A Systematic Review of Mobile Learning Adoption in Higher Education: The African Perspective

Despite the huge penetration of mobile technology in Africa and its wide adoption in the region for communication, business and entertainment, its use in education is not widespread. To investigate this problem within the context of higher education, a systematic review of articles focused on adoption and implementation of mobile learning in Africa published from 2010 to 2016 was carried out. The literature search showed a growing trend in mobile learning research in Africa, however, only a handful of these had practical implementation indicating that despite the growth of mlearning studies in the region research into practical implementation is still very limited. Nevertheless, this review identified trends in the adoption studies, modes of implementation, and reported barriers to implementation. Subsequently, the barriers were grouped into five categories and sub-categorised into most frequently reported, frequently reported, and infrequently reported. Despite the paucity of the latter, they were still considered central for effective implementation. Analysis of this snapshot of m-learning implementation in African universities led to the development of recommendations to overcome reported barriers and thus makes a useful resource for policymakers and those considering adoption