Mobile computing devices in higher education: Student perspectives on learning with cellphones, smartphones & social media

Highlights

• Mobile devices offer a variety of ways to learn, communicate and collaborate.

• Frustrations arise when there is a lack of institutional support or training.

• Students "blur the lines" between social networking tools and mobile devices.

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to explore teaching and learning when mobile computing devices, such as cellphones and smartphones, were implemented in higher education. This paper presents a portion of the findings on students' perceptions of learning with mobile computing devices and the roles social media played. This qualitative research study focused on students from three universities across the US. The students' teachers had been integrating mobile computing devices, such as cellphones and smartphones, into their courses for at least two semesters. Data were collected through student focus group interviews. Two specific themes emerged from the interview data: (a) advantages of mobile computing devices for student learning and (b) frustrations from learning with mobile computing devices. Mobile computing devices and the use of social media created opportunities for interaction, provided opportunities for collaboration, as well as allowed students to engage in content creation and communication using social media and Web 2.0 tools with the assistance of constant connectivity.

Introduction

The Educause Center for Applied Research [ECAR] (2012) survey on Mobile IT in higher education states that students are driving the adoption of mobile computing devices, such as cellphones, smartphones, and tablet computers, in higher education, and 67% of surveyed students believe mobile devices are important to their academic success and use their devices for academic activities. The increased ubiquity of mobile computing devices on college campuses has the potential to create new options for higher education students and the exploration of mobility and social media as an instructional strategy.

Mobile computing devices can provide educational opportunities for students to access course content, as well as interact with instructors and student colleagues wherever they are located (Cavus and Ibrahim, 2008, Cavus and Ibrahim, 2009, Kukulska-Hulme and Shield, 2008, Nihalani and Mayrath, 2010, Richardson and Lenarcic, 2008, Shih and Mills, 2007). These facile interactions are made even more accessible by using mobile devices in conjunction with social media, free web tools that allow for communication and enhance learning (Rodriguez, 2011).

Because mobile computing devices and social media are still rather new and evolving, research has tended to focus on evaluating the effectiveness of implementing mobile computing devices (Wu et al., 2012). Some of the most rigorous research used survey methods in order to depict students' intentions (cf., Cheon et al., 2012, Liu et al., 2010b). However, there is little applied research into how these tools are actually being used to support teaching and learning with few descriptions of how mobile computing devices and social media are used by university students.

The purpose of this research was to explore how higher education teaching and learning were affected by the integration of mobile computing devices. As mobile devices continue to grow as part of the higher education landscape, mobile computing devices present both opportunities and challenges to higher education institutions (Kim et al., 2006, Looi et al., 2010). The goal of our broader research was to present in-depth perspectives of instructors and students about their experiences of implementing mobile computing devices. However, this present paper will focus only on students' experiences and perceptions mobile computing devices brought to learning and the roles social media played. The primary research question for this study was, “What are students' experiences when mobile computing devices are integrated into higher education courses?”