What I'd like to call my TOTGA of all of my case studies, this was originally my first pass entry for the User Experience Society's UX University Case Competition. This study aimed to address the problem that students, whose only means of accessing Online Distance Learning is through their smartphones, need a Learning Management System that caters to the functionalities and limitations of mobile devices. Initially meant to be a case study involving UX Research and Product Design, this case only ended up becoming a UX Research piece after I had decided to forego the second phase of the competition due to personal reasons.

Despite not being fully realized, this is still one of my favorite and proudest moments of User Experience Research.

The Problem

The inspiration for me to tackle this case study was to understand and address the gap in the current Philippine Educational System that demanded for students to attend classes was to be able to afford a Php 18,000 laptop or personal computer. Knowing how large the sum of Php 18,000 is in the Philippine context, how much it can afford a family for months— I personally believed in high quality education for students in the public education system in the middle of the pandemic.

Distance-based learning was essential in the Philippines and is something foreseen to stay with the rising toll and waves of COVID-19 occurring unpredictably. Back when this study was worked on, Face-to-Face classes was not exactly implemented yet. Studies conducted by the Social Weather Station also revealed that 13% of students bought new devices, and 79% of that number of enrolled students for distance-based learning had bought smartphones.

This preference for smartphones was not only because of choice, but also a result of a household’s means of being able to afford digital devices for online learning. Not everyone could afford to buy a new laptop as prescribed by the minimum capability of online school by the Department of Education, especially for low-income families.

The challenge this case study attempts to address is exploring what are the functionalities of learning management systems that can be made more adaptable to students and whose means of communicating and attending to online learning only is their smartphones.

Thus, this study aimed to explore the possibility of making education more accessible and letting people know that education can be made accessible via mobile devices and can be maximized for both the teacher and learner.

Research Objectives

Concerns and Frustrations

• Pinpoint the frustrations and concerns when using existing learning management systems and applications on mobile devices

Context

• Contextualize students pursuit for online education despite the difficulties that exist when using their smartphones

Features

• Discover the features of Learning Management Systems that are not translated well into mobile device use but are still highly needed by students on their smartphones

The Participants

This research aims to engage with students and teachers who have experienced only being able to conduct/go through online classes with their mobile phones/smartphone for a considerable amount of time or are currently only using their phones to study and teach. They’ve been identified as the main stakeholders of the study.

During this study, I had spoken to 5 students and 2 teachers who met the following research requirements:

STUDENTS

The participant must have the following qualifications:

• Must have experienced and incorporated their smartphone into their online class routine in accessing their learning management platforms (ex: Canvas, Google Classroom, Moodle, DepEd LMS)
• Must currently be a highschool student or a college student (graduate students also are welcome).
• Can either be enrolled in a private or public school or university
• (OPTIONAL) Open for students who previously went through online classes for at least SIX (6) WEEKS with ONLY a smartphone until they decided to get another device (like a laptop/desktop)
• (OPTIONAL) CURRENTLY only using their smartphone to attend online class

TEACHERS

The participant must have the following qualifications:

• Must be a practicing teacher at the moment in any school, learning center, or university
• Must have had experience teaching and handling online classes
• (OPTIONAL) Taught with their smartphones for six (6) or more weeks.
• Can either be a public or private school teacher