with students
feasibility and teachers
RP 5 Student role View of education Teachers Qualitative interviews
Students’ use Use of tools and Students Questionnaires
of ICT/ resources (Andersson, 2008,
LMS View on tools and Administrators 2008b; Andersson,
resources Grönlund, & Hedström,
2009)
pedagogical methods, making SCL slow initially and perhaps more resource-consuming overall
(Lonka & Ahola, 1995; O’Sullivan, 2004), but that discussion is beyond the scope of this paper.
The BVIC project draws on the principles and tools of SCL and tries to implement them in a
developing country distance education environment.
E-learning and m-learning: E-learning (using ICT in general for education) and, more
recently, m-learning (using mobile technologies as access tools) have been promoted as ways
to overcome physical distances, availability problems and teacher shortages (UNESCO,
2006). Yet most m-learning initiatives mainly use high-end mobile technologies, e.g. PDAs,
Smartphones, WAP technologies (Ericsson, 2002; M-Learning, 2008; MobiLearn, 2008).
These technologies focus on delivering content (Leung & Chan 2003) through the mobile set,
an approach that has obvious limitations. Many m-learning designers borrow from their
e-learning experience, which basically means trying to fit e-learning methods and tools to small
screens (David, 2008). There is generally a concern that e-learning is often seen more as provid-
ing teaching material and less as improving teaching methods by means of interactivity, which
has proven to be a main enabler for student retention, performance and satisfaction (Eastmond,
2000; Jiang & Ting, 2000; Zhang, Zhou, Briggs, & Nunamaker, 2006). Our approach is rather to
start from (1) a low-cost approach striving to reach all by using the cheapest and most widely
available technology, and (2) a pedagogical idea, SCL, to which to fit technology best possible.
Learning material can be delivered in many “e-” or “m-” ways. Podcasting involves download-
ing a series of audio or video broadcasts (files) onto a digital media player via a computer. These
files can then be watched or listened to when, where and as often as students choose (Evans, 2008).
Podcasting includes delivering material but not interaction. Podcasts have been employed exten-
sively in some countries and are now being tried at a number of universities in Australia. They
allow ubiquitous learning whereby students can access a variety of educational material anywhere,
anytime on iPods, MP3 players, or even desktop computers (Nataatmadja & Dyson, 2008).
All these tools require relatively sophisticated end-user equipment and Internet access.
Interactivity in the classroom using classroom response systems (Fies & Marshall, 2006;
Scornavacca, Huff, & Marshall, 2009) is reported to promote a more active learning environ-
ment. Some tools are designed for classroom learning, integrating mobile devices into face-
to-face learning situations, such as the ConcertStudeo, which includes tools such as brainstorm-
ing, quiz and voting (Dawabi et al., 2003). Moving to simpler technical solutions, Bollen et al.
(1999) allowed students to send SMS messages on various discussion topics, which were aggre-
gated and categorized by the instructor using an electronic whiteboard in the classroom.
Some applications are designed based on inspiration from games, e.g. the Mportal, which
includes a virtual tutor and skills-based learning materials (Mitchell, 2003), which is also a tech-
nically advanced approach. The approach taken by Librero, Ramos, Ranga, Trinona, and
Lambert (2007) is that SMS messages inform students of the exercises to be attempted after
completion of previous exercises. It was found that students become engaged as the SMS mess-
ages take on the form of personal intimation.
Recent research (Librero et al., 2007) includes using mobile phones and SMS within the class-
room due to the ubiquity of mobile phones among students and the interactive potential of SMS.
SMS is a low-threshold application used widely by students to quickly send concise, text-based per-
sonal messages at any time. The research presented involved students sending SMS in real-time, in
class, via their personal mobile phones. Using a modem interfacing with customized software to
produce SMS files, the lecturer could view the messages and verbally develop the interactive loop
with students during class. The SMSs are available online after class, allowing interactive loops to
further develop via threaded comments (Markett, Arnedillo Sánchez, Weber, & Tangney, 2006).
In summary, most m-learning applications use high-end mobile technology, and mainly to
deliver content. SMS is sometimes used to facilitate communication. Even though this use is
so far mainly within class rather than at a distance, at least it shows that SMS can be employed
fruitfully. Even though the networks in developing countries are upgrading at a fast pace to cater
for Internet access, making use of this requires more expensive end-user equipment not readily
available to all. Hence, our approach was to try to implement tools such as those presented below
in distance tuition, using only low-tech solutions. This is also our main contribution to the e- and
m-learning fields: finding ways to reach more people and doing so with a clear pedagogical idea.
3.2 The LMS

