DECLARATION
I Zulfa Sammadile, hereby declare that this report is my own work and effort and that it has not been
submitted to any university for a similar award. The work in this report was carried out in accordance
with the regulations of Ardhi University and has not been presented to any other University for
examination either in Tanzania or elsewhere. Where other sources of information have been used,
they have been shown in the references lists.
Zulfa Sammadile
Name of student
………………………
…..……………………..
Signature
Date
i
CERTIFICATION
The undersigned certifies that s/he has read and hereby endorses for acceptance by the Ardhi
University a dissertation titled: “Development of a Mobile Application for Enhancing
Communication between Parents and Teachers of Nursery schools” in fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science (Information Systems Management) of Ardhi
University.
Supervisors: 1. Ms. Beatrice Kateule
2. Mr. Godfrey Luwemba
ii
signature……………….
Date……………….
signature……………….
Date.………………
ABSTRACT
Communication between parents and teachers is vital for the success in the academic performance of
students. This is even more important for the case of nursery schools, because this is the most basic
educational level and it builds perceptions of these kids towards education. However, there are
problems in communication between parents and teacher due to setbacks in communication methods
used. This study focuses on solving the communication problem by developing an android application
specifically to enhance communication between parents and teachers of nursery schools.
To achieve this overall aim of developing an android application which would enhance
communication between parents and teachers of nursery schools, the aim was broken down into four
measurable (aggregate) steps using the waterfall methodology. The first step was requirement
gathering (data collection) which was done using the questionnaires and interviews. The second step
followed the analysis of the data collected which was performed with google forms. Afterwards,
design of the system was done using Object Oriented Analysis and Design Methodology (OOADM),
specifically, the UML (Unified Modeling Language). The next step was implementation whereas the
system was the implemented and lastly the system was tested in terms of functionality (functional
testing; testing the system against its functional requirements) as well as user-acceptance testing.
Two outputs were obtained at the end of the study; the first one being the android application and the
second one was the android application and a web portal. The android application was developed for
the parents and teachers of nursery schools and the web portal was developed for the administrator
for example; the nursery school master who with portal, s/he may manage the accounts of teachers
and perform overall activities such as sending school reports to parents.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First and foremost, I would like to thank God, the almighty for blessing me with abundant strength
for conducting this dissertation well enough. Secondly, I would like to thank my family; father,
mother, siblings, aunt, uncle, cousins but most importantly my son for the support, love and peace
they have provided me with throughout.
Furthermore, I would like to sincerely thank my supervisors, Mr. Luwemba and Ms. Beatrice for their
support, guidance, strength but most especially their understanding throughout the time of this
dissertation.
Lastly but not least, I would also like to thank my friends and colleagues from ISM 3, 2018/19 for
the support they offered me in all ways throughout conducting this dissertation.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION ................................................................................................................................. i
CERTIFICATION ............................................................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................... iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................................. iv
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................ ix
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................. xi
LIST OF APPENDICES ................................................................................................................... xii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ......................................................................... xiii
CHAPTER ONE ..................................................................................................................................1
GENERAL INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................1
1.1 Background Information.............................................................................................................1
1.2 Statement of the Problem ...........................................................................................................2
1.3 Objectives ...................................................................................................................................2
1.3.1 General Objective ................................................................................................................2
1.3.2 Specific Objectives ..............................................................................................................2
1.4 Research Questions.....................................................................................................................3
1.5 Significance of the study ............................................................................................................3
1.6 Structure of the report .................................................................................................................3
CHAPTER TWO..................................................................................................................................5
LITERATURE REVIEW .....................................................................................................................5
2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................5
2.2 Parental Involvement in Childhood Education ...........................................................................5
2.3 Why Android application?..........................................................................................................6
2.4 Related Research Overview........................................................................................................7
2.4.1 Literature on opinions of Parents and Teachers on mobile technologies ............................7
2.4.2 Literature on the use of mobile apps for enhancing parental involvement ..........................8
2.5 Related works .............................................................................................................................8
2.5.1 Communication book ...........................................................................................................8
v
2.5.2 MyEDiary web application ..................................................................................................9
2.5.3 Research gap ........................................................................................................................9
2.6 Summary.....................................................................................................................................9
CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................................10
METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................................................10
3.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................10
3.2 Discussion on the selected methodology ..................................................................................10
3.3 Data collection methods ...........................................................................................................11
3.3.1 Questionnaire .....................................................................................................................11
3.3.2 Interview ............................................................................................................................11
3.3.3 Sample and Sampling Technique.......................................................................................11
3.4 Data analysis, Results and Research discussion .......................................................................12
3.4.1 Data analysis methods........................................................................................................12
3.4.2 Analysis of Results ............................................................................................................12
3.5 Design methodology .................................................................................................................18
3.6 Testing and evaluation methods ...............................................................................................19
3.7 Discussion on various tools used ..............................................................................................19
CHAPTER FOUR ..............................................................................................................................22
SYSTEM DESIGN ............................................................................................................................22
4.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................22
4.2 Requirement Analysis...............................................................................................................22
4.2.1 System requirements ..........................................................................................................22
4.2.2 User Requirements .............................................................................................................24
4.3 System design ...........................................................................................................................25
4.3.1 System architecture ............................................................................................................25
4.3.2 Unified Modeling Language (UML) .................................................................................26
4.3.3 Justification for using UML for analysis and design .........................................................26
4.3.4 Discussion on various UML diagrams ...............................................................................27
CHAPTER FIVE ................................................................................................................................33
vi
IMPLEMENTATION AND TESTING .............................................................................................33
5.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................33
5.2 Mobile application ....................................................................................................................33
5.2.1 Login activity .....................................................................................................................33
5.2.2 Teacher’s activities ............................................................................................................34
5.2.3 Parent’s activities ...............................................................................................................38
5.2.4 Account setting/ change password activity ........................................................................43
5.2.5 Logout activity ...................................................................................................................43
5.3 Web portal ................................................................................................................................43
5.3.1 Login page .........................................................................................................................44
5.3.2 Administrator’s home page ................................................................................................44
5.3.3 Manage teachers.................................................................................................................45
5.3.4 Manage parents ..................................................................................................................46
5.4 Testing ......................................................................................................................................49
5.4.1 Functional testing ...............................................................................................................49
5.4.2 User acceptance testing ......................................................................................................50
6.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................52
6.2 Findings ....................................................................................................................................52
6.2.1 Products..............................................................................................................................52
6.2.2 Experimental findings ........................................................................................................53
6.3 Goals achieved ..........................................................................................................................54
CHAPTER SEVEN ............................................................................................................................55
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ..........................................................55
7.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................55
7.2 Summary...................................................................................................................................55
7.2.1 Summary on Research Question 1 .....................................................................................55
7.2.2 Summary on Research Question 2 .....................................................................................55
7.2.3 Summary on Research Question 3 .....................................................................................56
7.2.4 Summary on Research Question 4 .....................................................................................56
vii
7.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................56
7.4 Recommendation and Future study ..........................................................................................56
REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................57
APPENDICES ....................................................................................................................................59
viii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure2.1 Android phone users’ statistics (Statista, 2019)...................................................................6
