A qualitative exploration of teachers’ perspective on smartphones usage in higher education in developing countries

Using Smartphones for educational purposes fits into the realm of mobile learning (or M-learning) paradigm which is considered to be an extension of electronic learning (or E-learning). M-learning is a medium of learning that uses mobile devices to create educational opportunities and deliver information (Brown, 2005). According to Schuler, Winters, and West (2012), M-learning is the process of learning mediated by handheld devices such as Smartphones, tablet computers, and gaming consoles. There are several terms associated with M-learning such as ubiquitous learning (U-learning), handheld learning, anywhere/anytime learning and personalized learning (Mehdipour & Zerehkafi, 2013). M-learning is defined by MOBIlearn guidelines as any sort of learning that happens when the learner is not at a fixed predetermined location, or learning that happens when the learner takes advantage of the learning opportunities offered by mobile technologies (O'Malley et al., 2005). The increased computing capabilities of mobile devices and their ubiquity have created significant interest among the educators to use them in promoting formal and informal learning.

Smartphones can be considered an effective tool to promote collaborative learning; a form of learning which has gained popularity among the academic community in recent times. In collaborative learning, students share their knowledge and experiences with each other as well as they mutually learn and teach (Panitz, 1996). According to Lipponen (2002), students in a collaborative environment are able to gather substantial information which they use to generate new ideas for effective learning. This learning methodology is useful in promoting critical thinking as well as giving confidence to the students to express their ideas and opinions (Angeli, Valanides, & Bonk, 2003; Lantz, 2010). It also helps the students in gaining deeper understanding of the subject matter, allowing them to relate new information with their existing knowledge (Kennedy, G.,& Cuts, Q., 2005). Collaborative learning is very useful in promoting active learning in which students actively participate in classroom learning rather than acting only as passive listeners. Research has shown that active learning process is useful in enhancing knowledge as well improving academic performance (Yoder & Hochevar, 2005). It is also asserted that combining technology with collaborative learning can further boost the academic performance of students (Awedh, Mueen, Zafar, & Manzoor, 2015).

Recent developments in the fields of computing, networking, and telecommunication have led to the evolution of new learning paradigms: e-learning to m-learning to u-learning. We have already discussed m-learning whereas U-learning is defined as:

"a learning paradigm which takes place in a ubiquitous computing environment that enables learning the right thing at the right place and time in the right way". (Yahya, Ahmad, & Jalil, 2010, p.4).

The main objective of U-learning is to accommodate the learners according to their learning style by offering them required information anywhere/anytime. Yahya et al. (2010) proposed the following five characteristics of U-learning: permanency (information is available as long as the user desires), immediacy (user can immediately access the information when needed), accessibility (the information is available 24/7), context-awareness (the learning environment can be modified according to the situation of learners), and interactivity (effective and efficient interaction between peers, teachers, and experts).

Several studies conducted in various diverse contexts explore teachers’ perspective towards using Smartphones and smart mobile devices (SMDs) in higher education. Shraim and Crompton (2015) conducted a study in Palestine to investigate the perceptions of faculty towards using SMDs in teaching and reported that despite widespread adoption of the SMDs, faculty was mostly unaware of various functionalities of SMDs that can assist them in teaching. Miglani and Awadhiya (2017) examined m-learning readiness and perceptions of teachers of Open Universities of five Commonwealth Asian countries (Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) and reported that majority of the teachers had Internet-enabled mobile phones as well as they were using them for browsing, sending and receiving emails, downloading mobile apps and social networking. However, majority of respondents in their study were not using their mobile phones for downloading and reading e-books, making video calls, downloading audio podcasts, and blogging. In another study conducted on teachers’ acceptance of SMDs in South Korea, Leem and Sung (2019) found that teacher’s beliefs were the main predictor of adoption of SMDs for educational purposes. Their study suggested to reduce the teachers’ negative beliefs towards SMDs to promote adoption of SMDs for teaching and learning. Alzubi (2019) conducted a study in Saudi Arabia to explore teachers’ perceptions towards using Smartphones in teaching English as a foreign language and reported that majority of teachers were using Smartphones for university-related work such as accessing the Internet, sending and receiving emails, and using various educational applications. This study, however, reported only one barrier in using Smartphones for educational purposes and that was student distraction.