To support interactivity and student activity, a mobile LMS through which a set of interactive
tools are managed was developed. The learning situation we designed our TV lessons for
includes the student sitting at home or in some community location, alone or in company with
others, using TV or video to watch and a mobile phone to communicate with teachers and other
students. The SMS-based LMS includes three different sets of tools: for learning and communi-
cation, for administration, and for teacher support.
3.2.1 Learning and communication tools

The basic thrust of our system and our method is to bring the teacher and the students closer to
each other, as far as this can be done given the distributed setting. The following tools have been
implemented and tested to support and enhance learning.
Self assessment quiz: After finishing a chapter, a student can download a quiz based on the
chapter. The students can take a quiz whenever they want, and as many times as they want. The
students are given random questions from a database.
Questions during class: Students respond to questions asked by the teacher during class by
SMS:ing, e.g. a, b, c, or d for alternative answers given. The students see a bar graph of the
answers sent in. The teacher then may dial a student to discuss correct as well as incorrect
answers. The conversation is heard by all the viewers, just like in an ordinary physical
classroom.
Participatory cards: The teacher on video asks a question like, “In your opinion, how can
language learning be made easier?” to which students can respond by SMS. The opinions are
displayed on a monitor as rectangular boxes as they come in. The students are then able to visu-
alize the responses and group the ideas together to come up with collective strategies in response
to the question. It has been found that students take ownership of the process and results. This is a
workshop technique adapted to students watching a video lesson.
Homework: Although messages are sent over SMS, Homework is not a specific technical func-
tion but a task given to students for the purpose of keeping them active and guiding them toward
useful exercises and ways of thinking. Homework is coupled to the Learning Partner idea as
cooperation among students, another important SCL element, is encouraged and supported.
Learning partner: This is also not a technical function but a pedagogical approach rooted in
SCL principles as of above. It is well known from distance tuition research and practice (Net
University, 2005; NSHU, 2007) that students who have a social network in class are less
likely to drop out than those who work alone; hence it is a good idea to group them together
so that they can share experiences and incite each other. The students have to register as a
pair. Tasks are designed to make the partners work together, e.g., partners have to send in com-
ments on each others’ work. Each comment will be recorded in a database. Each comment is
counted as one mark; activity is rewarded.
Meaning: Students can get the meaning of words given in their text as vocabulary. SMS-ing
the word returns the meaning and a sentence with the word. The function currently uses a general
dictionary but depending on ambition, teachers can make it more tailored to the actual course
(which would be a pedagogical improvement). Technically, it could also include the pronuncia-
tion of these words, but this requires more sophisticated phones at the student end and increases
communication costs.
Reading: Students are encouraged to read and learn by texting BOU R. This returns a short
(,160 characters) paragraph from a story. In return for key words that express the main idea of
the paragraph, students get the next paragraph. This way, students can work interactively with
stories that are stored in the server.
Even though there is no one-to-one match between principles and tools, this set of tools is
clearly linked to the SCL principles as of Lea et al. listed in Section 3.1. It should be obvious
that they require the students to be active (in particular, the learning partner idea is designed
to help them be active). Student responsibility is incited as they have to sign up with a partner,
there is homework, they are expected to take quizzes and frequently use the assistive tools.
Learner autonomy is supported as they have a new set of tools available which they can use
at any time, and any number of times, e.g. the quiz, “Reading”, and “Meaning”. Interdependence
between teacher and student is enhanced as students are entitled to ask questions and give
opinions on the course; all new features. A reflexive approach is fostered by course evaluations
and discussions using the Participatory Cards. While clearly all tools have limitations compared
with physical classrooms and Internet-based e- or m-learning, still they together provide a con-
siderably more SCL situation than the traditional BOU education and they do it over a medium
affordable and truly available to all.
3.2.2 Administrative tools

Registration: To participate in electronic course communication, students must register. This is
done by SMS and checked against BOU course registration files.

