Mobile learning in higher education: A comparative analysis of developed and developing country contexts (original) (raw)
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2014
Recent penetration of mobile technologies and its services in East Africa has provided a new platform for institutions to widen access to education through mobile learning. Mobile technologies provide learners with flexibility and ubiquity to learn anytime and anywhere via wireless Internet. However, far too little research has been conducted to investigate factors that contribute towards students' adoption and use of mobile learning in East Africa. We applied the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model to investigate students’ behavioural intention to adopt and use mobile learning in higher education in East Africa. A sample of 823 students selected from five higher learning institutions was collected and tested against the research model using regression analysis. The results showed that, four factors: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions had significant positive effects on students’ mobile learning a...
Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 2022
As technology-mediated innovations like Mobile Learning Devices (MLDs) spread rapidly across the globe, there are growing concerns on the actual factors that influence students in Higher Educational institutions (HEIs) to accept technology-mediated innovations like smartphones, tablets, and portable computing devices for their educational pursuit. This study adopted Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a theoretical basis in an attempt to investigate factors that might influence students to accept or decline the use of technology-mediated innovations specifically MLDs for academic purposes from the perspectives of three universities in Ghana. A set of online questionnaire survey was used to collect the needed data from (N=1,030) students. The researchers also conducted data analysis and presentation of findings by testing the suggested research model through Structural Equation Modelling. A regression analysis was also carried out with the help of SmartPLS to assess the path coefficient of the data collected for the model. This study identified influencing factors such as students' awareness levels, m-learning technology types, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness as some of the central factors that determine how students use and accept m-learning devices in Ghanaian universities. The study reported limitations such as expensive internet data, poor internet infrastructure, insecurity, privacy issues, and unavailability of electricity as some of the factors limiting the acceptance of MLDs by students in Ghana. Despite the limitations reported in this study, the results from the statistical analysis, show that there are high levels of MLDs acceptance among students from the three sampled higher educational institutions in Ghana. The study recommends that school authorities and governments in developing countries such as Ghana incorporate MLDs in their current higher educational systems.
Mobile Learning among Students and Lecturers in the Developing World
Handbook of Research on Mobile Devices and Applications in Higher Education Settings
The potential of mobile technologies to influence teaching and learning has enthused educational technology researchers. This chapter compares lecturers and students at the University of Guyana on the factors of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model and attitude in relation to technology in education using principal components and regression analyses. It also focuses on access to devices and use of the device features. The results show that the mobile phone is the most popular mobile device among students and lecturers and that both groups have positive attitudes towards using mobile devices for teaching and learning. However, students are more disposed and better equipped to use mobile technologies in the near future and have stronger intentions towards integrating them into their learning. Whereas attitude is the most important determinant of adoption among students, the facilitating conditions is most critical to mobile learning adoption among lecturers.
Solving the mystery of mobile learning adoption in higher education
International Journal of Mobile Communication, 2018
The rapid expansion in users of mobile devices, particularly among university students, makes mobile learning (m-learning) the modern style of learning for the new millennium. Thus, it is important to identify and explore the factors that may influence students' intention to use m-learning. In Jordan, research on mobile learning adoption is still very narrow. For the purpose of this study, we propose a framework that is based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model, to explore the potential factors that may impact students' intention to acceptance and use of m-learning in developing countries such as Jordan. The proposed framework is empirically tested using a total of 444 paper-based questionnaires, collected from students at four Jordanian universities. The results reveal that effort expectancy, performance expectancy, trust expectancy, self-management of learning, system functionality and social influence are significant determinants of m-learning adoption, and explain 64.8% of the variance in the students' intentions to adopt m-learning. Gender and uncertainty avoidance are found to have moderating effects on some of the relationships of the research model. These findings offer multiple useful implications for m-learning adoption, in terms of both research and practice.
African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, 2024
Mobile (m)-learning is a technology-enhanced learning approach utilizing mobile technologies to facilitate learning. Despite significant attention from previous researchers, there is a lack of adequate studies about student's usage and perceptions of m-learning in Zanzibar's' higher learning institutions (HLIs). In this study, the researchers explored the specific activities undertaken by students through the m-learning system, the students' perceptions on the usefulness and ease of use of m-learning system, and the challenges they faced at the State University of Zanzibar (SUZA). The study used the survey method with descriptive statistical analysis and examined 240 randomly selected participating in the m-learning initiative. The findings indicate that 96.7% of participants easily used the system to navigate learning resources, 92.9% viewed assignments, and 94.6% took quizzes. Additionally, the majority of the respondents showed a positive attitude regarding the usefulness and ease of use of the system. However, 57% of participants experienced challenges, including unreliable internet connectivity and system incompatibility with some of their devices. The findings of this study will help HLIs like SUZA to find better strategies to improve m-learning, especially pedagogical features and awareness among students. Moreover, the study underscores the importance of more research to discover factors that influence m-learning adoption in Africa HLIs.