Figure3.1 Parents' most used mobile platform……………………………………………………...12
Figure3.2 Parents' communication with teachers…………………………………………………...13
Figure3.3 Parents' perception on current means of communication………………………………...13
Figure3.4 Parents' data communicated to teachers………………………………………………….14
Figure3.5 Parents' perception on new communication method……………………………………..14
Figure3.6 Parents' perception on look and feel…………………………………………………….. 15
Figure3.7 Parents' look and feel features summary…………………………………………………15
Figure3. 8: Teachers' most used mobile platform………………………………………………….. 16
Figure3.9 Teachers' communication means………………………………………………………... 16
Figure3.10 Teachers' perception on current communication means……………………………….. 17
Figure3.11 Teachers' perception on new communication method…………………………………. 17
Figure3.12 Teachers' perception on look and feel…………………………………………………..18
Figure3.13 Teachers' summary on look and feel features………………………………………….. 18
Figure4.1 Systems architecture……………………………………………………………………..26
Figure4.2 Use-case diagram for the android application ...................................................................27
Figure4.3 Use-case diagram for web portal .......................................................................................28
Figure4.4 Activity diagram for the android application .....................................................................29
Figure4.5 Sequence diagram for login use-case.................................................................................30
Figure4.6 Class diagram .....................................................................................................................30
Figure4.7 Deployment diagram for android application ....................................................................31
Figure4.8 Deployment diagram for the web portal ............................................................................32
Figure5.1 Login activity…….………………………………………………………………………34
Figure5.2 Teacher’s activities ............................................................................................................34
Figure5.3Teacher’s home activity ......................................................................................................35
Figure5.4 Manage student activity list ...............................................................................................35
Figure5.5 Manage students’ activity options .....................................................................................36
Figure5.6 Chat activity .......................................................................................................................37
Figure5. 7 Send assignment activity ..................................................................................................37
Figure5.8 Parent’s activities ...............................................................................................................38
Figure5.9 Welcome activity ...............................................................................................................39
Figure5.10 School teachers activity list .............................................................................................39
Figure5.11 Parent’s initiate chat option and chat area .......................................................................40
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Figure5.12 Chat notification ..............................................................................................................40
Figure5.13 Assignment activity .........................................................................................................41
Figure5. 14 View report activity ........................................................................................................42
Figure5. 15 Download report activity ................................................................................................42
Figure5. 16 Downloaded report example ...........................................................................................43
Figure5.17 Login page .......................................................................................................................44
Figure5.18 Administrator’s home page ..............................................................................................44
Figure5.19 New teacher registration page..........................................................................................45
Figure5.20 Login notification ............................................................................................................46
Figure5.21 Update teacher’s details ...................................................................................................46
Figure5.22 Manage parents (students) page .......................................................................................47
Figure5.23 Student’s registration page...............................................................................................47
Figure5.24 Update student’s (parent’s) details ..................................................................................48
Figure5. 25 Send report page .............................................................................................................49
x
LIST OF TABLES
Table3.1 Methodologies .....................................................................................................................21
Table4.1 Software requirements ........................................................................................................24
Table5.1 Functional testing ................................................................................................................50
xi
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix I: Research Questionnaire for Parents ...............................................................................59
Appendix II: Research Questionnaire for Teachers ...........................................................................60
Appendix III: User-acceptance testing questionnaire ........................................................................61
xii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
HTM
Hypertext Markup Language
CSS
Cascading Style Sheets
JS
JavaScript
PHP
Hypertext Preprocessor
XAMPP
Cross platform for Apache, MySQL, PHP and Perl
UML
Unified Modeling Language
xiii
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background Information
Mobile technology has emerged as a powerful tool in the education sector; it has become popular
worldwide with a broad range of users, including students and teachers from all education levels.
Many educators agree that mobile technology has great potential to improve educational practices,
change traditional learning platforms and classroom environments. There are numerous advantages
of integrating mobile technologies into the 21st century classroom to support teaching and learning.
(Zehra & Bilwani, 2016). Educators harness mobile devices and tools such as; iPads, iPad minis,
mobile applications, tablets, palm devices, e-readers and smartphones within and beyond the
classroom due to the flexibility, portability and popularity of these devices (Keengwe, 2014).
There has been massive use of mobile technologies in the education sector; mobile tools have been
used in learning and teaching as well as school administration and management. (Ferreira, Moreira,
& Carla Santos Pereira, 2017). Research findings in some districts indicate that iPad utilization not
only facilitated administrative tasks (memos, calendars, etc.), but also improved specific complex
administrator responsibilities such as teacher evaluations. Use of iPads has been perceived by school
administrators as a way of improving their professional image, augmenting their ability to lead their
workplaces with more technological advancements and thus generate a significant return on the
district’s financial investment (Winslow, Dickerson, Lee, & Geer, 2012).
To present important information such as presence of home works, school contributions or any
messages to parents, most nursery school teachers use school diaries, and some use the back of
pupils’ exercise books. A school diary is a book that is used to deliver school related information
from teachers to parents and sometimes the other way around. For upper classes, a school diary may
also be used by students themselves. These current communication methods in Tanzanian nursery
schools have problems such as; lack of feedback, failure for in time information sending but most
importantly most parents do not participate in school activities such as home works and thus the
burden falls on teachers as well as children’s academic performance deteriorates.
However, there has been use of mobile applications in schools to improve learning practices and
communication within schools as well as beyond school borders such as with parents. Such mobile
applications include; school management applications such as vinhaze mobile applications which
enable school staffs including teachers and administration as well as parents to obtain information
from calendars and events embedded within the applications as part of many features found in these
mobile applications.
1
Mobile applications can therefore be used to build a strong solution in the performance of students
in the most basic level such as nursery schools by influencing communication between parents and
teachers of nursery pupils. It is widely known that the success of students in these foundations are in
the hands of both teachers and parents and the success in bringing these two parties together is highly
needed for the betterment of the future for these students in their education.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Parental involvement in children’s school activities has been a problem especially in developing
countries such as Tanzania due to lack of adequate means to bring together teachers and parents. The
involvement of parents in a child’s education is important to the child’s academic performance
especially for the nursery pupils as they are beginning to experience education. The success in the
academic future of these children highly depends on the cooperation between parents and teachers
of these schools.
Mobile applications have been used to allow parents access information of schools and their
children’s education and have had positive results; however, there has not been a focus on direct
teacher-parent information flow on school activities such as home works. In Tanzania for instance;
private schools still use school diaries to communicate to parents about such school activities,
emergencies and school events; some privately-owned nursery schools use WhatsApp groups to
communicate with parents. For public schools, things are worse; teachers communicate with parents
by writing messages on the back of an exercise book or parents have to go to the schools just to
deliver some information, or through phone calls and messages.
The purpose of the proposed study is to determine a mobile tool that would enhance communication
and information flow between parents and teachers of nursery pupils so as to improve academic
performance and ensure future to these children when it comes to education.
1.3 Objectives
1.3.1 General Objective
The general objective of this dissertation was to develop a mobile application that would improve
communication and information flow between parents and teachers of nursery schools by
simulating school diaries.
1.3.2 Specific Objectives
i.
To obtain requirements of a mobile application that would solve challenges of the current
systems.
ii.
To analyze and design the system that is to be developed.
iii.
To implement a mobile application to be used in android phones that would solve the
challenges faced by the current communication methods between parents and teachers.
2
iv.
To test the system (mobile application) and it’s functioning as well as the ability to solve
the indicated problems with the current system (methods).
1.4 Research Questions
i.
What are the challenges of the current parent-teacher communication methods?
ii.
What information content is communicated between parents and teachers of nursery
schools?
iii.
What are the key design features required in the mobile application so as to ensure
positive results regarding communication and information flow between parents and
teachers?
iv.
Will the mobile application solve the problems with the current communication methods?
1.5 Significance of the study
The aim of this study was to develop a mobile application that would be used in android smart phones
that would solve the problems and challenges of communication and information flow that current
methods have so as to improve academic performance of children and ensure future to these children
when it comes to education by creating a good academic foundation for them.
1.6 Structure of the report
The following content describes how this entire report is broken down into chapters and briefly what
each chapter contains.
Chapter one: Introduction. This chapter as the name suggests, introduces what this dissertation is all
about. It includes the background of this dissertation, the statement of the problem, general objective,
specific objectives, research questions, significance of the study, scope of the study, limitation of the
study, definition of some terms used in the report as well as the road map of this entire proposal.
Chapter two: Literature review. This chapter provides explanation on key terms of the dissertation
according to different researchers and the importance of this study more critical with references to
different researches. Most importantly, this chapter presents critical analysis of the literature which
is relevant to this area of study by showing what these researchers have done in this field of study as
well as the gaps left out of which are going to be filled with this study.
Chapter three: Methodology. From this chapter, one may find the methodologies and tools used in
delivering each stated specific objective.
Chapter four: Design. This chapter provides the analysis and design methodology used among other
methodologies as well as the designs for the system before its actual implementation.
3
Chapter five: Implementation and Testing. This chapter entails the system output as well as how the
system was tested, and testing results obtained.
Chapter six: Results and Discussion. This chapter provides findings (products and experimental
findings), goals achieved but most importantly, future works which may be the new areas of
investment or a gap in the solution that may be further studied and solved.
Chapter seven: Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation. This chapter provides a summary for
the whole dissertation which includes important stages into achieving the general objective as well
as the outcome from the dissertation. The chapter also presents conclusion for the dissertation and
recommendation.