Attendance: Students can register for each class. Registration gives access to all the other
tools. Students can just watch the TV show, but without registration they cannot take part in
activities. This function also gives the teacher a view of who is watching and who is not.
Course information & rules: Practical information about the course is disseminated over
SMS, such as performance criteria, available tests, deadlines, etc. (e.g. “You have to pass 8
out of 10 classes to pass the course”). These messages are not just one-way information, they
also include feedback on activities, as well as inactivity, such as reminders like “Don’t forget
to take the quiz, you haven’t done that yet”.
Results: Results of each student’s answers to SMS questions are communicated individually
to each student; “Congratulations, you attempted 8 out of 10 questions, 8 right!”
3.2.3 Teacher support

Many of the above functions are automated so that the teacher does only preparatory work, such
as preparing or updating the course dictionary, or follow-up analysis such as to see how many
students took the tests, what the results were, etc. Such statistics give teachers a new view of
student activities and results. Previously BOU teachers had no contact with the students
before the final exam concluding the course by the end of the year.
To support a “live” lesson, our system provides a “dashboard” available to the teacher during
class on the computer. This provides results from SMS questions asked during class and numbers
to call. The teacher can see the number of correct and incorrect answers and the telephone
number corresponding to each answer. Based on this information, he/she can call one of the stu-
dents, by clicking on one of the telephone numbers, to discuss the answer. For example, if there
are many incorrect answers, the teacher may want to understand why so many people got it
wrong. He/she might then choose to call someone who got it wrong to understand how they
were thinking. Or He/she may want to call someone who got it right so as to let that student
provide an explanation which may help other students better understand the reasoning.
4. Toward interactive education

