1.1 Introduction
Lecture Reminder is a tool that permits academic students and lecturers to know like due dates and locations. Lecture Reminder has turned to be a very important tool in time management and it is a common saying in time management that it is better to keep track of things using a system rather than your memory. A Lecture Reminder System is important for busy people because we do not have to remember all our academic works, and writing them down somewhere is not a very good idea because then we have to keep track of that piece of paper. The Reminder System lets you “set and forget” and then gets reminded when the lecture time comes and so it becomes a perfect tool for lecturers and students.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Limitation of the study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Today, lecture reminder systems continue to evolve, incorporating advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide more intelligent and predictive reminder services. These systems are increasingly being integrated with broader academic management platforms, offering holistic solutions that encompass not just reminders but also academic performance tracking and personalized study recommendations. The ongoing development of these systems reflects a growing understanding of the critical role that effective time management plays in student success (Lee & Choi, 2020).
In the rapidly evolving landscape of higher education, efficient time management and organizational skills are critical for student success. One of the persistent challenges faced by students is keeping track of their academic schedules, including lectures, assignments, and deadlines. The "Lecture Reminder System" is designed to address this issue by providing automated reminders to help students manage their academic commitments more effectively.
The transition to digital calendars marked the first significant technological advance in reminder systems. With the introduction of personal computers and later, internet-based applications, students began using digital calendars to schedule their activities. Tools like Microsoft Outlook and Google Calendar became popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, offering features such as automated reminders and synchronization across devices (Duffield, 2002) . However, these tools were not specifically designed for academic environments and lacked integration with academic schedules and learning management systems.
The next major development in lecture reminder systems came with the integration of reminder functionalities into Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Blackboard, Moodle, and Canvas. These systems, which gained widespread adoption in the 2000s, allowed educators to post schedules, assignments, and announcements online. They also provided basic reminder functionalities, such as email notifications and pop-up alerts for upcoming lectures and deadlines (Watson & Watson, 2007) . Despite these advancements, the reminder capabilities of LMS were often generic and not sufficiently customizable to meet individual student needs.
According to Johnson (2013), the proliferation of smartphones and mobile applications in the 2010s significantly transformed lecture reminder systems. Mobile apps such as my Homework and Todoist offered more personalized and flexible reminder solutions, allowing students to set specific notifications for lectures, exams, and assignment deadlines. These apps leveraged push notifications and real-time updates to provide timely reminders, thereby improving adherence to academic schedules (Johnson, 2013).
The challenges encountered that led to the execution of the research work is that, the availability of academic calendars and schedules, students often struggle with remembering lecture times and deadlines. A study by Nonis, Hudson, and Murray (2006) indicates that one of the major reasons for poor academic performance is the inability to manage time efficiently, leading to missed lectures and assignments. This is compounded by the fact that many students balance academic responsibilities with part-time jobs and extracurricular activities.
Therefore, in Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri, Imo State where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to implement the Lecture Reminder System.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation reveals the problems of the existing Lecture Reminder System:
- The staff and lecturers forgets an appointment that has been arranged, thereby not teaching / lecturing the course for the schedule date.
- Some Students omits lecture classes due to wrong scheduled venue and time as a result of an impromptu change of venue and time.
- Lack of compatible devices to execute the existing application software, hence the new system will be designated for all browser accessible devices with data required,
- There too many messages sent at one time and the messages received are not fully managed by administrative staff and cause the staff not alerts with the important messages,
- The staff need to login the e-community to check for urgent and important message, where is take time to check the appointment.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to design and implement a Lecture Reminder System that will notify students and lecturer about the scheduled lecture date. In achieving this aim, the specific objectives were set out as follows:
- To develop a Lecture Reminder System application software that will be compatible in any browser accessible devices,
- To implement a system that will facilitate early notification / reminder of scheduled lecture date,
- To design a system that will flexible in terms of serving as a reminder toward rescheduling of an impromptu lecture by course lecturer, thereby notifying students about the new venue and time of lecture.
- To develop a system that helps out the staff to make their message receive are more manageable and easy to the check their task within the system.
- To build a system that give alert message using SMS application at the same time make things easier for staff and lecturer to check their lecture scheduled date and venue.
1.5 Scope of Study
The study focuses on the development of lecture reminder application software that will notify students and lecturer about the scheduled lecture date and also reschedules lecture as instructed by the course lecturer.
1.6 Significance of Study
Lecture Reminder System has many features that very helpful to the user. The first that can be described is calendar system. Calendar will be use as a reference to the dates and the days that users are going to set. The user can view the current date and month or the previous and next month calendar. The system will also help to arrange the lecture with furtherance to their order of priority.
Finally, this research work will be of immense importance to the researchers, since it is a practical requirement for the award of Ordinary National Diploma (OND) in Science Technology of the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu. Besides, the study will serve as reference material for subsequent researcher in the field or related topics.
1.7 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet).
1.8 Definition of Terms
Online Classes: These are classes conducted via electronic media, especially via the Internet.
World Wide Web: World Wide Web simply called www is the most important tool of the Internet.
Web Site: A website is a collection of many interconnected web pages organized by a specific college, organization company etc, containing web pages (good and commodities) on the Internet.