4
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
There have number of studies conducted previously around this study. This chapter discusses
literatures related to this study, related works with their advantages, disadvantages and research gaps
for each work which is to be filled with this dissertation output. Furthermore, different terms are
discussed in depth under this chapter.
2.2 Parental Involvement in Childhood Education
Parental involvement in early childhood education is crucial for the academic performance and
educational future of kids. Children generally have two main educators in their lives; parents and
teachers. Parents are the early most educators who educate the child informally until the child begins
an early childhood education (nursery schools) (DCSF, 2008). As the child begins going to school;
it is important for these two main educators to communicate adequately as both have role to play to
the child and an impact in the child’s education. Parental involvement is therefore brought with
enhanced communication and information flow between parents and teachers (Israel, 2016). In the
appreciation of this; several studies have been conducted to examine parental involvement and ways
in which parental involvement overtime relates to children’s social and academic functioning in
school. In one study, teachers provided information regarding parental involvement and school
performance for 1,205 urban kindergartens through third-grade children for 3 consecutive years.
They rated four dimensions of parent-involvement: frequency of parent‐teacher contact, quality of
the parent-teacher interactions, participation in educational activities at home, and participation in
school activities. Results suggested that parental involvement deteriorates in time and enhancing
parental involvement in children's schooling relates to improvements in school functioning (Fredrich,
1999).
Another study concentrated on the importance of parental involvement in children’s education with
a major concern in public schools. The fact that parental involvement may change provides a
significance to concentrate on this study because many other variables that affect academic
performance are less easily changed (i.e. ability, family and socio-economic status) and some are
fixed such as gender. Thus, learning more about successful types of involvement and the optimal
amount associated with positive outcomes are potential for teachers of these children (Marcon, 1999).
The aim of this study is to create a mobile application that will allow parents and teachers to
communicate directly as well as notify parents on school activities such as home works. Parents and
5
teachers with this application will also be able to communicate from anywhere and get feedback
faster and easier.
2.3 Role of Mobile technologies in Education
The introduction of the use of mobile technologies in education sector has brought a lot of advantages
to students, teachers as well as parents. The introduction of smart phones, tablets and other mobile
devices improved communication in many sectors including the education sector; students could
easily communicate with teachers, but also parents and teachers could communicate with teachers
easily.
Mobile applications have been widely used to enhance education in many ways. Mobile application
has been referred to as a software application that runs on a mobile device (Wang, Liao, & Yang,
2013). According to Siegler (2008), mobile applications are available through a distribution platform
of applications which are operated by the mobile operating system owners; for example, Apple
Appstore, Google Play, window Phone Store and BlackBerry Appstore. Mobile applications can
come already installed on the mobile device or downloaded from the Appstore or the internet. (Wang,
Liao, & Yang, 2013)
2.4 Why Android application?
An android application is a mobile application that is used in phones with android platform. The
main reason of choosing to develop an android application is because most Tanzanians and Africans
use android phones more than phones with other platforms such as iOS (apple). This is because
android phones are more affordable compared to phones of other platforms. Android phones such as
Tecno can be bought by most people in the country because it can easily be financially afforded.
The following graph from Statista, 2019 provides statistics of market shares of phones in Tanzania
from January 2015 to December 2018.
Figure2.1 Android phone users’ statistics (Statista, 2019)
From the graph in figure 2.1, it can be seen that android phones; Samsung, Tecno, Huawei, Infinix
make a huge market share in the country compared to other platforms in total.
6
Also, creating android applications is more affordable financially than applications for other
platforms.
2.5 Related Research Overview
The focus of this section was to review journals, books, articles and other documents that were
written by other researchers on topics related to this study. A summary is provided at the end of this
section so as to provide an understanding in brief on the contribution of these researchers.
2.5.1 Literature on opinions of Parents and Teachers on mobile technologies
Opinions and Expectations of Parents on Integration of Mobile Technologies to Education and School
Family Cooperation
Previous research by (Ozdamli & Yildiz, 2017) at Nicosia, TRNC has elaborated the importance that
can be found from using mobile technologies to increase school family cooperation. The paper also
provides parents’ opinions and capacity of mobile learning in elementary and primary schools as well
as parents’ expectations from these technologies in enhancing school family communication.
First, from the literature, it has been stated the importance of enhanced school family cooperation
(school-parent communication) in achieving aims of the school as well as in the socialization of the
students. The study has also defined the meaning of mobile learning as it is the part that it focuses on.
Mobile learning has been defined in here as a learning method in which learner is stable or not in
place that can be determined before or benefited from the learning opportunities that mobile
technologies have presented. Mobile learning helps to develop numeracy and literacy skills as well
as receive help and support and develop the ability to use information and communication
technologies. Mobile learning involves the use of cell phones, PDA, iPads and so many other devices
to learn.
Mobile technologies have provided an advantage in many areas including schools by enabling
distance learning. This is achieved through use of technologies such as wireless technologies. Another
advantage offered by mobile technologies is the cheapness of these technologies as compared to other
technologies. Almost every individual can afford a cell phone particularly a smart phone.
If one integrates mobile technologies into school-parent cooperation, the benefits of these
technologies could be gained in raising the awareness of parents so as to increase academic success
of the kids.
The research has used general scanning method to determine views and qualifications of parents in
North Cyprus. The sample of the study was 897 students’ parents. Data collection tool parts used are;
Personal information form (demographic data), usage level of mobile devices for parents, parent
7
views on academic use of mobile devices, parent-school cooperation and parent participation with
mobile technologies.
The results from the research include; 49.1% of the participants were the fathers, 45.7% were the
mothers and 5.2% were others (brothers, sisters, grandmothers, nannies). From the sample, the
younger is 17 and the older is 57 years and the average is 35 years. From other aspects such as data
on education level and income levels, it is observed that it is going to be possible to benefit from
mobile technologies in order to create parent consciousness about parent school cooperation. From
the research, most parents thought that mobile learning activities will be useful with the aim of
supporting training and education.
2.5.2 Literature on the use of mobile apps for enhancing parental involvement
Previous research by (Can, 2016) aimed to study and investigate parents’ view on the use of mobile
applications to communicate with parents. The study was conducted using a questionnaire-based
survey methodology in which 573 students’ parents of Meridian International school were asked. The
results of this study indicated that parents’ view on the use of mobile application to upgrade
educational environment as positive and useful.
2.6 Related works
The following are some works related to the area of the study, how they differ from this study as well
as the research gap between;
2.6.1 Communication book
“Communication book or school diary” was a system discussed in the research by (Can, 2016). This
was a traditional info-notice system used in most parts of Nepal. This system has been used as a
means of communication for teachers to parents.
2.6.1.1 How it works
A class teacher could write notes to parents about events such as home works, and any other school
activities and events.
2.6.1.2 Disadvantage
The main disadvantage of the mobile application is that it does not provide maximum interaction
between parents and teachers. Communication is one sided meaning that parents can still hardly send
information to teachers but only teachers may send information to parents.
8
2.6.2 MyEDiary web application
This is a web application which provides school diary automation among several educational
services. It provides an alternative to paper school diaries by combining school communication,
parent engagement as well as homework management.
MyEDiary enables teachers interact with students and their parents. It also enables students plan for
their studies and interact better with teachers. This app enables secure parent-teacher messaging and
enables parents engage better in their children’s education. (MyeDiary, n.d.)
2.6.2.1 Disadvantage
A shortcoming of this app is that it is a web application. This app could reach many more easily as a
mobile application. Also, this idea could be more useful to nursery school pupils who need more
parent engagement and supervision due to their age and lack of expression and participation ability.
2.6.3 Research gap
The developers of Communication book only provided a notice board like system in which teachers
may provide activities and events and parents were able to view such notes. The proposed study is
however aimed at providing maximum interactions in both sides in nursery schools; teachers and
parents. It aims at enabling both parents and teachers to provide information in different forms and
interact through the mobile application.
As for MyEDiary; this is a very good application for enhancing parent-teacher communication;
however, the proposed study aims at bettering this study by providing mobile application rather than
a web application. A mobile application is more reliable an easily accessible than a web application.
2.7 Summary
Enhancing parent-teacher communication has been seen as an important step to take towards
bettering education system especially for nursery pupils by many researchers. Also, many researchers
have provided a way for mobile technology specifically mobile applications to be used as a means
of enhancing this communication; however, taking the works of these researchers there are gaps of
which with the mobile application in this dissertation can be filled.