Starting from the overall goal of making education student-centered, our project had two necess-
ary immediate goals. One was to construct and arrange technology (TV/video plus the SMS
LMS) effectively, and the other was to get acceptance from BOU. The latter was the most diffi-
cult. Changing from one pedagogical tradition to another is not something somebody just
decides; the merits of the new model have to be made clear to all involved, which is a process
involving several steps. Not only the principles but also the practises of SCL have to be demon-
strated, tested, discussed, adapted to the local setting, and agreed upon. Below we describe this
process by means of the “research points” listed in Section 2.
RP 1, usability. Starting from the basic idea of interactivity, we first developed a prototype
for the mobile application as of above and tested it for usability in ordinary classrooms at BRAC
University, Dhaka. This application included only the function Questions during class, and we
wanted to test usability of the prototype. This showed, unsurprisingly, that there were no con-
ceptual problems with the proceedings and no technology use problems but, also unsurprisingly,
that questions have to be very clearly specified to be useful for computer-mediated communi-
cation. Students were asked afterward for their opinions, and were very appreciative about
the immediate feedback on their responses. In addition, the anonymity of the responses
helped create a comfortable environment for the students.
At this early stage of the project, it was suggested that the excitement among students could
be due to the novelty of mobiles. We then designed a system where students used a computer
rather than a mobile phone to take the same kind of lesson and tested it on a class in a computer
lab with 35 computers and 35 students aged 35– 45. Observations and interviews with students
confirmed the previous results; the pedagogy was working and was received positively by stu-
dents who particularly mentioned the anonymity and activity (doing rather than listening) as
positive factors. Both these tests also served to introduce the method to teachers to see how
they handled the method and how they perceived it, both being important factors for large-
scale implementation; a test that also turned out positively.
RP 2, learning effect. To test the effect on learning, we did a test using two ordinary class-
rooms (RP 2). The same teacher served both classes (52 students divided into two equally sized
groups). In one, he was physically present; in the other, he was visible through TV and interacted
with students through the SMS system. Learning was measured as the difference between a pre-
and a post-test, and there was no significant difference between the two classes (the test is
reported in Islam, Ashraf, Rahman, & Rahman (2005)). Even though it was a small test, the
results indicated that it is possible for distance students using our system to learn as much as
those physically present in class; the method is workable.
RP 3, feasibiliby for BOU. Next, we developed two prototype TV-sent classes, including
interactivity between students and teacher using BOU teaching material and designing the
lessons for typical BOU students. The purpose of this was to demonstrate our idea to BOU in
a hands-on way and to make sure that they found it applicable to their situation, the current
as well as a future one compatible with their ambitions. Traditionally, BOU teachers do not
work with students. They produce lectures based on literature and deliver them as speeches
on (recorded) TV. Hence, both interaction in general and the specific technical implementation
of it had to be clearly demonstrated. From both a practical and a research perspective, we needed
to make sure at this point that not only the SMS technology but the whole idea of interactive TV
lessons could be expected to work in the particular social and institutional context of BOU and
Bangladesh. We did this by means of demonstration and discussion in focus groups. At different
occasions, in separated groups, BOU management, teachers and students saw our video
example. First, we showed it to BOU teachers and management and followed up with discus-
sions so as to make sure they understood the idea and could translate it to their current way
of operation. We then discussed how our method related to the challenges BOU need to
address, including the ones mentioned above with low completion rate, little contact with stu-
dents, and undeveloped use of the tutorial centers. The teachers and administration of BOU
were unsure of how the BVIC system could work. Once, however, they were able to view the
recorded program, they had a feeling that this could work. Having agreed on the potential of
our model, we were allowed to show the video to BOU students at one of the tutorial centers.
This was done in a similar way to the previous test, i.e. we used the mobile technology in an
ordinary physical classroom, observed students, and made interviews with them. Again, the col-
lected feedback was positive.
After these tests, demonstration, and discussions, we were able to make an agreement with
BOU to develop a complete course in this fashion. One small but very important part of this con-
tract was its official endorsement by the BOU Vice Chancellor; BOU arranged a public event
with presence of Bangladesh TV, the national newspapers, and BOU teachers, at which the
project was solemnly presented by the project manager and the Vice Chancellor.
RP 4, Doability, teacher acceptance, and economic feasibility. The course selected for the
first large-scale implementation was the annual “English 2”, which enrolls some 70,000 students.
The course starts in Spring every year and ends with exams in January the year after. For this
course, we produced 28 interactive lectures in cooperation with BOU teachers. The course cur-
riculum was revisited for the purpose of adapting it to the interactive lesson style, teachers were
trained, and lessons were recorded with live classes. These were shown on TV at a pace of one
per week. They were also made available on VHS tape/DVD to be viewed at any time at some
BOU tutorial centers.
Teaching of a foreign language in a developing country like Bangladesh poses huge chal-
lenges. We took stock of the existing English teachers at the satellite tutorial centers of BOU.
The teachers themselves come from a background where teaching means guiding students on
how to memorize. Language learning is no different. Model essays are memorized along with
umpteen mistakes and reproduced in exams at both school and college levels. A challenge of
the large-scale test phase, hence, was to make teachers learn how to teach in an interactive