Existing literature on this topic indicates that very few studies have been conducted in Pakistan on Smartphone adoption in higher education from teachers perspective, although several studies have been conducted on this topic from the students perspective (e.g. see Iqbal and Qureshi (2012); Iqbal et al. (2017); Khan, Khalid, and Iqbal (2019) and Nand, Pitafi, Kanwal, Pitafi, and Rasheed (2019)). In one of the studies conducted by Butt and Qaisar (2017), readiness of Pakistani University teachers and students towards m-learning was investigated and it was reported that almost all the male teachers and 75% of the female teachers surveyed were ready to use mobile phone as a learning tool; as well as they were ready to invest time in learning mobile technologies. Rahman and Hameed (2018) conducted a qualitative exploratory study in Pakistan to investigate teaching and learning with Smartphones and reported them to be an ideal medium for conducting collaborative learning exercises that can eventually improve student engagement. However, student distraction, loss of control over class, and wastage of time were reported to be the major risks associated with usage of Smartphones for teaching and learning.

There is an extensive body of literature that suggests plethora of opportunities offered by m-learning paradigm. However, very few studies have been conducted to explore the perceptions and adoption of m-learning among teachers of higher learning institutions specifically in developing countries. A general observation is that teachers in higher learning institutions in developing countries are reluctant to use Smartphones for teaching and learning activities, therefore there is a need to explore the underlying reasons for this phenomenon. This study is conducted to answer the research questions specified in Table 1:

Qualitative method is adopted as a mode of inquiry for this study, since it is most suitable for conducting in-depth interviews. On the contrary quantitative survey methods are not suitable for describing the interaction between perceptions and actions (Brookhart & Freeman, 1992; Richardson, 1996. Although in a qualitative research the number of participants is small (Russell & Gregory, 2003), in-depth interviews are helpful in exploring those phenomena which are otherwise not possible using a quantitative research design (Slauenwhite & Simpson, 1998).

In this study, semi-structured interviews were conducted from 22 teachers of higher learning institutions. This sample size is in line with the recommendations of Marshall, Cardon, Poddar, and Fontenot (2013), who after conducting an examination of many qualitative interviews in the field of Information Systems, recommended 20 to 30 interviews for grounded theory qualitative studies. All the respondents were selected on the basis of purposive sampling technique which is defined as selecting units (e.g., individuals, groups of individuals, or institutions) based on specific purposes associated with answering a research study’s questions (Teddlie & Yu, 2007). This sampling technique is useful for current study, as it helps the researchers to recruit the key informants who have the specific knowledge of the phenomenon under investigation (Schutt, 2006); as well as it provides greater in-depth information compared to other probability sampling techniques. The respondents belong to Islamabad:the capital of Pakistan and a multicultural city having a diverse population from all over the country. To gather the required information, semi-structured interviews were conducted from 22 full time employed faculty members belonging to five different departments (i.e., Business Administration, Computer Science, Engineering, Social Sciences and Arts & Fashion Design) of a private sector university located in Islamabad. The university has around 130 full time faculty members and its student body consists of around 4000 students. Demographic information pertaining to gender, education, department and years of teaching experience of the interviewees is shown in Table 2:

The selected respondents were contacted via phone and email. The purpose of study was explained to them and appointments for interviews were sought according to their convenience. The interviews were conducted in office environment during the months of March and April 2019. Express consent was solicited from the respondents for recording their interviews. The duration of each interview varied between 20 to 30 min. The responses were mostly offered in English, however few of the respondents used bilingual medium of English and Urdu.

