CCE Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Computing Technology in Education (DCTE)

Department

College of Engineering and Computing

Advisor

Gertrude W. Abramson

Committee Member

Steven R. Terrell

Committee Member

Ling Wang

Keywords

Chinese higher education, Mobile learning, Mobile phones, Phenomenology

Abstract

Mobile learning is the new global trend of educational innovation with information and communication technologies. Mobile phones are one major type of mobile technology that can be used for mobile learning. As a highly popular possession among Chinese undergraduate students, as well as among general population, mobile phone usage for learning purposes in the context of Chinese traditional undergraduate education warrants attention from both the education practitioners and researchers. However, very few institutional efforts of promoting mobile phone integrated learning have been reported within the scope of Chinese traditional undergraduate education. A qualitative phenomenological research study was conducted with the students, faculty members, and administrators of a traditional undergraduate institution in China. Their use of mobile phones for teaching and learning purposes, the factors that affect such use at the institution, and the possible measures to promote the use were explored. Six students, four faculty members, and two administrators, a total of 12 participants were selected, qualitative data were collected through one-on-one face-to-face interviews and then analyzed for themes that describe the essence of experiences shared among the participants. The results add knowledge to the research and provide guidelines for practice. The results show that mobile phone integrated learning presents both opportunities and challenges which usually exist side by side. Students and faculty members used their mobile phones in a variety of ways to support their learning and teaching, but they had different perceptions about the use. Overall, students were more active in using mobile phones for learning and more optimistic about the future of mobile phone integrated learning. Faculty members and administrators, on the other hand, held mixed views of mobile phone integrated learning and had more concerns about the integration. Next, some institutional measures were proposed for the institution to promote mobile phone integrated learning. At the end, implications of the research and recommendations for future research were discussed.

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