manner and organize teaching material for interactivity. Curriculums have to be revisited,
lectures redesigned, and presentation and interaction practised. To tackle the mindset of the
teachers, a participatory workshop was designed to assess new ways to tackling language teach-
ing. They were given a one week course on interactive teaching, in general, and our specific
method, in particular, in December 2007. The purpose was to prepare them for recordings by
understanding how the teaching material should be organized so as to be delivered in this inter-
active and student-centered manner. Fifteen teachers from BOU, selected based on personal
interest, knowledge, and availability, participated and six of them were selected to act as teachers
in the TV recordings. Another participatory workshop was designed for the five tutorial center
teachers who were to support the program in the tutorial centers (to facilitate evaluations, we ran
specific condensed courses at five tutorial centers; this way we can observe students and teachers
in action and interview them in context. This research is not reported here).
An important point is to make course production economically feasible, which means it has
to be possible to do it with existing resources, i.e. the ordinary staff and existing technical equip-
ment. In February 2008, two intensive weeks of test recordings took place. By then, teachers had,
in cooperation with the project’s pedagogical expert, developed scripts for the lessons. We
could, of course, not produce 28 lectures in two weeks with teachers inexperienced in both inter-
activity and live teaching, but we wanted to have an intensive work period so as to find a smooth
way of recording, acquaint as many teachers as possible with the method and the situation, and
establish a stable design for the TV shows, meaning one that both fitted our intentions and the
teachers’ experience and current ambitions. Once this was done, we went on with recordings
engaging five teachers as the main actors.
Altogether 28 lessons were recorded. The fourteenth and twenty-eighth lesson consisted of
mid-term and final evaluation of the course (meeting the “reflection” requirement of SCL). In
these sessions, the distant students participated in evaluating their own learning and the
support provided by BVIC.
As already mentioned, our overall purpose was to improve education by means of various
forms of interaction. Interaction means not only taking active part in classes but also reflecting
on teaching and the education in general. Our method contains a number of mechanisms for that
purpose (Table 1). RP 4 aimed at investigating the students’ understanding and appreciation of
our method; so those who had participated in all the TV recordings (n ¼ 12) were given a ques-
tionnaire immediately after the recordings were completed. Eleven students responded. The
questionnaire corresponded to the feedback methods presented in Table 2. The five teachers
who had taken part in the recordings were also interviewed separately.
Feedback during lecture: All respondents felt that communication between teacher and
student, student and student, as well as students and resource materials was very important.
The five teachers participating in recording the sessions all agreed that the spoken English
and participation in class had improved considerably.
Attendance: Not tested at this time.
Feedback during airing of lecture: Students interact with the teacher during airing of lessons.
The answers are stored for reference and analysis by the SMS server and by the teachers. The
students watching get immediate feedback on the correctness of their answers and observe dis-
cussions on wrong answers similar to what they would do in a live face-to-face class. Ten out of
11 and 8 out of 11 students felt that learning and thinking, respectively, were promoted during a
BVIC lesson.
Table 2. Feedback mechanisms introduced into the BVC (Nesa & Islam, 2008).
Traditional BOU distance education
Sl. Aspect lecture Virtual interactive classroom (VIC)
1 Feedback from None – teacher is alone talking to a A set of students are present. Students
students during camera are made to participate in a variety of
lecture activities
2 Attendance during No record of attendance. No Students must send their attendance via
airing of lecture requirement of watching the video SMS. The server keeps track of
lectures attendance lesson by lesson
3 Feedback during None. There is no measurement of Students viewing the recorded video
airing of lecture how much students have learnt or interact by answering questions and
the problems they are facing voice calls. The SMS server responds
to the students giving the impression
of a “live” show. The answers are all
stored allowing post-analysis of
answers
4 Mid-term review Opinion of students is not elicited Students both in class and those
watching the video are asked
questions regarding their learning
problems and how VIC can further
support their learning. The remaining
lectures were recorded, learning from
feedback given by students
5 Final review Opinion of students is not elicited. Students both in class and those
watching the video are asked how
VIC helped them prepare and can
further support their learning.
6 Exam Students sit exams at tutorial centers Students sit exams at tutorial centers
7 Analysis of student Scripts marked as examination Student answers during watching video
responses papers for the purpose of awarding all stored in database. This allows
final marks computer analysis and scope for
improvement of future recordings
Mid-term review: Lesson 14 consisted of a mid-term review of the BVIC model and learning
difficulties. Students requested that teachers should also explain difficult concepts in the local
native language, Bangla, provide vocabulary support through SMS, and give sample examin-
ation questions during the lectures. These requests were passed on to the team of five teachers
and the SMS technical staff. Students were also asked how they could solve their own shortcom-
ings like poor attendance, learning partners’ lack of cooperation (SCL puts more, and more
immediate, demands on students), etc. The feedback afforded by the mid-term review was
two-way – for both the teachers and the students themselves. This promoted ownership on
the part of teachers as well students.
Final review: Lesson 28 consisted of asking what students liked most about the BVIC and
what features could be improved. Before this, students were given feedback on which of the
requested features during mid-term review were successfully incorporated. Nine students
requested availability of the video lessons on DVD for repeated viewing and all eleven requested
that more video lessons should be added from the resource book of HSC second year English.
Exam: Not tested at this time.

