Abstract

Mobile learning (ML) technology and its services have provided a new platform for higher education institutions to enhance the learning process. Mobile learning provides learners with flexibility and ubiquity. However, students’ satisfaction and factors of using ML in private and public universities remain academically unexplored. In this study, the constructivism learning theory was applied to investigate students’ satisfaction and the factors that predict the use of ML among public and private university students in the learning process. The researchers developed a questionnaire with 43 items to gather information about the degree of students’ satisfaction and factors in using mobile learning among college students for both public and private universities in Kuwait. A sample of 1,012 undergraduate students were randomly selected from three different universities in Kuwait. The study was conducted in the second semester of 2015/2016. The results showed that females were more likely to be satisfied with smartphones for educational purposes than males and that Kuwaiti students tend to be more satisfied with smartphones for educational purposes than non-Kuwaiti students. Factors used to predict students’ satisfaction with ML were Internet speed, smartphone portability, smartphone skills, screen size, gender, nationality, and college. The researchers suggest expanding the current study to include graduate students.

Highlights

  • Mobile learning (ML) technology and its services have provided a new platform for higher education institutions to enhance the learning process

  • The results showed that females were more likely to be satisfied with smartphones for educational purposes than males and that Kuwaiti students tend to be more satisfied with smartphones for educational purposes than non-Kuwaiti students

  • This study shows that Internet speed, smartphone portability, smartphone skills, screen size, password problems on campus, gender, nationality, type of college, and time spent using a smartphone are the main predictors of satisfaction with the use of smartphones in ML

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Summary

Introduction

Mobile learning (ML) technology and its services have provided a new platform for higher education institutions to enhance the learning process. The researchers developed a questionnaire with 43 items to gather information about the degree of students’ satisfaction and factors in using mobile learning among college students for both public and private universities in Kuwait. By the end of 2018, an estimated 1.4 billion smartphones will be in use, according to a new study by ABI research (Leonard, 2013), and with a world population of 7 billion, this means one smartphone for every five people This increase in the number of smartphone devices has steered researchers to focus on using such devices as a tool to support teaching and the learning process (Koszalka & Ntloedibe‐Kuswani, 2010). The results of the current study enhance the research field of educational technology by exploring the factors (technical and demographics) that best predict the level of satisfaction among undergraduate students who use ML

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