Mobile Learning Technologies Research Articles

School Closures, Equality of Opportunity: Some Recommendations

To mitigate the educational disruption, during the coronavirus pandemic, countries work to facilitate the continuity of learning by using mobile technologies for teaching and learning. Despite the development of mobile communication technology and Although distance education has been developed for several years, it is still widely regarded as falling to assure educational equality. Remote learning during this pandemic crisis is challenging. Policy makers, school principals, teachers, students and parents are all juggling unusual responsibilities. This paper reviews the school closures literature, highlights the equality of opportunity challenge and gives some guidance to effectively implement a productive learning programme.

Towards a Conceptual Framework Highlighting Mobile Learning Challenges

Over the last decade, there has been much interest in mobile technologies in teaching and learning as emerging and innovative tools. Despite this focus, mobile learning (m-Learning) implementation is facing many challenges. This study presents a tentative conceptual framework that consolidates existing research related to mobile learning implementation barriers. The study adopted a systematic review of the literature on challenges to mobile learning. A total of 125 papers published between 2007 and 2017 were extracted from established peer reviewed journals. A qualitative content analysis was used to define 24 barriers that have been grouped into four conceptual categories: Technological, Learner, Pedagogical and Facilitating Conditions. The proposed framework acts as guide for educators, systems developers, policy makers, researchers and stakeholders interested in implementing mobile learning programs.

Personalised Self-Directed Learning Recommendation System

Abstract Modern educational systems have changed drastically bringing in knowledge anywhere as needed by the learner with the evolution of Internet. Availability of knowledge in public domain, capability of exchanging large amount of information and filtering relevant information quickly has enabled disruption to conventional educational system. Thus, future trends are looking towards E-Learning (Electronic Learning) and M-Learning (Mobile Learning) technologies over the Internet for their vast knowledge acquisition. In this paper, the work gives an elaborate context of learning strategies prevailing and emerging with the classification of e-learning Techniques. It majorly focuses on the features and variety of aspects with the e-learning and the choice of learning method involved and facilitate the adoption of new ways for personalized selection on learning resources for SDL (Self-Directed Learning) from the unstructured, large web-based environment. Thereby, proposes a Personalised Self-Directed Learning Recommendation System (PSDLR) based on the personal specifications of the SDL learner. The result offers insight into the perspectives and challenges of Self-Directed Learning based on cognitive and constructive characteristics which majorly incorporates web-based learning and gives path in finding appropriate solutions using machine learning techniques and ontology for the open problems in the respective fields with personalised recommendations and guidelines for future research.

Stimulus of Specialization on Postgraduate Students’ Application of Mobile Technologies for Learning

Most students could be adopting the mobile technologies available but may not be for learning purposes. This study investigated the postgraduate students’ application of mobile technologies for learning and examined the differences in the application of mobile technologies by postgraduate students based on their area of specialization. The study was a quantitative research design. The population comprised all postgraduates’ students in Nigeria out of which 750 of them were purposively sampled across eleven universities based on accessibility. The data for the study was gathered using a Researchers-developed questionnaire. Statistical form of Mean was used to answer the research questions while Kruskal Wallis H-Test was used to test the hypothesis. A coefficient reliability of 0.87 was obtained on the instrument. The finding among others were that, postgraduate students in the information and communication specialization apply mobile technologies for their learning and research more than other postgraduate students’ counterparts; and there was significant difference among postgraduate student’ utilization of mobile technologies for learning and research purposes based on specialization. The study concluded that, the thoughtful utilization of mobile technologies by postgraduates could be of enormous benefit towards their learning within and outside the classroom settings and also facilitate their research knowledge, training and skills. It was however recommended among others that most of the course lectures by postgraduate students as well as their research should be embedded in mobile technologies.

The Application of Mobile Learning Technologies at Malaysian Universities Through Mind Mapping Apps for Augmenting Writing Performance

The Application of Mobile Learning Technologies at Malaysian Universities Through Mind Mapping Apps for Augmenting Writing Performance

Mobile Cloud Learning based on User Acceptance using DeLone and McLean Model for Higher Education

Mobile learning has been used in the learning process in several tertiary institutions in Indonesia. However, several universities have not been able to implement mobile learning due to the limitations of computer and network infrastructure. Cloud computing is a solution for agencies that experience limitations in computer infrastructure in the form of internet-based services for their customers. This paper discusses the implementation of mobile cloud learning which is a combination of mobile learning technology and cloud computing using the renewal DeLone and McLean Model which is a successful model to measure how important the implementation of a mobile cloud learning system is. The results showed that from the F test results obtained Fcount of 13,222, then Fcount> Ftable (13,222> 3.01), then Ho was rejected and H1 was accepted. So it can be concluded Information Quality, System Quality, and Service Quality together affect the Intensity of Use.