From the first research work; the gap is found in the fact that the software application is mostly onesided and from the second research, the research gap falls onto which type of application is made of
which it is a web application. It is obvious that mobile applications are more user-friendly and easier
to reach than the web applications. Also, this application is aimed to be easier, reliable and enhancing
communication better from both parties.
9
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
To achieve each specific objective, specific methodology was used. Key concepts and research
methodologies used in delivering each stated specific objective towards developing an android
application for enhancing communication between parents and teachers by automating school
diaries. Furthermore, this chapter entails various tools such as software, programming languages
used towards achieving the general objective of this study.
3.2 Discussion on the selected methodology
A methodology may be defined as a sequence of step by step approaches that are used in developing
a product (Valacich, George, & Hoffer, 2012). There are a number of software development
methodologies. A software development methodology also called software development lifecycle or
process has been defined as a comprehensive, multiple step approaches to systems development that
will guide your work and influence the quality of your final product, which is an information system.
(Alan, H, & Roth, 2012)
The selected software development methodology used was the Waterfall model. In the book of
Software Engineering and Testing by Aganwal, Tayal and Mahesh Gupta, a waterfall model has been
explained as a model which is structured as a cascade of phases whereas the output of one phase
constitute to the input of the next phase in which each phase has been structured as a set of activities
which may be executed concurrently by different people (Aganwal, Tayal, & Gupta, 2010).
A waterfall model was the selected methodology because of the nature of data and requirements of
the system implemented. What is communicated between parents and teachers is known and can
hardly change throughout the development of the mobile application. In case of requirements that
change, a waterfall is not a good choice for the developers. In spite of the nature of the requirements
and data for the study, changes are common in the real world; in that case, Object Oriented Analysis
and Design Methodology was used for analysis and design of the system. OOADM adapt to changes
in analysis and design easily.
The waterfall model enabled breaking the overall objective of this study (development of the mobile
application for enhancing communication between parents and teachers of nursery schools) into set
of manageable activities. This was done with the consideration on the specific objectives. The steps
were; requirement gathering (data collection), analysis and design, implementation and finally
system testing.
10
3.3 Data collection methods
Data may be defined as raw streams of facts. They are called raw because they are not yet processed
and they are to be useful after being processed. As the first specific objective states; gathering
requirements meaning collecting data. Data was collected from both sides; teachers and parents of
nursery pupils. Analysis of the data collected enabled the establishment of requirements for the
system. The following are the methods used in collecting data needed for the accomplishment of this
dissertation;
3.3.1 Questionnaire
This is a data collection method which consists of set of questions printed or online. These
questionnaires were prepared and supplied to parents through Google forms. They were selfadministered and online which helped in minimizing cost and increasing efficiency in data collection.
They were distributed via WhatsApp and email. The reason as to why questionnaires were used is to
understand the overall perception of parents on the current communication methods and the new
android application as well as gathering requirements for the new application. The questionnaires
were also used for interviewing people.
3.3.2 Interview
This is another data collection method which was used to obtain data in deep and to gain a more
understanding on people’s perception on current communication methods and introduction of this
mobile application specifically for each person. Questionnaires were used only as a guide for the
questions. Some answers from interviewees led to further questions and even more details. At the
school’s (teachers’) side, this was the only data collection method used. Interview is a method that
was also used to some of the parents from which data was collected from.
3.3.3 Sample and Sampling Technique
The sampling technique used in selecting the sample is snow-ball sampling technique. Snow-ball is
a sampling technique in which you interview any person you come across and the person within your
study leads you to another person that corresponds to your study until you get a convenient number
of people. This sampling technique was used because it is not easy to identify a parent with a child
in nursery. Total number of people from whom data was collected was 46 and 3 schools. All three
teachers from three different nursery schools were interviewed. 20 parents were interviewed and
from 26 people data was collected through questionnaires. This makes a total of three schools and
46 people sample.
11
3.4 Data analysis, Results and Research discussion
This sub-chapter presents the analysis of data collected with questionnaires and interviews. It also
presents the results as well as the overall research part of the discussion.
3.4.1 Data analysis methods
Data collected from questionnaires and interviews was analyzed using Google forms. In data
analysis, data of teachers and parents was analyzed separately.
3.4.2 Analysis of Results
The analysis of results was done using Google forms. Since the answers from interviews were guided
by the questionnaires; they were also filled in Google forms together with the questionnaires. The
total number of parents asked was 46 and the total number of schools from where data was collected
was 3 schools.
3.4.2.1 Parents
The parents’ questionnaire was prepared in Swahili language so as to capture more data by widening
the base of people who can freely respond to the questionnaires (interviews).
The following is the summary of the questions asked to parents;
i)
The platform of mobile phones that was mostly used;
Among the people from whom data was collected, four of them did not have smartphones. For those
with smartphones, the following is the summary of their answers;
Figure3.1 Parents' most used mobile platform
This shows that the android application will solve communication problems to many people because
most Smartphone users are using android platform.
ii)
How parents communicate with teachers
There was a question that asked how parents communicated with teachers. This question had 6
options which the most common methods with another option of are other, in case a parent has
12
another way with which s/he communicates with the teacher. In this question, respondents could tick
more than one time. This question was important for understanding the communication methods as
well as what should be contained within the mobile application. Results were; 55.6% used school
diaries, 5.6% used pupils’ exercise books, 38.9% had to go physically to school for communication,
58.3% used phone calls and messaging, 11.1% used WhatsApp groups. Additional methods were
letters (8.3%) and through the child him/herself (2.8%).
Below is the summary;
Figure3.2 Parents' communication with teachers
iii)
The perception of parents on the current communication methods
This question aimed at having the perception of parents on the current communication methods;
whether they were enough or not enough. 55.6% of parents said the current communication methods
that they use are not enough while 44.4% of parents perceived the current methods enough.
Figure3.3 Parents' perception on current means of communication
After this question, it followed a question that asked for reasons that led them to their answers. For
those who said no; most recurring reasons were: Lack of motivation to go through the diary, feedback
delay, lack of reliability of information delivery and a child may forget to deliver information.
13
iv)
The type of information that parents communicate with teachers
This question aimed to collect the information content that is exchanged between parents and
teachers so as to understand what needs to be included within the android application. There were
four options; lessons, sports, home works and others. Lessons took 88.9%, sports (16.7%), homework
(47.2%) and other included 2.8% each for health, transport, contributions, and timetable.
Figure3.4 Parents' data communicated to teachers
v)
Parents’ perception on the new android application
There was a question that aimed at gaining the perception of parents on the new communication
system (mobile application). The question asked parents if they can advise on the use of mobile
application to communicate with teachers. 91.7% responded positively to the question were as 8.3%
responded negatively because they did not have Smartphone and knowledge of mobile applications.
Figure3.5 Parents' perception on new communication method
This shows that the mobile application specially designed for communication between parents and
teachers is highly needed in the society.
vi)
Look and feel of the mobile application
14
This is a part in the questionnaire that aimed at gathering features for the android application. The
first part aimed at gaining an understanding on how many people are influenced with look and feel
of a mobile application and the following were the results;
Figure3.6 Parents' perception on look and feel
The next question aimed to understand what specific parts of look and feel of the mobile application
parents are influenced with. There were options; color scheme (23.3%), menu style (83.3%) and
information flow and structure (43.3%). The following is the summary;
Figure3.7 Parents' look and feel features summary
The next question requested users for recommendation on any features they would like to be added
in the android application. The recommendations on features were chat box and notification. Other
features which were recommended were; profile pictures, parent’s account, school timetable,
syllabus, delivery report and forum for parents.
3.4.2.2 Teachers
The questions were structured in English but they were asked in a language that the respondent
(teacher) was comfortable in. The results were then inputted in Google forms (in English) for
analysis. The following is the summary of the questions asked to the teachers:
i)
The platform which was used by teachers
15
There was a question in the questionnaire that aimed at checking the platform used by these teachers.
Among the three schools interviewed, one class teacher did not have a Smartphone and among those
who had smartphones; 100% used android phones.