Journal of New Approaches in Educational Research, 2019
The aim of this study is to determine the factors that significantly influence the acceptance and intent to use smartphones and tables as resources for learning in university contexts, as well as the relationships established between them. For their analysis, we followed a contextualized model of evaluation starting with the methodological framework of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), proposed by Venkatesh and collaborators (2003). For this, a data collection instrument was designed, validated to our context and optimized for mobile learning and the education community. A total of 370 university students participated in the study. From the statistical analysis conducted, it was shown that the instrument constructed had a notable internal consistency, showing a high validity for collecting information in relation to five of the eight factors of which it was composed, although it should be revised in relation to the other three. Also, through the data co...
Purpose: The use of mobile technology in teaching and learning at all levels of our educational system have gained global popularity and wide acceptance, yet not much studies has been conducted in developing countries like Ghana on the use of mobile learning to support teaching and learning in higher education. This study aims at filling the gap by exploring the perception, readiness and attitudes of students using mobile learning devices for learning and teaching in higher education. Design/methodology/approach: A survey with questionnaire administration and was the method employed to collect data. Findings: The findings clearly revealed that students are already using mobile devices to perform wide array of educational tasks. There was a positive attitude and readiness from students to support formal use of mobile learning tools in higher education. Finally there was a positive perception from student of the enormous benefits that the inculcation of mobile learning in teaching in higher education could have on their learning. This result lend support to the benefits of mobile learning to students and educational institutions and succinctly demands that stakeholders in the educational sector, policymakers, governments should give this new and powerful educational technology the needed attention. Research limitations/implications: First, the study was conducted at one private university with just small enough sample size which makes generalization problematic, we recommend that both public and private universities with larger sample size be used. Finally, the study did not try to establish if there is co-relation between student’s mobile learning technology and its effects on academic performance. Originality/value: The paper share valuable insight on the significance of mobile technology to transform the landscape of teaching and learning in Ghana and globally. KEYWORDS: Mobile Learning, Mobile Devices, Web.2, Educational Technologies, Higher Institutions of Education.
A Model to Enhance Students Intention to Adopt and use Mobile Learning in Ugandan Universities
M-learning systems have become the order of the day for universities in countries like Uganda to conduct studies to their students. The main attention towards M-learning is the increase in the number of mobile devices such as mobile phones, PDAs, Smart Phones, laptops, and iPads as well as enhancements in the technological capabilities of these devices. The purpose of this study was to develop a model to enhance students' intention to adopt and use mobile learning. A number of factors have hindered the adoption and use of M-learning. Various solutions have been put forward but they have not adequately addressed the issue of adoption and use of M-learning in Ugandan Universities. In developing countries, M-learning adoption and use is also constrained by lack of information about its requirements. The need therefore remains, to determine requirements and customize existing M-learning adoption models to suit the needs of universities in developing countries.
Australasian Journal of Educational Technology
This research extends the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model based on expectation-confirmation and self-determination theories. It aims at exploring students' perspectives regarding the acceptance of mobile learning (m-Learning) in higher education. Although UTAUT receives considerable attention in technology acceptance research, this study unlike previous work as it is among the first to integrate self-determination and expectation-confirmation theories with this model in understanding m-Learning adoption, particularly in a case of developing countries. A total of 246 undergraduate students responded voluntarily to an online questionnaire. The findings suggest that integrating the UTAUT model with variables represent learners' basic psychological needs can highly affect their acceptance of m-Learning technology. The findings are further being discussed for theoretical and practical implications.
Access to quality education is becoming a huge challenge in Nigeria, in view of the exponential growth in its population, coupled with ethno-religious crises and other acts of terrorism. A large chunk of the country's population – about 26% have no access to education, as existing teaching and learning facilities have become inadequate. Some interventions such as e-learning and mobile learning (m-learning) have been explored in other levels of education, particularly universities. In order to explore the viability of m-learning to address the inadequacies of facilities and poor access to quality education, this study ascertains the perceptions of students towards m-learning. A quantitative research design, using a sample of 320 students from three colleges of education, is adopted. Descriptive and regression analysis was performed. Based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model, the results show that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and mobile learning conditions are positively correlated with behavioural intention, and that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and mobile learning conditions significantly predict students' intention towards m-learning. The study therefore concludes that students in colleges of education in Nigeria had positive perceptions towards mobile learning and are therefore ready to embrace it.