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Teacher's Perceptions and Use of Mobile Devices and Applications

This paper reports on a study of how a group of tertiary level EFL teachers perceived and used mobile devices in their teaching and personal learning. One hundred and fifty teachers (66 female, 84 male) from public universities in Saudi Arabia completed an online questionnaire. Results showed that the majority of participants used mobile devices and applications in their teaching and learning. Survey data showed that the vast majority of teachers had positively perceived and frequently used mobile technologies in their teaching and personal learning. In addition, there was a correlation between teachers’ use of mobile technologies in their teaching and their use in learning. There was also a correlation between how teachers perceived the value of mobile technologies in learning, and how they use them in their teaching.

Usability Aspects Related to the Use of M-Learning in Elementary Schools in Palestine

Learning Chemistry course is considered as a difficult task for many learners especially for elementary school students. This is related to understanding different concepts chemical reactions atoms structures, physical representations of molecules, etc. One way to facilitate the learning process of chemistry course is to use Mobile Learning (m-learning) technology. M-learning has different added values compared to classical learning materials such as text book, pictures, etc. Among the different added values of using mobile in educational contexts is the fact that smartphone has richer interaction techniques. Furthermore, smartphones and tablets PC are considered as more attractive for students. Also, there has been a rapid growth in the mobile technology concerning hardware and software. Accordingly, with the widespread use of smartphones and tablets, researchers start investigating the use of such devices in different educational contexts. The use of mobile learning is considered as a recent trend in Palestinian elementary schools and there is a minimal research attention has been directed to the student’s attitudes and satisfaction in using m-learning in their learning process. Therefore, our work aims at investigating the use of m-learning by students in elementary schools in Palestine. In particular, we focused on female students as in general female students show less interest in science and technology than male students. We were keen to investigate whether the use of m-learning could change this attitude. Therefore, an educational mobile application called ChemApp was developed to help learners to learn different concepts in chemistry course such as elements’ order in the periodic table, electronic distribution, atomic and mass numbers, chemical bonds and formula. By using the ChemApp, the students are able to interact with different components to explore the possible reactions in an interactive interface, to understand the structure and shape of atoms and molecules. The ChemApp was evaluated by a class of 13-14 years old (8th grade) students in a Palestinian primary school. The total number of participants was 30 female students. After analyzing the results, we conclude that these female students had a positive attitude toward the use of m-learning in their learning process of chemistry course. The results of this research work can be considered by policy and decision makers in educational institutions.

BETTER LEARNING AND INCREASED MOTIVATION TO LEARN WITH MOBILE TECHNOLOGY (DEVICES): A PRELIMINARY STUDY

Mobile technology is now part of the everyday life of teachers and students and thus tends to become an inseparable part of the educational activities. Teachers and students are increasingly using mobile technologies in teaching and learning. Therefore, it is purposeful to responsibly integrate technologies into the educational process. However, technical and pedagogical support is necessary in order to facilitate both teacher and students’ understanding of this educational potential. Besides, it is still very little known and there is very little evidence about the effectiveness of the application of these technologies in the teaching/learning process. This research aims to explore the perceptions of Romanian and Lithuanian teachers regarding the use of mobile technologies in education. Keywords: motivation to learn, mobile technology, preliminary study, science education, science teachers.

Formation of Media Competence of Future Teachers by Means of ICT and Mobile Technologies

The paper is devoted to the problem of formation of media competence of future teachers by means of ICT and mobile technologies. It discusses the concepts of media competence, media education and media culture. Motivational, cognitive, technological, reflective components within the structure of media competence are revealed in the article. The results of experimental work of formation of media competence of future teachers by means of ICT and mobile learning technologies are presented. The authors conclude that study of modern methodological and technological methods of media education, history of their emergence and development, creative use within the educational process opens new perspectives for the application of the educational and developmental potential of media education at school and universities.

The students’ readiness to engage with mobile learning apps

PurposeA relevant literature review suggests that today’s children are increasingly immersing themselves in ubiquitous technologies, including interactive media and digital games. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the primary school students’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivations toward learning via gameplay through their mobile devices, at home and at school.Design/methodology/approachThis study was carried out among primary school students in a small European state. It used valid and reliable measures that comprised the technology acceptance model’s key constructs. However, the empirical investigation also explored the students’ perceived enjoyment and social influences, as plausible antecedents for their behavioral intention to engage with the educational applications (apps).FindingsThe findings reported that there were strong correlations between the students’ perceived usefulness of the mobile technologies and their behavioral intention to use them for their learning. The results also indicated that there was no significant relationship between the perceived ease of use and the children’s enjoyment in engaging with the educational apps that were used at school.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no other study in academia that has explored the children’s technology acceptance, normative pressures and their intrinsic motivations to use mobile learning technologies in the context of primary education. Therefore, this contribution opens future research directions, as this study can be replicated in other contexts.