Figure3. 8: Teachers' most used mobile platform
ii)
The current communication methods
This question aimed to get the current communication methods used by teachers to
communication with parents of their pupils. The following is the summary of the results;
Figure3.9 Teachers' communication means
iii)
Teachers’ perception on the current communication methods
This was a question which needed to understand the perception on the current communication
methods. The question needed to check if the teachers found the current communication method
sufficient or not. The following is the summary;
16
Figure3.10 Teachers' perception on current communication means
For those who said the current communication methods were not enough, they gave out reasons for
saying so and the reasons were; unreliability of communication between parents and teachers,
teachers could not give out homework to all pupils at once, feedback delay, and lack of enough parent
assistance on their child’s homework at home. For those who said yes, the main reason was; the
communication method used specifically WhatsApp group were sufficient for them.
iv)
Teachers’ perception on the new communication method
The question aimed to check if the teachers could recommend the use of mobile application in
enhancing communication between parents and teachers of nursery schools. 100% of teachers
interviewed responded positively.
Figure3.11 Teachers' perception on new communication method
Reasons provided for this perception were; for increased simplicity, reliability and better
communication between parents and teachers.
v)
Look and feel of the mobile application
Questions under this part focused on getting the design and appearance features for the mobile
application. The first question aimed to check whether the look and feel of a mobile application may
influence intended users to use the application. The following were the responses;
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Figure3.12 Teachers' perception on look and feel
The second question aimed at understanding what part of look and feel motivates users more. The
following were the responses;
Figure3.13 Teachers' summary on look and feel features
The last part asked the respondents on recommendation on features that they would like to find in
the mobile application. The features recommended were; chat box, pictures of pupils, blackboard
and teacher for more motivation.
3.5 Design methodology
System design methodology used is Object Oriented Analysis and Design Methodology (OOADM).
OOADM is a structured method for analysis and design of a system by applying object-oriented
concepts. Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a standard model for OOADM and is the model
used in this study.
Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a standardized modeling language which consists of
integrated set of diagrams, developed to help system and software developers for specifying,
visualizing, constructing, and documenting the artifacts of software systems, as well as for business
modeling and other non-software systems. This is a family of graphical notations including diagrams
such as; use-case, sequence, collaboration, activity, state-chart, deployment and class diagrams
which describe the system together with its components. (Fowler & Scott)
18
There are various analysis and design methodologies that could have been used in place of OOADM.
An example of it is SSADM. SSADM is an acronym that stands for Structured Systems Analysis
and Design Methodology.
3.6 Testing and evaluation methods
Software testing methodologies (methods) may be defined as the strategies or an approach used for
testing software application to ensure that the application looks and most importantly behaves as
expected. These testing methods may be grouped into functional and non-functional testing.
Functional testing involves testing the software against the functional requirements of the system.
The functional requirements include; unit testing, integration testing, system testing and acceptance
testing. Non-functional testing involves testing the system against the non-functional (operational)
requirements. Non-functional requirements include; performance testing, security testing, usability
testing and compatibility testing. (SmartBear, 2019)
Functional testing conducted against the functional requirements for the system. User-acceptance
testing was also conducted checking user’s perception on the system and security for the system.
3.7 Discussion on various tools used
This sub-chapter presents the programming languages, environment, database and other software
used in various stages of the development of the mobile application. The following are the tools
briefly discussed;
i)
Star UML: This is software that was used for analysis and design of the system. All the
diagrams in the design stage such as use-cases and class diagrams were drawn using this
software.
ii)
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML): This is a markup language. In the development of
this mobile application; HTML was used for designing the pages for the entire mobile
application. It was specifically used to display contents on these pages.
iii)
Java: This is a programming language that is class based and object oriented. Large parts
of this android application were developed using java.
iv)
JSON: This is an acronym for JavaScript Object Notation. This has been used as a
replacement for XML. In this application; JSON has been used to structure data; to
transmit data from the server to the web application.
v)
PHP: This is the server-side scripting language. PHP was used for handling sending of
data to the database and accessing of the data in the database from the application. PHP
was therefore used to link the android application with the database. It was used for
handling forms, processing of data and database access.
19
vi)
MySQL: This is the database used. This database management system was used for
storing data and with PHP as the connecting language; data was accessed and manipulated
in the application. Data in here was stored in tables and relationship between these tables
was structured. MySQL is easy to use and popularly known DBMS.
vii)
Eclipse IDE: This is the environment in which the android application was built. Another
tool that could be used instead of this is android studio. Eclipse was the choice however
due to problems faced in the installation of android studio.
viii)
Notepad ++: This is a text editor that was used for the implementation of the web portal
for this study.
20
The table below provides a summary of the methodologies and tools used for each specific objective;
Table3.1 Methodologies
S/No
Specific objective
1
Methodology
Tools
Deliverables
Identifying challenges of Literature review,
Literatures,
Analytical report
the current system
Google form
interview and
questionnaire
2
Gathering requirements
Interview and
Google form
Requirements
questionnaire
3
Analysis and design
Object
Oriented Star UML
System designs
Analysis and Design
(OOAD): Unified
Modeling Language
(UML) diagrams
4
System implementation
Agile methodology:
Eclipse IDE,
Iterative Software
PHP, java,
Development Project
HTML, xml,
Mobile application
Management (SDPM) CSS, JS,
MySQL
strategy
database
5
System testing
Beta test
Android
System
Smartphone
evaluations and
results
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CHAPTER FOUR
SYSTEM DESIGN
4.1 Introduction
Development of a system is a systematic process which includes a number of phases namely;
planning, analysis, design, deployment (implementation), testing and maintenance. System analysis
is a phase in the system development life cycle which involves collecting and interpreting facts,
identifying problems and decomposing a system into its components. System analysis is conducted
for the purpose of understanding a system with its parts as well as to identify objectives. Therefore,
a systems analysis may be viewed as a problem-solving technique which improves and ensures that
all system components work effectively, efficiently and accomplish their purpose. System design
may be defined to as the process of planning a system or replace an existing system by defining its
components (module) so as to satisfy specific requirements. (Sons)
Functional and non-functional requirements as well as the analysis and design methodology used for
this study are all discussed in this chapter. Furthermore, this chapter presents; hardware and software
requirements.
4.2 Requirement Analysis
Systems analysis may be defined as the process of collecting facts and interpreting them, identifying
problems as well as decomposing a system into its components. System design may be defined as a
process of defining the system’s components (modules) in order to satisfy specific requirements for
a new system or replacing an existing system. Systems analysis and design is done mainly to improve
systems in an organization. (Valacich, George, & Hoffer, 2012)
A requirement may be defined as a single documented need that a system aims to fulfill. Requirement
analysis is a process of defining requirements of the system to be built or modified. (Reqtest, 2019)
4.2.1 System requirements
System requirements include all tools and data that were required for the development of the system.
The requirements were data, hardware and software and are explained as follows:
4.2.1.1 Data requirements
These include all data that was needed for implementation of the system. Data needed was the
information content that is transferred between parents and teachers. This data was collected from
the questionnaires and interviews conducted during data collection.
22
4.2.1.2 Hardware requirements
All the hardware required for the android application development is all explained under this section.
The hardware components required for the development of the android application were:
i.
Personal computer
A personal computer was needed for every step towards developing the android application for
enhancing communication between parents and teachers. It was used for surfing over the internet for
literature review, it was again used in data collection and storage of data gathered, it was used for
analysis and design of the android application specifically for drawing UML diagrams; it was also
used in implementing the android application using eclipse IDE.
ii.
An android Smartphone
An android Smartphone was required for installing the android application. This android phone was
used to access the implemented android application for enhancing parent-teacher communication.
iii.
USB cable
A USB cable is an interface which enables communication between devices and host controller like
a personal computer (PC). It may also be used to connect peripheral devices such as digital cameras,
mouse, printers, keyboards, scanners and external hard drives.
4.2.1.3 Software requirements
Under this section, the software applications required for the development of the android application
are explained;
23
Table4.1 Software requirements
Software
Purpose of the software
Eclipse IDE
This is the software that was used for the
implementation of the android application.
USB driver
This is a driver that was used for the purpose
of android debug bridge for windows.
XAMPP server
This is the server that was used so as to allow
interaction of the applications to interact
with the database (MySQL).
Text editor
This is the software which was used for
implementing the web portal. Notepad++
was
the
text
editor
used
for
the
implementation of the web portal.
Star UML
This is the software that was used for
systems analysis and design.
