Improving Environmental Education Delivery Through Mobile Phone

ABSTRACT

Environmental conservation is a great concern for the sustainable economic development. To archive high degree of environmental conservation, efforts shall be kept in educating people on environmental uses and conservation. This study aimed at improving environmental education delivery through the use of mobile phone SMSs and devised a prototype for delivering SMSs. The study identified the major sources of environmental degradation and found that charcoal production lead followed by animal keeping. It then analysed the existing model of delivering education and found that radio is the main model used by over 28% of people to get environmental education. The study found that 82% of people own mobile phones of whom 80% are ready to receive environmental education through SMSs. However, 31% of people believe that the use of mobile phone in delivering environmental education will be challenged by the lack of mobile phone network coverage in some of the areas. Data were collected in four wards of Bagamoyo district through questionnaires to the community and interviewing environmental educators. Educators believed that the introduction of SMSs education in environmental sector will improve at large the environmental condition in the society. Finally, the prototype was developed and tested. The prototype performed as it was expected by both researcher and the host. Attention now should be kept on ensuring that mobile phone network coverage is extended to cover large if not all parts of Tanzania so that to enable large population to receive environmental education through their mobile phones.