Understanding users' perceived needs and concerns toward mobile application integration in primary science education in Korea

Abstract

This research aims to examine how students, teachers and parents in Korea perceive the needs and concerns about integrating mobile applications to support science learning in schools. The sample includes 632 students, 68 teachers and 141 parents from 11 primary schools. Results reveal some important implications regarding users' acceptance of mobile applications for teaching and learning. First, the majority of students did not frequently access and use mobile devices, which might be associated with the school policy to ban or limit the use of mobile devices in the classroom. Second, the teacher group was the most conservative in their perceptions toward integrating mobile applications in science education. Lastly, there was a clear pattern observed in users' perceptions about science topics that are relevant or irrelevant in integrating mobile applications. This study provides important insights about how the three distinctive groups perceive the role of mobile applications in science education.