Analysis of student answers in tests from previous years: Lessons 25, 26, and 27 were spent
analyzing previous student answers and showing how to get better marks as well as what mis-
takes were common. This feedback to students was designed to help them understand where they
themselves go wrong and how they can improve.
5. Results and conclusions

We have presented above the tools of our LMS and the tests done. Table 3 summarizes our find-
ings so far and, in particular, the challenges we have encountered as they have appeared in the
BVIC project. These challenges are important in that they have to be met so as to achieve
sustainability.
As the table shows, the organizational, professional and social challenges are quite substan-
tial. This should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the history of education. Similar
challenges occurred in Europe during the 1960s when SCL was introduced there, and they con-
tinued for long time. There is no simple solution to problems like these. We provided the “case
story” of Section 4 precisely to illustrate (some of) the nuts and bolts of the challenges in chan-
ging rooted perspectives implemented not just in organizational structures but also in people’s
minds. While we consider it an achievement to have come so far as to actually implement a full
ordinary course, we also want to make clear to the reader that this is only a first step, and that the
technical challenges are quite minor in comparison.
A particular problem of any education, but particularly in situations like this when the
amount of students may be tens and even hundreds of thousands, is scaling. While we have
addressed this problem in several ways, there are still obvious problems. Our course design is
quite simple in that many features are automated and interaction is quite limited in terms of
both complexity and time required. This is for the purpose of making the method usable on a
very large scale with a minimum of extra resources required, technical as well as teachers’
time. Course production can be done quite economically. Recordings were made quite
cheaply even though several retakes had to be done simply because of inexperience. But even
so, coping with student interaction on a daily basis will require resources. Not everything can
be automated and even though some of the student activity can be sustained by themselves, indi-
vidually as well as jointly under the Learning Partner scheme, SCL requires teachers to be avail-
able. This will require considerable work from teachers, compared with today’s situation where
they do not interact with students at all. SCL requires different pedagogical methods than repeti-
tive teaching, and these need to be organized in new education production processes. There is at
Table 3. Challenges to SCL (“RP1”, etc. refer to “research points” in Table 1).
Challenges BVIC experiences Evidence
Technical While there is still a need to develop Pilot tests (in test classes, during
challenges innovative and simple tools for recordings), observations,
education, there are no major questionnaires, and interviews with
problems with technology use and students: students easily use the tools,
access they find them useful, and they ask for
more material being made available this
way. SMS commands yield some
cognitive overhead, interface should be
made more intuitive, likely graphical
(RP1, RP2)
Organizational (a) Organizing operation and technical (a) Interviews, observations, discussions
challenges support for the SMS server with teachers, admin staff and
management at BOU: BOU currently
uses no interactive technology. They do,

however, have proficient TV recording
staff albeit old technology (RP3)
(b) Teacher education (how to use the (b) Interviews, observations, discussions:
technology) designing lectures and courses for this
technology and this interaction mode
(RP4)
(c) Revised process model for (c) Interviews, observations, discussions:
production of courses. scripting, lecturing, video recordings
must use new model. Interaction with
students and course follow-ups must be
added (RP4)
Professional Teachers must learn to interact with Interviews, observations, discussions,
challenges students in new ways. Focus must be teacher training, recordings, and
on learning, not teaching, and evaluations of these: New interaction
teachers must reformulate their role modes need training and reconsideration
accordingly of the teacher’s role and practices (RP3,
RP4)
Social challenges The student role changes. Students must Interviews, observations, discussions,
become more independent in their teacher training, recordings,
search for knowledge. However, questionnaires: Students are familiar
technology may help as the mode of with the technology but quite unfamiliar
interaction that comes with ICT is with taking an active role in education
readily taken up by students (RP4, RP5)
least one obvious candidate for step change in this respect. Today, BOU is not actively working
with the large amount of local tutorial centers. They constitute a “hidden” resource, and follow-
ing the successful examples from European distance tuition (NSHU, 2007), they could be
engaged to take an active part in teaching. Much of the work with maintaining student contacts
could be handled by them.
5.1 Conclusions
This paper has addressed the question of how to use existing mobile telephony technical infra-
structure to create an interactive learning environment which can be accessed by a majority of
the population, be able to include thousands of students, and be sustainable from a resource per-
spective, including the operational model of institutions providing education.
The BVIC project has developed a basic set of tools for large-scale distance tuition in devel-
oping countries, including (1) interactive technology with a number of technical tools for learn-
ing and course administration, (2) a pedagogical model designed for interactivity in a developing
country context, replacing repetitive pedagogy with SCL, participation, responsibility, and own-
ership, (3) focused teacher training in interactive e-learning, and (4) curriculum development
introducing SCL into BOU education. We have shown that our system and method works as con-
cerns teachers and students, but also that sustainability involves a number of challenges which
cannot be met by a single project but need consistent and sustained change work. This includes
some technical challenges but in particular, organizational and social ones.
Technical challenges for education providers include making the TV shows effective in
terms of production costs and attractive to students. We have already shown that this can be
done, but the method has yet to be implemented in standard operations at BOU, which will
mean education of studio staff, teacher training on a broader scale, some new tasks like
hosting an SMS server and attached software, routines and generally defining a different role
for teachers to fit with the SCL model.

