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How students in Higher Education use their mobile phones for learning Claire Bradley Research Fellow Learning Technology Research Institute [email_address] Dr Debbie Holley Principal Lecturer Learning and Teaching London Metropolitan University Business School [email_address] www.londonmet.ac.uk/learningonthemove/index.html

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Background to research <ul><li>Ongoing research into mobile learning with year one ‘new entry’ students </li></ul><ul><li>We have supported student groups using mediaBoard </li></ul><ul><li>Texted students ‘Learning tips’ </li></ul><ul><li>Carried out a pilot for CONTSENS, an EU context specific project where students went out ‘on site’ </li></ul><ul><li>Integrated ‘Textools’ a system where student text answers to questions in large lecture halls </li></ul><ul><li>And this project ‘learning on the move’ </li></ul>

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The study <ul><li>Survey with students </li></ul><ul><li>Loaned flip video camcorders to 3 students to record their daily mobile learning use </li></ul><ul><ul><li>2 of these students also filmed video interviews with other students about their use </li></ul></ul><ul><li>The 3 students were interviewed to explore their mobile learning practise in more depth </li></ul><ul><li>Interviews have resulted in 3 in-depth case studies or stories about their mobile learning practise and attitudes towards using their phones for learning </li></ul>

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Survey results: The students <ul><li>74 1 st year undergraduates taking a core business module ‘Studying Marketing and Operations’ completed a questionnaire </li></ul><ul><li>Gender: 73% female, 27% male </li></ul><ul><li>Age: </li></ul>Age range 18-20 21-25 25-30 30-35 % respondents 61% 33% 5% 1%

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Survey results: Students’ phones <ul><li>Contract v ‘pay as you go’ (PAYG) </li></ul><ul><ul><li>63% on contract </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>37% ‘pay as you go’ </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Make </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Range of handsets owned is diverse – 72 students cited 37 phone models from 9 manufac- turers </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>80% of phones can be classified as being Smart Phones (i.e. Internet and email enabled) </li></ul></ul>

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Survey results: Mobile features

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Do you currently use your mobile phone for learning? <ul><li>22 students - 29% - said they used their mobiles for learning </li></ul><ul><li>34 uses given (some students use their mobile for more than one task) </li></ul><ul><li>Uses reported have been grouped into 7 categories </li></ul>

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Uses for learning Category Mobile phone use Total uses per category Conducting research/ Internet (4 students) 12 getting information Google (3 students) Research / search info. (5 students) Communicating Email (4 students) 6 Contacting group assignment members Fashion Facebook group Generating content/ Take pictures/photos (3 students) 4 artefacts Voice recording Using tools/ Calculator (3 students) 4 applications Microsoft Office Organising Putting reminder alarms for meetings 3 Check my exams Organiser Note-taking Write notes 1 Other Accessing learning materials 4 Presentations / r ecord presentations (2 students) Transport files (PDF, Word, PowerPoint …)

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Case study: Sam <ul><li>Foundation year Art, Media and Design </li></ul><ul><li>Blackberry Curve, 18 mth contract </li></ul><ul><li>Uses his phone for these learning activities: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>S etting reminders in the calender, using the clock and alarm to organise his studying and schedule </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>P hotos of images and things to remember </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>R ecords lectures for later replay </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>C ommunicates with other students – phone, Blackberry Messenger (free between Blackberry users) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Uses the Internet and Google to look up information </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Says his most common use is “probably the calendar, because that is really useful, because my organisational skills aren’t very good, so it does help to have a little buzz when you need to do something” </li></ul></ul>

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Case study: Sam <ul><li>Why he uses his phone for learning: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Because it is “convenient” </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>“ I mean I’ve got it in my pocket 24 hours a day, it’s always there, and now I can use the Internet” </li></ul></ul><ul><li>When: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>“ When necessary” </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Where: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>At gallery visits and exhibitions </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>During lectures – records them and enters information such as dates and deadlines into the calendar </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>At home – checks notifications of forthcoming deadlines, tasks, etc. to see what he has to do </li></ul></ul><ul><li>How the university could promote mLearning: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Send reminder texts </li></ul></ul>

