Mobile Learning Platforms to Assist Individual Knowledge Management

Abstract

Mobile technologies such as Wireless data communications in the form of Short Message Service (SMS) and Wireless Access Protocols (WAP) browsers have gained global popularity, for e-learning and knowledge management purposes. Despite the potential use of mobile technologies, the design of these is not trivial. The effectiveness of such applications depends on the design of its interface. This paper investigates the importance of the use of color for mobile design to assist knowledge management. A prototype application was developed to link four course websites. The knowledge management applications were pilot-tested for one semester with a total of 160 students from graduate courses in a French business school. As an exploratory study, students used the knowledge management environment composed of 3 platforms with a variety of mobile devices (smart phones and tablets) and reported their experiences through the writing of a synthesis, the building of a Content Management System (CMS) and the elaboration of a curation system, at the end of the semester. The results from this exploratory study show that the use of color plays crucial role in the ease-of-use of the interface for users. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014.