M-Readiness Assessment Model Development and Validation

Abstract

It is important for distance learning institutions to be well prepared before designing and implementing any new technology based learning system to justify the investment and minimize failure risk. It can be achieved by systematically assessing the readiness of all stakeholders. This paper first proposes an m-readiness assessment process and subsequently describes different activities required to develop a m-readiness assessment model. The model was validated and applied to measure m-readiness index of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Pakistan. Primary data (N=612) were collected. Factor analysis was applied. Extracted factors were confirmed with confirmatory factor analysis. Based on the extracted factors, m-readiness index was calculated. Furthermore, m-readiness index association with age, gender, program of study, income, locality and province were also analyzed by applying one way ANOVA and Kruskal Wallis. The results reveal that there is a significant difference in m-readiness with respect to income, locality, age, gender, program of study and province.