ABSTRACT
During the last few years it has become evident that first-year students enrolled for technology-based subjects, such as programming at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), South Africa, encounter numerous barriers to successfully practice their programming skills, as well as to design, develop, test, and electronically submit their programming assignments. As a result, the formative and summative assessment marks of these students indicate a concerning downward trend year on year. This is primarily attributed to three major stumbling blocks, namely the limited availability of computers, the absence of the software needed to complete programming assignments off campus, and the limited availability of Internet access off campus. Since the majority of these students are from previously disadvantaged communities and can simply not afford computers, Internet connections, and relatively expensive commercial software applications, they are dependent on campus computer laboratories, whose access are not always practical due to time, distance, and location constraints. From the above, a broad-base analogy can be drawn that these students are not given the freedom to choose when, where, and how they study. It could therefore be argued that current learning mechanisms to facilitate technology-based learning do not comply with the demands faced by higher education (HE) institutions in developing countries, hence creating the requirement for mobility.