A pilot test comprising of interviews from five respondents was initially conducted. The responses were recorded and transcribed. Thematic analysis was performed and results of the pilot study were compiled which were shared with few other researchers and PhD candidates in the department for peer review as suggested by Bitsch (2005). Such kind of feedback from the peers is particularly effective in improving the quality of research findings (Anney, 2014).

In order to improve the dependability of findings (stability of findings of over time) code-recode strategy suggested by Anney (2014) was followed. Coding of the collected data was done and then a gestation period of 2 weeks was allowed after which the coding of the same data was performed again to observe any differences. The code-recode strategy followed in this study resulted in almost identical results which indicate dependability of findings. Thematic analysis of the data collected through interviews was performed following six step process recommended by Braun and Clarke (2006): Extensive coding of responses was conducted to develop deeper understanding of responses, then preliminary codes were assigned to the data to describe the content, then different patterns or themes were identified, review of these themes was then conducted, prominent themes were named next and finally reported in the findings of the study. For identification of themes from the coded data we used word-based techniques: word repetitions and key-words-in-contexts (KWIC). Using these technique, key words were identified and then corpus of text was systematically searched to find all instances of each of the identified word or phrase. Each time a keyword is found, we made a copy of it and its immediate context. In this way themes were identified by physically sorting the examples into piles of similar meaning (Ryan & Bernard, 2000).

This study is conducted in the backdrop of wide scale adoption of Smartphones among the youth in developing countries including Pakistan. Despite the fact that Smartphones are increasingly becoming popular, their usage in higher learning landscape in developing countries is dismal. Teachers can play a vital role in promoting usage of Smartphones for learning in higher education and therefore, this study is conducted to explore the readiness of higher educational faculty towards adoption of Smartphones for this purpose. This study adds to the existing body of knowledge by exploring the current usage of Smartphones for general as well as educational purposes by the faculty members, their perceptions regarding effectiveness of Smartphones in promoting learning, negative effects of using Smartphones in higher learning and barriers restricting faculty members’ use of Smartphones for teaching and learning.

The results of the study indicate that (generally) the faculty members considered Smartphone an effective tool for off-campus communication with students, sharing text/audio/video lecture related material and for group communication/learning. However, they expressed some concerns in promoting Smartphones for learning in higher education specifically distraction from studies, wastage of time in playing games, watching movies and listening to music. Technostress and social exclusion (in physical world) were two other main concerns related to excessive use of Smartphones. As far as the major hurdles in using Smartphones in higher education, the following were the main barriers indicated by the respondents: lack of training, lack of knowledge about different useful features of Smartphones that can be used for engaging students, lack of incentives for using technology in education, and technological constraints of Smartphones specifically the small size of their screen and keyboard.

Keeping in view the potential of Smartphones in engaging youth in learning, educational institutions should pay proper attention in preparing faculty of higher education institutions to use them to engage their students. Proper training should be offered to them to understand the potential and features of Smartphones that could be helpful in engaging students effectively. Those faculty members who are using Smartphones effectively in their course should be encouraged to share their experience and knowledge with other colleagues; as well as they should be rewarded with some token of appreciation for going extra mile. Also the educational institutions and web content developers should ensure that educational content developed for the web is appropriate for small screens of Smartphones.

The current study provides an insight on the faculty’s perception of using Smartphones in higher education context, however, it also has certain limitations. First of all, the results of this study are based on interviews conducted from 22 faculty members belonging to different departments of a private sector university. Although the samples size is very small, it is quite common in qualitative studies. The sample for this study however was carefully selected to ensure variations in responses. Another limitation of this study (as generally is the case with all perception based studies) is that the views expressed by the respondents does not necessarily mean that they actually practice what they preach. Therefore, further investigation is required to reveal the relationship between the attitude and behavior. This study has uncovered some important themes based on which a survey instrument can be developed for further studies on this topic.

Future studies can be conducted to explore the differences among faculty members based on gender, age, experience and specialization. Cross cultural studies can also be useful in understanding the differences in faculty perceptions towards affective deployment of Smartphones in higher education.