4P-Model of accounting learning process: The role of mobile apps technology among non-accounting students

This paper investigates the relationship between gender, students’ perceptions of accounting subjects, their learning approaches and the role of mobile app technology in accounting education. Based on a self-administered questionnaire developed and distributed to 153 respondents comprising of non-accounting students in Malaysia, it was found that there are no significant differences between male and female students in their perceptions towards accounting subjects. Nevertheless, there is a significant relationship between students’ perceptions of accounting subjects and their approaches in learning the subjects. Results show that students were unable to perceive the role of mobile app technology in learning. The analysis contributes to the education field in producing more accountants working for various businesses.

Parental involvement and attitudes towards young Greek children’s mobile usage

Abstract Smart mobile devices are widely used for dealing with information on education and provide entertainment at home and school. Mobile applications (apps) directed towards young aged children have changed the digital media landscape for infants and toddlers. Parents’ preferences and beliefs towards technology has a major role in toddlers’ and infants’ use of technology as they directly affect the quality and the quantity of digital media available to them especially at home. It is, therefore, crucial to understand how parents perceive the changes imposed by smart screen technologies upon their children’s development; their diverse beliefs, and practices. To date, in Greece, few studies have examined the use of smart screen technologies among young children especially at home. This study presents the main findings from a research conducted with 293 families in Greece between September 2018 and November 2018. It reports on parents’ perceptions regarding children’s usage of smart mobile technologies both at the home and the kindergarten context. The study results show that most of the parents have positive attitudes towards the use of these technologies. Parents want to support their children’s learning and seek to provide a stimulating home learning environment for them. Parents’ answers seem to differentiate depending on socioeconomic background, age and education. Older and less-educated parents seem unable to adapt appropriately to rapid technological progress and thus cannot effectively exploit the advantages that mobile learning technologies have to offer to children. On the contrary, younger parents or parents with a higher education level seem to more easily adapt to the new conditions striving to develop a better learning environment at home. However, the positive parents’ attitudes about mobile learning are hampered by the lack of the knowledge about the choice of apps with ‘substantial educational value’ as well as their use, particularly in the domestic environment. We anticipate that the findings from this study would provide valuable information for early childhood researchers, stakeholders and teachers leading to better learning digital experiences and even better outcomes for young aged children.

A study of the use of mobile learning technology in Taiwan for language learning

ABSTRACT Although there have been numerous mobile learning studies, relatively few concerns the moderating impact of perceived fit on mobile learning outcomes. A total of 335 adult learners with a mobile language learning experience in Taiwan took part in this study. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is used to determine the key factors that lead to better mobile learning performance. The results of this study show that perceived usefulness, playfulness and self-management of learning are positively linked to the intention to continue with mobile learning. The results also show that perceived flexibility and personal innovativeness have a positive impact on perceived usefulness and playfulness. It is also shown that perceived fit plays a moderating role in determining mobile learning continuance intention.

Mobile Digital Literacy of Australian Adolescent Students

The vast majority of adolescents own and use mobile devices on a daily basis for learning and other everyday activities. Mobile digital literacy is a term that captures the various capabilities that these young people have to interact effectively and safely with information and people in virtual environments, as well as to sustain their formal and informal learning across time and space as they develop into independent, self-directed lifelong learners. As part of understanding adolescents' mobile digital practices, this research developed a framework for investigating the students' mobile digital literacy. This research used a quantitative methodology and adapted a generic digital literacy framework to investigate Years 7-10 Australian students' perceptions of their ability to use mobile technology for learning and everyday activities. The results show that the framework can effectively capture students' perceptions of themselves as having high levels of mobile digital literacy in all the three components (technical, cognitive, and social-emotional) of the digital literacy framework. The implications are discussed.

Mobile Learning Technologies as a Means of Maintaining Education Delivery In Crisis Situations

The disruption of education services during major crises poses a challenge for international agencies, governments, schools, and communities. The article demonstrates a potential role for mobile technologies in supporting continuity of education delivery during temporary school closures caused by such crises. Discussing how school administrators can reduce the impact on students, this article describes an interactive online educational environment and outlines the advantages of available mobile learning devices for this purpose. With proper training, teachers can integrate mobile learning tools in both classroom activities and out-of-classroom learning. The article will be of interest to educational policy makers and school administrators with responsibility for ensuring continued education delivery in the aftermath of major crises.

