The Use of iPods in Education: The Case of Multi-Tasking

Abstract

Different authors indicate that the use of iPods in education provides the benefit for students to learn when and where they want. They can learn while even performing another activity such as fitness, taking the train, etc. In short, they can become mobile learners. However, empirical evidence is missing on whether this is indeed beneficial for learners and what the consequences are of this multi-tasking on learning. In this contribution, three empirical studies are reported that address the influence of a second task while learning from an iPod. Results show that in the first two studies, the control group outperformed the experimental group, suggesting that the second task interfered with learning, while in the third study no differences were found.