Students’ Perceptions of Mobile Learning: Case Study of Kuwait

Authors: Rana AlHajri, Salah Al-Sharhan, Ahmed Al-Hunaiyyan

Abstract:

Mobile learning is a new learning landscape that offers opportunity for collaborative, personal, informal, and students’ centered learning environment. In implementing any learning system such as a mobile learning environment, learners’ expectations should be taken into consideration. However, there is a lack of studies on this aspect, particularly in the context of Kuwait higher education (HE) institutions. This study focused on how students perceive the use of mobile devices in learning. Although m-learning is considered as an effective educational tool in developed countries, it is not yet fully utilized in Kuwait. The study reports on the results of a survey conducted on 623 HE students in Kuwait to a better understand students' perceptions and opinions about the effectiveness of using mobile learning systems. An analysis of quantitative survey data is presented. The findings indicated that Kuwait HE students are very familiar with mobile devices and its applications. The results also reveal that students have positive perceptions of m-learning, and believe that video-based social media applications enhance the teaching and learning process.

Keywords: Higher education, mobile learning, social media, students’ perceptions.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1339998

References:

[1] N. Cavus, "Investigating mobile devices and LMS integration in higher education: student perspectives," Computer Science, vol. 3, pp. 1469-1474, 2011.
[2] H. S. Ebrahim, K. Ezzadeen and A. K. Alhazmi, "Acquiring Knowledge through Mobile Applications," International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM), vol. 9, no. 3, 2015.
[3] R. Alhajri, S. Al-Sharhan, A. Al-Hunaiyyan and T. Alothman, "Design of Educational Multimedia Interfaces: Individual Differences of Learners," Kuwait, 2011.
[4] R. A. Alhajri, S. Counsell and X. Liu, "Accommodating Individual Differences in Web Based Instruction (WBI) and Implementation," Iceland 29-31 July, 2013.
[5] F. Ozdamli and N. Cavus, "Basic elements and characteristics of mobile learning," Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 28, pp. 937-942, 2011.
[6] S. Kinash, J. Brand and T. Mathie, "Challenging mobile learning discourse through research: Students perceptions of Blackboard Mobile Learn and iPads," Australian Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 639-655, 2012.
[7] A. Klassen, M. Eibrink-Lunzenauer and T. Gloggler, "Requirements for mobile learning applications in higher education," Published in Multimedia (ISM), 2013 IEEE International Symposium, pp. 492-497, 2013.
[8] B. Chen, R. Seilhamer, A. Sugar and M. Jin, "User Acceptance of Mobile Technology: A Campus-wide Implementation of Blackboard's Mobile Learn Application," Journal of Educational Computing Research, vol. 49, no. 3, p. 327–343, 2013.
[9] S. Fuegen, "The Impact of Mobile Technologies on Distance Education," TechTrends, pp. Volume 56, Issue 6. p. 49–53, 2012.
[10] F. Dashti and A. Aldashti, "EFL College Students’ Attitudes towards Mobile Learning," International Education Studies, vol. 8, no. 8, pp. 13-20, 2015.
[11] F. N. Al-Fahad, "Students’ attitudes and perceptions towards the effectiveness of mobile learning in King Saud University, Saudi Arabia," The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 111-119, 2009.
[12] A. Nassuora, "Students Acceptance of Mobile Learning for Higher Education in Saudi Arabia," International Journal of Learning Management Systems, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1-9, 2013.
[13] N. Vyas and V. Nirban, "Students’ Perception on the Effectiveness of Mobile Learning in an Institutional Context," International Association of Research in Foreign Language Education and Applied Linguistics ELT Research Journal. 3(1), pp. 26-36, 2014.
[14] E. Georgieva, A. Smrikarova and T. Georgieva, "Evaluation of mobile learning system," Procedia Computer Science, vol. 3, p. 632–637, 2011.
[15] S. Al-Shehri, "Contextual language learning: The educational potential of mobile technologies and social media. (Doctoral Dissertation)," The University of Queensland, Australia, 2012.
[16] Kuwait Telecommunications Report Q4, from http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/3388100/kuwait-telecommunications-report-q4-2015, Kuwait, 2015 (Accessed August 2016)
[17] E. Dahlstrom and J. Bichsel, "ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology," ECAR, Louisville, CO, 2014.
[18] A. K. Alhazmi and A. A. Rahman, "Facebook in Higher Education: Students’ Use and Perceptions," AISS: Advances in Information Sciences and Service Sciences, vol. 5, pp. 32 - 41, 2013.
[19] S. Almutairy, T. Davies and W. Dimitriadi, "The Readiness of Applying M-Learning among Saudi Arabian Students at Higher Education," International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies iJIM, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 33-36, 2015.