Organizational challenges: First, there is a need for teacher training: making teachers learn
and adopt not only interactive ways of teaching but indeed the SCL model. There must also be
measures for following up on student feedback at the institutional level so that teaching is
improved for all courses and on a continual basis. This is where the change of operational
model comes in; following the example from industrialized countries it should include involving
the tutorial centers actively in the education. The basic course model has to be redesigned so as
to include not just interactive elements but to make these anchored in an explicit SCL
perspective.
Social challenges: The local educational culture in Bangladesh, as in many developing
countries, is focused on repetition. Making SCL the norm is a huge challenge. This is a long-
term change which, in industrial countries, has taken decades. While this process may be
faster for the developing countries as examples and methods today exist and are readily avail-
able, one should not expect educational cultures to change quickly (Eastmond, 2000; Evans,
2005; Rajesh, 2003; Sehrt, 2003).
Further research work from a pedagogical perspective includes post-course follow up on pass
rates and exam results at the end-of-year final exam. It also includes investigating students’ use
and attitudes on a larger sample. At the organizational level, work ahead includes full-scale
implementation of the new course production model at BOU as well as making further pilots
in other countries, and sustaining the technical tools. The BVIC is compatible with increasing
use of web technologies; one further development is to facilitate simple integration with existing
LMS so that our LMS can be easily used as a complement for education providers so as to reach
farther into the rural areas of developing countries.
In summary, the BVIC project has developed a model for low-cost interactive “e-” or “m-
learning” in developing countries, based on SCL principles and methods. Drawing on existing
technical infrastructure and existing skills in using technology, the tools and methods developed
are feasible and usable. As this is a low-cost scheme with extremely high outreach already as of
today, it is affordable in any developing country. As there is no technical investment necessary,
the economy of the approach is promising.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by SPIDER, the Swedish Program for IT in Developing Regions
(http://www.spidercenter.org/).
Note
1. Official statistics are lacking, but during our investigations we came across a PhD thesis, Rahman
(2002), that studied the nature of drop outs from courses of BOU. Out of 700,000 students registered,
only a total of about 35,000 sat exams in the seven faculties of BOU.
Notes on contributors
Åke Grönlund is (full) Professor of Informatics at Örebro University. Åke’s research concerns the use of
information and communication technologies (ICT) in various human activities. The common denominator
involved in all projects is to understand how people arrange their work, their organizations, and other activi-
ties pertaining to private life, such as socializing on the web, and how ICT can be used for improvements.
eGovernment and ICT for Development are two stong foci.
Yousuf M. Islam is Associate Professor of Computer Science at Daffodil International University in Dhaka,
Bangladesh. He is also chairman of Soft-Ed Ltd. His research is much focused on practical software to
support learning, in particular mobile applications as these are of particular value in developing countries.
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Information Technology for Development

A mobile e-learning environment for developing

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02681101003746490

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A mobile e-learning environment for developing countries:

existing mobile telephony technical infrastructure to create interactive learning

ISSN 0268-1102 print/ISSN 1554-0170 online

effort between Örebro University, Sweden (ÖU) and BOU.

studies; e.g. usability testing of prototypes, sociological investigations of local communi-

3. The concept and the tools of the BVIC

3.1 Literature review

Table 1. Research points in overview.

action) group and control

3.2 The LMS

3.2.1 Learning and communication tools

3.2.2 Administrative tools

done by SMS and checked against BOU course registration files.

3.2.3 Teacher support

4. Toward interactive education

Exam: Not tested at this time.

5. Results and conclusions

uses no interactive technology. They do,

for teachers to fit with the SCL model.

beyond the market. Telecommunications Policy, 31(3– 4), 155–163.

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