4.2.2 User Requirements
These are what users require from the system. The user requirements may be functional and nonfunctional requirements and are well explained as follows;
4.2.2.1 Functional requirements
These are the functionalities that the system is expected to perform. It may also be defined a function
of a system or its component. The functional requirements of this system are:
i) The system should provide means for enhancing communication between parents and teachers
in which teachers and parents both get real time information flow and both parties communicate
more closely.
ii) The system should provide means for adding, activating, updating and deleting user accounts
(both teachers and parents).
iii) The system should enable users to receive notifications on any updates in their accounts such as
incoming texts, child’s homework and any other update that occurs in real time.
iv) The system should enable teachers post announcements and assignment and parents to view these
posts.
4.2.2.2 Non-functional requirements
These are aspects of an IT system which indirectly affect the business functionality of the system
(application) and have a profound impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of business system to
end users as well as people who are responsible of supporting the application. Defining non24
functional requirements is essential factor in developing a solution that will ensure customer
satisfaction and delivery of business goals. Non-functional requirements may also be viewed as the
constraints under which the functional requirements operate. Non-functional requirements include;
performance,
scalability,
reliability,
maintainability,
availability,
extensibility,
capacity,
manageability, security, recovery and interoperability. (Paradkar, 2017)
The following were the non-functional requirements for the system;
a. Usability: The system is developed in a sense that it enables the use of it easy due to the use of
simple language in the click options and directions.
b. Reliability: The system provides features such as chat box which surely motivate parents and
teachers to communicate. Its structure enables parents to follow-up their children’s education
thus promotes parental involvement.
c. Security: The system is created in a way that school (administrator) will be the one who registers
teachers and parents thus the android application will be accessed with the authorized users only.
It can be said that security is ensured with the use of passwords as well as access control.
d. Availability: The system can be accessed anytime in a day including weekends and school
holidays.
e. Scalability: The system can easily scale out and in easily just by being registered and deleting
accounts without deteriorating the performance of the system.
4.3 System design
4.3.1 System architecture
The INCOSE System Architecture Working Group (SAWG 94) has defined system architecture as
“the aggregation of decomposed system functions into interacting system elements whose
requirements include those associated with the aggregated system functions and their interfaces
requirements/definitions”. (Steiner, 1998). System (systems) architectural diagram was drawn for
the purpose of obtaining the conceptual model for the system which defines the structure and
behavior of the system as well as information flow between the system’s components. Below was
the system architecture for the system;
25
Figure4.1 Systems architecture
4.3.2 Unified Modeling Language (UML)
UML is the modeling language used for analysis and design of the system. The UML diagrams were
drawn for analysis and design; for providing a standard way of system visualization before beginning
its implementation. The diagrams drawn for the analysis and design of this system were; use-case,
class, sequence, collaboration, deployment and activity diagram.
4.3.3 Justification for using UML for analysis and design
i
For clearer visualization: UML diagrams aided system visualization in multiple level of
details which provided a complete understanding of the system, its components and how it
works.
ii For easier planning: UML diagrams provided understanding of the overall system. This
knowledge was employed in planning and other preparations for the system before its
implementation.
iii UML is appropriate for new systems as well as legacy systems. Any changes in the
implementation of the system that required changes in analysis and design of the system were
easily made in the UML diagram. This could have been difficult with methodologies such as
SSADM.
iv Use-case diagram, one among the UML diagrams provided a clear understanding on how
users and other external components interact with the system.
26
v UML responds well with incremental system development. Analysis and design were made
for some systems’ components first and as time went on more components were analyzed
and designed until the whole system was complete.
4.3.4 Discussion on various UML diagrams
The following are the UML diagrams drawn for the analysis and design of the system in this study;
4.3.4.1 Use-case diagrams
This is the UML diagram that was first drawn. Two use-case diagrams were developed; one for the
android application and the other one for the web portal specifically designed for the administrator.
It is advised by many developers to begin with a use-case diagram in systems analysis and design so
as to define functional requirements clearly for the system. A use-case diagram is used to describe a
specific system usage by one or more than one actor. An actor in a use-case diagram may be defined
as a person or another system that interacts with the specific usage of the system or one that has a
role to the usage of the system. The usages of the system are the use cases. The objective of drawing
a use case or the objective of use case modeling is to identify and describe all use-cases that actors
require from the system under implementation. (Eriksson & Penker)
i.
Mobile application use-case
Below is the use-case for the android application. The android application was specifically designed
and implemented for the teachers and parents.
Figure4.2 Use-case diagram for the android application
27
ii.
Web portal use-case
Below is the use-case diagram for the web portal. The web portal was designed for the administrator
to register users; teachers and parents and also to manage accounts for these users.
Figure4.3 Use-case diagram for web portal
4.3.4.2 Activity diagram
This is a very important UML diagram, actually stated as the most important UML diagram for doing
business modeling. This is the second UML diagram drawn for the analysis and design of the system.
This diagram was drawn so as to document the program flow by describing the activities in the
system, which are responsible for these activities and the overall flow of these activities. (Eriksson
& Penker)
28
Figure4.4 Activity diagram for the android application
4.3.4.3 Sequence diagram
This is a UML diagram that is drawn to how detailed flow for a specific use-case or part of a specific
use-case. They show calls (information flow) between different actors of that particular use-case. It
also includes all objects involve in that use-case. Sequence diagrams are self-explanatory and easy
to understand (Bell, 2003).
A sequence diagram was drawn with a purpose of visualizing and specifying as well as documenting
the flow of actions and calls between actors and or objects for a use-case; the Login use case. Below
is the sequence diagram;
29
Figure4.5 Sequence diagram for login use-case
4.3.4.4 Class diagram
This is another UML diagram drawn. A class diagram is a UML diagram which shows relationship
(static structure) between entities (people, things or data). Below is the class diagram;
Figure4.6 Class diagram
30
4.3.4.5 Deployment diagram
This is a diagram that was drawn to visualize the hardware nodes of a system (personal computer,
android Smartphone), communication links between them as well as the placement of software file
son the hardware nodes. Two deployment diagrams were constructed; one for the android
application and the other for the web portal.
i.
Deployment diagram for the android application
Figure4.7 Deployment diagram for android application
31
ii.
Deployment diagram for the web portal
There was also a deployment diagram drawn for the design of the web portal for the administrator.
Figure 4.8 provides the image of the deployment diagram.
Figure4.8 Deployment diagram for the web portal
32
CHAPTER FIVE
IMPLEMENTATION AND TESTING
5.1 Introduction
This chapter entails the output of the analysis and design stage presented in chapter four. It shows
the android application which was constructed with a primary aim of enhancing parent-teacher
communication with all its associated features. It also entails the web portal that was designed
specifically for the administrator who has been considered as the school master in the web
application. Furthermore, it is in this chapter where testing results of the system are explained in both
cases; the functional and user-acceptance testing results are evaluated.
5.2 Mobile application
The main purpose and primary aim for this mobile application is to enhance communication between
parents and teachers. The mobile application has to be connected to the internet for the users to access
a remote database server to initiate chats, post and view posts. However, a user need not be connected
to the internet to receive notifications on updates in application because notifications are sent in both
user’s email address as well as normal text message which does not need data to receive it. This is
purposely made so as to ensure real time information delivery to users due to sensitivity of
information that may be communicated such as emergencies to pupils.
The mobile application has two sides; the first is the teachers’ side and the other side is specifically
designed for parents. There are however common activities such as stings in both sides. Below are
some screenshots together with brief elaboration on the mobile application for enhancing
communication between parents and teachers of nursery schools;
5.2.1 Login activity
This is the first page that a user will come across after accessing the application. This activity
demands two inputs; an email address and a password. These sign-in credentials are sent to users
automatically as the administrator registers them. The credentials are sent to users through an email
as well as a text message. Account access will not be granted unless user logs in with right credentials.
Users will however receive an error in logging in unless the administrator activates their accounts by
uploading their profile pictures into the system. After the user’s account is activated; it is then when
access to the user’s specific page of activities will be granted. Teachers will then be taken to teacher’s
activities and parents will be taken to parent’s activities basing on the login credentials.
33
Figure5.1 Login activity
5.2.2 Teacher’s activities
After a teacher logs in successfully, s/he is taken to activities specifically for teachers. Most activities
found in teacher’s dashboard cannot be found in parent’s dashboard due to difference in how they
interact with the system due to nature of their relationships with students. Figure 5.2 shows all
activities for teachers.