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Case study: Shriya <ul><li>First-year Public Relations </li></ul><ul><li>Blackberry Curve, PAYG + £5 per mth for Internet </li></ul><ul><li>Bought Blackberry because it has Windows software </li></ul><ul><li>Phone uses: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Access university systems – Webmail, Evision (student record system), WebLearn (downloads materials from VLE) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Email </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Communicates with classmates – Blackberry Messenger is free </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Accesses Facebook for tutorial groups </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Makes notes using ‘Memopad’ (attach alarms to notes) and ‘Word to go’ to write notes in lectures and draft reports </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Her mobile use is overtaking use of her laptop! </li></ul>

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Case study: Shriya <ul><li>Why she uses her phone for learning: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Because it is easier, it is accessible (always connected to the Internet and other people), you can use it anywhere and everywhere, and you don’t have to carry a heavy laptop around with you </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>“ It really helps you because it saves on time and money” </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Where: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>In quiet places – her room, the local park, but not in the library because they are not allowed </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Not in front of a computer: mobile = freedom </li></ul></ul><ul><li>How the university could promote mLearning: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Encourage students to use their mobiles, e.g. interactive learning sessions on how they could use them </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>She believes that using mobile phones can get students interested in the subject more, they are fun and help to create enthusiasm for learning </li></ul></ul>

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Case study: Heidi <ul><li>First-year Public Relations </li></ul><ul><li>Sony Ericsson G502, PAYG, doesn’t use Internet (too expensive) </li></ul><ul><li>Phone uses: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Communicates with other students – primarily by TXT because it’s convenient and cheap, or calls which can be faster and more effective </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Takes pictures – of things to remember, to use in her coursework or that give her ideas </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Calculator (she’s studying statistics) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Makes notes and takes down thoughts by saving them as TXT messages </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>She relies heavily on TXT messages for communication and making notes </li></ul></ul>

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Case study: Heidi <ul><li>Why she uses her phone for learning: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>“ I know I have it on me always, and I can check it always, it’s better than writing in a small calendar book for me” </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>She would use her mobile more if she had a more sophisticated phone and cheaper Internet </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Where: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>“ Everywhere actually” </li></ul></ul><ul><li>When: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>When it is appropriate. </li></ul></ul><ul><li>How the university could promote mLearning: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Produce an App. that would make it easy to access University systems because it is Internet-based, and it would save you time because you could access from anywhere </li></ul></ul>

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Other students’ mobile learning practise <ul><li>3 Foundation Art, Media & Design students </li></ul><ul><li>Rion, Sony Ericsson CyberShot </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Uses the camera on his phone to take photos to use in his work. See video: http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/learningonthemove/videos/RionVideo.mp4 </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Isaac, Blackberry </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Uses his phone as an alarm clock, to communicate with others via email and phone calls and for setting reminders for deadlines. See video: http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/learningonthemove/videos/IsaacVideo.mp4 </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Tomasz </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Listens to music on his phone whilst he works to help him concentrate. See video: http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/learningonthemove/videos/TomaszVideo.mp4 </li></ul></ul>

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Conclusions <ul><li>Students are savvy and creative about using the phones that they have and finding cheap solutions </li></ul><ul><li>Many are already using their mobiles for a range of learning tasks, largely on their own initiative </li></ul><ul><li>One way forward is to encourage students (and tutors) to make more use of the powerful devices they have for learning activities </li></ul><ul><li>This work provides insights into students’ mobile phone ownership and their mobile learning practise, making it easier to design mobile learning initiatives around what they already do and could do </li></ul>

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Contact details <ul><li>Claire Bradley [email_address] </li></ul><ul><li>Debbie Holley [email_address] </li></ul><ul><li>The full survey data, case studies and video clips are all on the project website: </li></ul><ul><li>www.londonmet.ac.uk/learningonthemove/index.html </li></ul>