Mobile composing: Professional practices and impact on students’ motivation in popular music

This pilot study focuses on the use of mobile tablets to allow secondary students to compose in class with the application GarageBand. The empirical research has two aims: to demonstrate the possibility of using mobile tablets as a composing device, and to examine professional practices for using mobile technologies in music learning. A 12-week e-learning curriculum was specially designed for students to learn to use mobile tablets to compose popular music. A total of 159 secondary school students participated in the study and responded to a set of pre- and post-activity questionnaires, modelled on items developed for a motivational study by McPherson and O’Neill (2010). The paired sample t-test compared the mean score changes in the dimensions of intrinsic value, attainment value, utility value, perceived cost and expectancy in motivation. Furthermore, one-way analysis of variance compared the mean scores for scale questions on learning motivation between groups based on number of years spent learning to play an instrument as revealed by the student survey. The findings of SPSS analysis reveal that both non-instrument learners and instrument learners showed significant increases in motivation when using mobile tablets as an instrument to compose popular music in class. Different modes of learning, limitations and suggestions are also discussed in mobile composing.

Impact of Mobile Learning in the Cloud on Learning Competencies of Engineering Students

It has been acknowledged that the mobile learning concept has extended numerous opportunities for teachers as well as students, as it makes way for an active learning atmosphere anywhere and anytime. Mobile learning technology can be resourcefully improvised by extending the cloud technology into it. This study is an attempt to analyze the impact of mobile cloud computing on learning competencies of engineering students. The main intention is to experiment whether mobile learning using cloud technology has an impact on student’s performance by investigating the influence of this innovative teaching technique on course outcomes. The results illustrated that use of cloud based mobile learning in studying an engineering subject is rewarding and does has an encouraging impact on learning competencies of students. The results distinctively indicate that cloud based mobile learning can be effectively used for learning engineering subjects that results in superior attainment of course outcomes.

Effects of caption and gender on junior high students’ EFL learning from iMap-enhanced contextualized learning

With the global positioning function, mobile learning technology extends the capacity of modern learning to fulfill location-based learning for learners to learn everywhere contextually. This study developed a digital interactive geographic map (iMap) with GPS function to support location-based contextualized EFL learning. Four classes of ninth-graders from a junior high school voluntarily participated in the 2-session 70-min learning activities using tablet PCs. Two experimental groups (non-caption vs. English-caption) were implemented, and the effects of caption and gender on learning performance and motivation were examined. The results showed that the caption*gender interaction was significant on learning performance, and the male non-caption group outperformed the male English-caption group, while the female learners in both groups performed equally. As for motivation, the participants demonstrated positive motivation in all aspects (i.e., self-efficacy, proactive learning, learning value, achievement goal and environmental incentive), and the non-caption group showed higher degrees of motivation in self-efficacy, learning value and environmental incentive than the English-caption group, while the gender effect was non-significant on these motivation aspects. Furthermore, the caption*gender interaction on proactive learning and achievement goal indicated that captions tended to interfere male learners’ learning intention and sense of achievement, suggesting that the adaption of learning strategies to individual traits and gender differences is imperative. This research extends the investigation on issues concerning the application of iMap-enhanced contextualized learning to the research field of technology-enhanced language learning, and the findings further support the argument that contextualized learning induces high motivation and assists learners in language comprehension and application.

Seeking coherence between 'mobile learning' applications and the everyday lives of medical residents.

IntroductionThe role of technology in health professions education has received increased research attention. Research has examined the interaction between humans and technology, focusing on the mutual influence between people and technology. Little attention has been given to the role of motivation and incentives in how learning technologies are used in relation to daily activities. This research aims to understand the relationship between medical-learning technology and its users.MethodsA mixed-method case study of a new medical-learning mobile application (app) for family medicine residents was undertaken at a Canadian university hospital. The Information Assessment Method is a custom-made app to help residents prepare for the College of Family Physicians of Canada licensing examination. Residents’ use of the app was tracked over a 7-month period and individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with users. Data were thematically analyzed and correlated with app use data.ResultsFactors identified as shaping residents’ mobile app use for learning, included: efficiency, mobility and resonance with life context; credibility of information retrieved; and relevance of content. Most influential was stage of residency. Second-year residents were more selective and strategic than first-year residents in their app use.DiscussionAn emphasis on coherence between self-directed learning and externally dictated learning provides a framework for understanding the relationship between users and mobile-learning technology. This framework can guide the design, implementation and evaluation of learning interventions for healthcare professionals and learners.