Figure5.2 Teacher’s activities
34
5.2.2.1 Home activity
This is the first interface that a teacher will come across after logging in successfully. The Home
activity contains all activities that a teacher can perform as in figure 5.3.
Figure5.3Teacher’s home activity
5.2.2.2 Manage student’s activity
This activity enables the teacher to have access to a list that contains all of the students registered for
his/her class as in figure 5.4.
Figure5.4 Manage student activity list
35
By clicking “Approach parent”, it is when the teacher will have the options of either initiating chat
with parents or assigning homework whereas all these will be sent or posted to the child’s parent
account as in figure 5.5.
Figure5.5 Manage students’ activity options
5.2.2.3 Messages and chat activity
This activity enables a teacher to view all messages sent to his or her account as well as reply to these
messages. Also, by clicking on the option “Initiate chat”, a teacher will be able to send a message to
that child’s parent and chat with the parent.
36
Figure5.6 Chat activity
5.2.2.4 Assignment activity
This activity enables the teacher to send and homework of a teacher to the parent as figure 5.7 shows.
This is purposely put so as the parent may know of the assignment easily and guide his or her child
on the homework.
Figure5. 7 Send assignment activity
37
5.2.3 Parent’s activities
After a parent logs in successfully, s/he will be taken to parent’s activities. Figure 5.8 below shows
the activities specifically for parents explained with screenshots for the particular activity
Figure5.8 Parent’s activities
5.2.3.1 Welcome activity
This is the first page that a parent comes across after logging into his/her account. The page welcomes
the parent displays the name of his/her child as figure 5.9 shows and so that if the child is not his/hers,
s/he may know and logout or report the issue.
38
Figure5.9 Welcome activity
5.2.3.2 School teacher’s activity
This is an activity that enables a parent to view all of his/her child’s teachers together with any
messages sent by them if any. All teachers registered for the nursery school (teaching his/her child)
will be displayed here as figure 5.10.
Figure5.10 School teachers activity list
39
By clicking on “Approach teacher”, the logged in parent will have an option of initiating chat with a
teacher and thus be taken to the chat box ready to text the teacher as figure 5.11 illustrates.
Figure5.11 Parent’s initiate chat option and chat area
In case a teacher initiates chat, a notification will be sent to parent and vice versa which will alert the
parent/teacher that chat has been initiated as in figure 5.12.
Figure5.12 Chat notification
40
5.2.3.3 Announcements/Assignments activity
This activity allows a parent to easily view all assignments and announcements given by the teachers
teaching his/her child as figure 5.13 shows.
Figure5.13 Assignment activity
5.2.3.4 Report activity
This activity enables a parent to view and download a report of his or her child sent by the admin.
Figure 5.14 shows where the parent will be taken to;
41
Figure5.14 View report activity
By clicking the view report option, the parent will be taken to an activity that will enable the parent
to download the report as figure 5.15.
Figure5.15 Download report activity
42
After clicking on download, the report will be downloaded successfully. For instance, the following
a document shown in figure 5.16 has been downloaded.
Figure5.16 Downloaded report example
5.2.4 Account setting/ change password activity
This activity enables a teacher to set his/her account the he wishes for some attributes; such as, profile
picture and password.
The change password activity for parents enables the logged in parent to change one’s set password.
5.2.5 Logout activity
This activity enables a teacher to logout from his/her account. After logging out successfully, the
teacher will be directed to the login page.
5.3 Web portal
The web portal was designed specifically for the administrator for managing parents and teachers.
Parents are managed through managing their children (students). In managing users, an administrator
can add new users by registering them, activate their accounts after uploading their profile pictures,
update their accounts as well as delete their accounts. The following are the screenshots of the web
portal pages together with some brief explanation.
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5.3.1 Login page
This is the first page the administrator who is assumed to be the school master in the application will
come across. The login page demands an email as well as a password that was set in the database to
be used for administrator’s login. The administrator will be granted access with correct login
credentials only, otherwise, it will return the user back to the login page.
Figure5.17 Login page
5.3.2 Administrator’s home page
This is the first page that appears to the administrator after successfully logging into the system. This
page has options of managing teachers, managing parents and logout in its left pane as in figure 5.18.
Figure5.18 Administrator’s home page
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Incase administrator wants to manage parent’s account, s/he has to click on “Manage Students” and
view student’s parent details and for logging out the administrator just clicks on “Logout” option in
the left pane.
5.3.3 Manage teachers
This is an option for administrator which is admin’s first page. With this option in the left pane, the
administrator may register new teachers, update and delete existing teachers’ details.
5.3.3.1 New teacher registration page
By clicking on the button “Register new Teacher” which can be seen in figure 31 above, admin will
be taken to new teacher registration page where s/he can register new teachers as in figure 5.19.
Figure5.19 New teacher registration page
After successfully registering a new teacher, login credentials will be sent to the teacher; registered
email address and password via email and SMS as in figure 5.20. This was purposely made so as to
notify the teacher of his/her registration online or not online (in real time).
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Figure5.20 Login notification
After the admin activates the teacher’s account by uploading his/her profile picture, the teacher may
then use the login credentials to login to his/her account in the android application.
5.3.3.2 Update and Delete teacher
In teacher’s list, there is an option of updating and deleting the teacher. The admin may upload
teacher’s profile picture and change teacher’s details in the update page. The update page may be
accessed by clicking on the ‘Update’ button.
Figure5.21 Update teacher’s details
5.3.4 Manage parents
After clicking “Manage Students”, the logged in administrator will be granted access to a page that
will allow him/her to register new student, update and delete existing ones. Parents’ details are
managed in their student’s registration, update and delete.
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Figure5.22 Manage parents (students) page
5.3.4.1 Registering parent
By clicking on “Register new Student” as seen in figure 5.23, admin will have access to new student
registration page where s/he can register new students. A student is registered with his/her details as
well as parent’s details which include; parent’s phone number, parent’s email and parent’s password.
By successfully registering a parent, a notification containing login credentials will be automatically
sent in the parent’s phone number and email just like for teachers.
Figure5.23 Student’s registration page
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5.3.4.2 Update and delete parent
By clicking on the “Update” button on a particular detail (can be seen in figure 35), the administrator
will have access to the student’ update page where s/he may update parent’s details as well as activate
parent’s account by uploading the profile picture that will be used.
Figure 5.24 Update student’s (parent’s) details
By clicking on the “Delete” button, the school master (admin) may delete student where as in turn
parent’s account will be deleted and disable the parent from accessing his/her account using his/her
login credentials.
5.3.4.3 Sending report
This is another activity for the administrator which involves sending reports to the parents. In the
manage parents’ page image a send report option can be seen. After clicking on the button, the admin
will be taken to the following page,
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Figure 5.25 Send report page
The document sent may be in any form, either a pdf document or a word document. Either document
types will be downloaded successfully.
5.4 Testing
Functional and user-acceptance testing was done. For functional testing; system was tested on its
behavior against the functional requirements. User-acceptance was also conducted to obtain user
opinion using questionnaire and interviews from few users who helped at testing the system. Results
from questionnaires and interviews were analyzed with Google forms and will be presented below.
5.4.1 Functional testing
The table below summarizes testing basing on what was expected from each functional requirement;
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Table5.1 Functional testing
Functionality
Expected outcome
The system should provide Parents
means
for
and
enhancing expected to
communication
Test Results
teachers The
have
android
application
closer provides a chat feature. This
between communication with each chat feature enables parents
parents and teachers in which other with this application. and teachers to chat with
teachers and parents both get
each other. How the chatting
real time information flow
is
and
communication
both
parties
communicate more closely.
structured
motivates
and
it
functions properly.
The system should enable Most parents expected to The
system
provides
users to receive notifications have real time notifications notifications through SMS
on any updates in their on whatever is going on in thus parents do not need to be
accounts such as incoming the application concerning connected to the internet to
texts, child’s homework and their children.
receive the message. This
any other update that occurs
further promotes real time
in real time.
data delivery.
The system should provide Teachers (schools) expected The web portal provides all
means for adding, activating, to have a way of adding these
features
for
the
updating and deleting user users, updating, activating administrator and they work
accounts (both teachers and and deleting their accounts. well.
parents).
