M-learning for technical and vocational education training (TVET)

Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) plays an important role in shaping human workforce to meet the requirements set by the job market. As to equip the manpower with necessary skills to perform in the job market, the education and training delivery system must be improved. Therefore, TVET institutions take up the challenge by changing the curriculum content and the delivery system to produce students who have both the knowledge and skills. Teaching and learning are not only practiced traditionally where teachers focus on activities in the classroom solely, but it must in accordance with the latest technologies. Therefore, teachers’ must be up-to-date with the latest technologies such as the use of mobile devices for the delivery of instruction and they also need to have the necessary knowledge to plan and deliver the content. Specifically, this paper discusses the concepts of mobile learning in technical and vocational contexts, devices used in Mobile Learning, benefits of Mobile Learning, and challenges that exist in the implementation of Mobile Learning. This paper is technically reviewed using document analysis. The documents reviewed are from journal article, conference proceedings, concept paper; accessed via Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Library web portal (www.psz.utm.my). From the review, the researchers provide insights to the need of implementing Mobile Learning in the context of TVET and at the same time improving the quality of education in the vocational context

E3-Electronic Education for English: developing mobile learning and teaching in Saudi Arabia

Mobile information and communication technologies (ICTs), with advanced capabilities, have created new prospects and opportunities, for both students and faculty who are learning and teaching English as a foreign language, in higher education in Saudi Arabia. Technology acceptance theories and models have been widely developed, used and extended to determine the factors related to the acceptance of such technologies in specific national and subject contexts. However, there have been very few studies of the acceptance of new ICTs in teaching and learning in the higher education context of Saudi Arabia, in general; and none that relate to the teaching of English as a foreign language. To examine the readiness for, and acceptance of, mobile learning and teaching among students and faculty at Taibah University in Saudi Arabia, a theory of technology acceptance, developed for a consumer context, was used as the framework for this study; considering the participants as consumers of mobile technologies within an organization. This study utilised the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) model to identify the factors responsible for use behaviour and the behavioural intention to use mobile technologies in learning and teaching English as a foreign language. The research model hypothesized that Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, Facilitating Conditions, Hedonic Motivation, Price of Devices, Price of Services, and Habit will predict Behavioural Intentions to use mobile technologies in learning and teaching EFL and Use Behaviour. It was also hypothesized that Age, Gender, and Experience will moderate the impact of the eight factors included in the research model. This model was empirically tested using data collected from 878 students and 65 faculty members by two cross-sectional surveys at Taibah University in Saudi Arabia. The results of regression analyses indicated that the research model was partially confirmed, and highlighted key variables as the driving forces of use behaviour and behavioural intention to use mobile technologies in learning and teaching English as a foreign language. The findings of this empirical research provide crucial information that can guide the implementation of proactive interventions to widely improve the practices of learning iii and teaching; and greatly increase our understanding of the reasons for, and effectiveness of, the adoption of mobile technologies in higher education in Saudi Arabia. More importantly, as English continues to develop as the global language of business and commerce, and the lingua franca of academic and social media networks, the increased effectiveness of the use of mobile ICTs in teaching and learning English that results from this research will enable Saudi students to operate as global citizens within the emerging world knowledge economy, and increase significantly the human capital return on the substantial investments in such mobile technologies by the government of Saudi Arabia and its universities