INFLUENCE OF GENDER ON THE USABILITY OF A DEVELOPED AGRICULTURAL LEARNING APPLICATION FOR EXTENSION EXPERTS

Abstract

The use of Information Communication Technology is impacting how instruction is delivered and
how information and share. Also, technologies have changed the educational model and access to
information., because knowledge is available online and easily accessible. With this, it can be said
that Mobile devices and accompanying apps have become a support and help for learning. Hence,
the study examined gender influence on the usability of a developed Agro-Mobile app for
professional development in agricultural extension. The study employed a design and development
type. The population of the study was all educational technology experts, mobile app experts, crop
science experts, and Agricultural extension experts in South-west, Nigeria. The instruments used
for this study were three (3) researchers-designed experts’ ratings and one (1) usability evaluation
questionnaire. The instruments were validated and reliability values of 0.87, 0.93, 0.78, and 0.90
was obtained. The data gathered was analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, mean and ttest. The findings revealed that; the design and development of the Agro-mobile app for
agricultural extension experts was rated excellent by mobile app experts, crop science experts, and
educational technology experts with 83.3%, 88.8% and 87% respectively. Also, there was no
significant difference in the usability evaluation of the Agro-Mobile app by male and female
extension experts {df (28), t = 1.88, p > 0.05 = 0.10}. Based on the findings, it was recommended,
the Agro-Mobile is an important app for professional development. Hence, it should be deployed
to agricultural departments and agencies actively involved in agricultural extension.