They expected to have more
authority due to security
issues.
The system should enable It was expected for the The application provides all
teachers post announcements application
to
enable these features and they work
and assignment and parents teachers post assignments well.
to view these posts.
and send reports to parents
and parents be able to receive
and view these posts.
5.4.2 User acceptance testing
This testing was conducted so as to obtain user opinion on the system implemented. It was done
using interviews which was guided by few questions in a questionnaire. Results were as follows;
a. User’s status either parent or teacher
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The first question from the questionnaire asked on interviewee’s status whether it was a teacher or
parent. The interview was conducted to 5 parents and three teachers.
b. User’s perception on whether the system is going to be helpful or not
All users agreed that the system would be helpful except for some users who questioned on those
who have no smartphones and those with smartphones of different platform other than android
because these people were not going to benefit anyhow from the system.
c. User’s perception on security for the app
All Smartphone users among the interviewees thought the system to be secured because
membership is granted by the school.
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CHAPTER SIX
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
6.1 Introduction
This chapter presents findings which entail all results from the whole process of developing the
mobile application for enhancing communication between parents and teachers of nursery schools.
Furthermore, this chapter entails the goals achieved as well as any suggestion on future work related
to the study.
6.2 Findings
Findings include all results obtained from the entire process of developing the android application
with the primary aim of enhancing communication between parents and teachers as well as promote
parental involvement.
6.2.1 Products
Two products were achieved at the end; the expected android application and a web portal. The
products are briefly explained below;
6.2.1.1 Android application for enhancing communication between parents and teachers and
promoting parental involvement
This was one of the products which was the general objective and expected output from this
dissertation. This android application was designed to solve the problems of these communication
methods by simulating school diaries. It was designed to enhance parent-teacher communication by
providing simplicity of use to both parents and teachers as well as enabling teachers to communicate
to parents at once as well as with each parent privately depending on the content of the information
to be communicated. The following are the features and advantages of the android application;
i.
Notification system: Both users receive sms notifications in case of any information
received in the application. This ensures that the parent will be updated with information
in the mobile app without having to be in the mobile application all the time. It was
purposely put that way so that users may be updated even if they are offline. If anything
in the user’s account is received, a text message notifying the user of that activity will
immediately be sent.
ii.
Easier to use. This android application is way much easier to use and way better than the
current communication methods. It contains clear directions that will guide users to use
this application comfortably.
iii.
Reliability: As long as the user has a Smartphone and the user’s data is on, will receive
information the minute it is sent. Unlike a school diary or an exercise book which may be
52
lost or the pupil may forget to tell his/her parent about the information and the parent may
forget or be too busy to look at these books or school diary.
iv.
Motivating structure: This mobile application has all features of a school diary and more,
however; it does not look like a school diary. This is purposely made that way so as to
motivate parents to go through the app.
v.
Chat box: This is among the features found within this application. It enables teachers
and parents to communicate well enough and closely. Using this feature also a parent may
comment on different things to the teacher and the teacher may also reply right away.
vi.
Real time data: All current methods mentioned take time for the information to reach the
intended destination. With this android application; a user gets notification as the message
delivers (sent successfully).
6.2.1.2 Web portal
This is the other product obtained. The web portal was created specifically for the school
(administrator) in which an administrator for instance; the school master could add, update,
activate and delete users. This was important for security because, with these functionalities
provided exclusively for school administration, only authorized users will have access to the
system.
i
Send Report functionality. From the system, the administrator may send reports online to
students’ parents. In the “Manage Parents” tab, an admin may find the button “Send
Report” as in figure 5.22. This button enables a parent to receive his/her child’s report
without having to go fetch it from school.
ii Notification system: As an administrator registers users, users immediately receive
notifications via a text message with their login credentials.
6.2.2 Experimental findings
The following were the experimental findings observed from literatures and surveys conducted;
i.
Parental involvement is one among key factors that determine the future of a child’s
education. Parental involvement is even more important for kids such as those of nursery
schools for better education foundation for these kids. (Fendrich, 1999)
ii.
There is a number of parents and teachers that are unaware of mobile applications, their
usage and importance (contribution). This group of people will hardly benefit from this
system.
iii.
There is a need of measures to be taken to widen the technological base in the country
due to the fact that we are currently living in a world of science and technology; more
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people should be aware of these technologies and how they are used as well as their
importance in the societies.
iv.
Current communication methods between parents and teachers are not adequate and this
should essentially be taken into consideration. Most parents found it boring to go through
a school diary and they hardly participate in school activities for their children.
6.3 Goals achieved
This study began with the aim of achieving four specific objectives explained in the first chapter.
During literature review and surveys conducted more goals were observed to be achieved from the
study. The following were the goals (benefits) achieved from the study despite several challenges
that came in the way;
i.
There has been a notification system implemented where as at each activity going on in the
user’s account a message will be sent to that user via an sms.
ii.
A chat box which enables parents and teachers to initiate chat. This is among the feaures in
the system which ensure closeness between parents and teachers of nursery schools.
iii.
The ability of a teacher to send assignments to the child’s parent.
iv.
The ability of the school master to manage users’ accounts by adding, updating and deleting
users’ accounts as well as send reports to parents.
v.
The issue of boredom of school diaries has greatly been achieved. This application provides
the features and all functionalities that school diaries provide; only in a more fascinating way.
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CHAPTER SEVEN
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
7.1 Introduction
This chapter provides a summary on the entire process of developing the mobile application for
enhancing parent-teacher communication, the important stages and outcomes towards achieving this
objective. Furthermore, this chapter provides the conclusion on the study as well as some
recommendations.
7.2 Summary
This study was built from the general objective which was to develop a mobile application to be used
in android phones which enhances communication between parents and teachers of nursery schools.
To achieve this general objective; it was broken down into four specific objectives mentioned in the
first chapter. To fulfil the specific objectives, four research questions were established. The following
is the summary;
7.2.1 Summary on Research Question 1
This research question aimed at understading the commuication challenges faced by parents and
teachers of nursery schools. To answer this question, data was collected on the commuication
methods currently used. At the greatest extent, communication was conducted through school diaries
and notes on the back of their exercise books. Other means used were; phone calls, WhatsApp and
messages as well as letters in some occasions.
Then followed another question that asked whether parents and teachers feel that these
communication methods were sufficient enough for them. More than 60% of users in total claimed
that these methods were not enough and there is a higher need for a more efficient method of
communication. The other question then asked on the challenges faced by the parents and teachers
due to the used communication methods. The challenges included; boredom on reading the diaries,
delay in receiving information, unreliability of the mothods as well as repetition of same work
assignment.
7.2.2 Summary on Research Question 2
This research question aimed at learning the information content communicated between parents and
teachers of nursery schools. This was purposely made for design of the system. To answer this
question, there was a question in research that asked on the content discussed in school diaries. The
most recurring were; lessons and homeworks. Other information contents included; health, sports
transport, contributions, and timetable.
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7.2.3 Summary on Research Question 3
This research question aimed at learning the key design features for the application from its expected
users. To answer this research question; users were asked to comment on features that they would
like to be included in the android application. Most recurring features were; chatbox and notification
system. Other features were; profile picture and good color theme.
7.2.4 Summary on Research Question 4
This question aimed at understanding the perception of users on whether or whether not will the
application solve the challenges faced by the current communication methods. In the research
conducted, 100% of the sample replied positively (that the android application will solve the
challenges faced by the current communication methods).
7.3 Conclusion
Conclusively, the aim of the study was successfully accomplished. An android application which
enhances communication between parents and teachers was developed and thus solves the problem
of communication as it was expected. However, this study gives way to more research studies
associated with this study in the future. A good example of a study that can be conducted in the future
is to develop an application that may be used in normal phones other than smartphones.
7.4 Recommendation and Future study
In the android application, teachers may send assignments to one child’s parent at a time. I would
recommend a feature that would enable teachers to broadcast assignments to all pupils at the same
time for common homeworks.
Furthermore, more research should be done on ways which will enable an application of this kind to
be used in all phones including the phones that are not smartphones. This will solve the problem at a
larger extent in our country and other countries especially the developing countries that have a
narrower base of technology.
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APPENDICES
Appendix I: Research Questionnaire for Parents
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Appendix II: Research Questionnaire for Teachers
60
Appendix III: User-acceptance testing questionnaire
61