Factors influencing students' acceptance of m-learning: An investigation in higher education

M-learning will play an increasingly significant role in the development of teaching and learning methods for higher education. However, the successful implementation of m-learning in higher education will be based on users' acceptance of this technology. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to study the factors that affect university students' intentions to accept m-learning. Based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) (Venkatesh et al., 2003), this study proposes a model to identify the factors that influence the acceptance of m-learning in higher education and to investigate if prior experience of mobile devices affects the acceptance of m-learning. A structural equation model was used to analyse the data collected from 174 participants. The results indicate that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, influence of lecturers, quality of service, and personal innovativeness were all significant factors that affect behavioural intention to use m-learning. Prior experience of mobile devices was also found to moderate the effect of these constructs on behavioural intention. The results of this research extend the UTAUT in the context of m-learning acceptance by adding quality of service and personal innovativeness to the structure of UTAUT and provide practitioners and educators with useful guidelines for designing a successful m-learning system

Towards mobile learning deployment in higher learning institutions : a report on the qualitative inquiries conducted in four universities in Tanzania

Over the past two decades, mobile learning (m-learning) has been a purposeful area of research among educational technologists, educators and instructional designers whereby doubts and controversies over its relevancy and applicability have been keenly addressed. This paper explores stakeholders’ perceptions of m-learning deployment in Higher Learning Institutions (HLIs). Spe- cifically, we examine the potential of m-learning for HLIs in Tanzania and the challenges that hinder successful m-learning deployment. We adopt a comparative qualitative case study design in which four HLIs in Tanzania were purposefully selected. The study uses a combination of de- sign science research approach and qualitative methods including grounded theory, document re- views, and observation. The respondents included university lecturers, students and ICT experts, who were selected for the interviews through theoretical sampling. The transcripts were loaded, coded and analyzed in NVIVO software. The results indicate that mobiles (smartphone, tablets, laptops, feature-phones etc.) are widely used in the HLIs. Stakeholders perceive that m-learning deployment is important and useful because it improves the quality of the learning experience. The results further indicate that there are financial, pedagogical, technological, infrastructural, individuals – and policy – related challenges that hinder successful deployment of m-learning in HLIs in Tanzania, such as limited network coverage, some students ́ inability to afford mobiles, lack of qualified staff for preparation of mobile content and administration, gaps in the exist- ing policies, and faulty course design. However, our results show that participants are optimistic about the potential of m-learning in the HLIs of Tanzania. They expect that m-learning will im- prove access to learning resources, teacher-student and student-student interaction without being restricted by time or place. Thus, m-learning is considered to have the potential to address issues of crowded classrooms, expertise, access to learning materials, flexibility of the learners as well as remote connectivity.
 We recommend that HLIs should prioritize m-learning and commit resources to the success of the related projects. We also recommend that the governments and stakeholders provide policy interventions, subsidize mobile technologies, expand network coverage, build capacity within and outside HLIs, and improve digital literacy by integrating ICT education at all levels of education

m-Learning in the education of multimedia technologists and designers at the university level: A user requirements study

This article is available open access through the publisher’s website. Copyright @ 2010 IEEE.An extensive user requirements study was carried out to define the scope of functionality for the applications of m-learning with the potential to enhance the student performance and experience within the BSc Multimedia Technology and Design (MMTD) course at the School of Engineering and Design, Brunel University, United Kingdom. Based on participatory action research and user-centered design, the study involved 58 students attending the course at Level 2. All students participated in three sequential study sessions. The first session included a presentation of the concept of m-learning and a selection of related applications and underlying technologies. The second session consisted of 13 moderated semistructured focus groups. The groups were steered to specify their ideas as to how m-learning could best contribute to the MMTD course. In the third session, working in the same groups as in the second, the students were briefed to refine the ideas arising from the focus group discussions and "translate?? them into the concept of the single m-learning application (one per group) that was seen as being potentially the most beneficial for the course. The 13 smart-phone-based m--learning applications that were thus generated were subsequently analyzed and their individual functions broken down and grouped into five main functionality themes. These themes, outlining the scope of functionality for m-learning in the context of education of multimedia technologists and designers at the university level, are: administration, presentation, feedback, motivation, and innovation

Generating Multimedia Components for M-Learning

The paper proposes a solution to generate template based multimedia components for instruction and learning available both for computer based applications and for mobile devices. The field of research is situated at the intersection of computer science, mobile tools and e-learning and is generically named mobile learning or M-learning. The research goal is to provide access to computer based training resources from any location and to adapt the training content to the specific features of mobile devices, communication environment, users' preferences and users' knowledge. To become important tools in education field, the technical solutions proposed will follow to use the potential of mobile devices.M-learning, mobile devices, MPEG-21 standard, multimedia databases

Project Management Methodology for the Development of M-Learning Web Based Applications

M-learning web based applications are a particular case of web applications designed to be operated from mobile devices. Also, their purpose is to implement learning aspects. Project management of such applications takes into account the identified peculiarities. M-learning web based application characteristics are identified. M-learning functionality covers the needs of an educational process. Development is described taking into account the mobile web and its influences over the analysis, design, construction and testing phases. Activities building up a work breakdown structure for development of m-learning web based applications are presented. Project monitoring and control techniques are proposed. Resources required for projects are discussed.Software Project Management, M-Learning Applications, Web Applications, Methodology

Mobile Learning Applications Audit

While mobile learning (m-learning) applications have proven their value in educational activities, there is a need to measure their reliability, accessibility and further more their trustworthiness. Mobile devices are far more vulnerable then classic computers and present inconvenient interfaces due to their size, hardware limitations and their mobile connectivity. Mobile learning applications should be audited to determine if they should be trusted or not, while multimedia contents like automatic speech recognition (ASR) can improve their accessibility. This article will start with a brief introduction on m-learning applications, then it will present the audit process for m-learning applications, it will iterate their specific security threats, it will define the ASR process, and it will elaborate how ASR can enhance accessibility of these types of applications.IT Audit, Software Testing, Penetration Testing, Mobile Applications, Multimedia, Automatic Speech Recognition