How useful are smartphones for learning? Perceptions and practices of Library and Information Science students from Hong Kong and Japan
| Pages | 545-561 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-02-2015-0015 |
| Published date | 16 November 2015 |
| Date | 16 November 2015 |
| Author | Zvjezdana Dukic,Dickson K.W. Chiu,Patrick Lo |
How useful are smartphones for
learning? Perceptions and
practices of Library and
Information Science students
from Hong Kong and Japan
Zvjezdana Dukic and Dickson K.W. Chiu
University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, and
Patrick Lo
University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of higher education students’
experiences in using smartphones for learning purposes, and their perceptions of the suitability of
smartphones for learning.
Design/methodology/approach –A qualitative research method is applied to data collection and
analysis by following the grounded theory approach. Data were gathered by an online focus group
involving Library and Information Science (LIS) students from University of Hong Kong and
University of Tsukuba ( Japan).
Findings –LIS students at both universities regularly use smartphones for communication,
socializing, entertainment and other daily information needs. The findings show that LIS students
commonly use smartphones for learning and consider smartphones to be very useful for their academic
work. They use smartphones to access course materials, search library catalog, discuss course
assignments with peers, take notes, etc. Although both academic libraries involved offer a variety of
services for mobile devices, these services are still not used frequently. A major barrier to using
smartphone for academic learning is the smartphone’s small screen.
Research limitations/implications –The study relies on a convenience sample, restricted
to students from two universities, one from Hong Kong and the other from Japan. Further research on
a larger sample is recommended.
Originality/value –The study adds to the knowledge of smartphone actual use for learning purposes
and provides study participants’insights on the usefulness of smartphones for learning.
Keywords Smartphones, Higher education, Mobile learning, Mobile libraries
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The well-known and widely used metaphorical reference “If you build it, they will
come”most often does not work in real life. If applied in the context of mobile
technologies, learning and libraries, the metaphor should be stated as a question asking
whether they will really come if we build it (Keating, 2011). Librarians as well as other
educators should not just build mobile learning systems under the assumption that
library patrons and students will use them automatically and that mobile technologies
on their own will be beneficial and effective in learning and study. Therefore studies
looking at people’s actual experiences in using mobile phones or smartphones for
learning and study purposes will be of great importance for building any mobile
learning support system.
Library Hi Tech
Vol. 33 No. 4, 2015
pp. 545-561
©Emerald Group Publis hing Limited
0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/LHT-02-2015-0015
Received 14 February 2015
Revised 15 August 2015
Accepted 16 September 2015
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
545
How useful are
smartphones
for learning?
The main goal of this study is to provide an insight into Library and Information
Science (LIS) students’actual use of cell phones or smartphones for learning and their
perceptionsregarding the usefulness and effectiveness of mobilephones for this purpose.
The inquiry into students’smartphones use for other purposes like communication,
entertainment and many other daily needs would provide valuable background
information on the study participants’general smartphone use.
The working definition of mobile learning in this study is based on the concept of
mobile learning established by Gikas and Grant (2013). According to their definition,
there are four major characteristics of mobile devices that are necessary for mobile
learning. These characteristics are constant access to the internet, a variety of
downloadable applications, communication capability and a small size to allow for
carrying it in a pocket or handbag. Therefore, the study focusses exclusively on
students’mobile learning with cell phones and smartphones.
2. Recent studies on actual use of mobile phones for learning purposes
Cell phones and smartphones with web access are becoming popular among students
in higher education. Mobile technologies allow students to access the relevant
information and easily communicate with others.
There are a number of studies published in the past few years on cell phone or
smartphone use for learning in higher education environment. The study by Dahlstrom
et al. (2013) surveyed 112,000 college and university students from USA and 13 other
countries about their use of mobile devices for academic purposes. The study identified
a substantial growth in the use of smartphones for academic purposes over the period
from 2011 to 2013. The academic activities mainly included accessing a course
management system for reading course materials, viewing academic performance
information like grades, accessing library resources and doing course registration.
Similarly, Dresselhaus and Shrode (2012) looked at undergraduate and graduate
students of the Utah State University and found that more than half of the students
reported use of handheld devices for academic purposes. In this study various
academic purposes are not specified as the study aimed at getting only general
information about students’use of mobile devices for academic work.
The study by Bradley and Holley (2011) provides more details about ways of using
mobile phones for academic learning. They conducted a survey with undergraduate
students at London Metropolitan University to explore the ways in which the study
participants use mobile phones for academic work. The study findings show that
students use mobile phones for various learning-related activities such as searching for
information, communicating with others, accessing learning materials, generating
contents, recording presentations and taking notes. Bomhold (2013) conducted
empirical research on undergraduate students at one university in the southern USA.
The findings show that more than two-thirds of respondents use smartphones for
academic purposes, such as retrieving information through search engines, accessing
online encyclopedias and dictionaries and also for using tools like calculators or
flashcards. The study also shows that very few among respondents use smartphones
for searching library catalogs or subscription databases. On the other hand Paterson
and Low (2011) in their study of Edinburgh University students’attitudes toward
mobile library services found that searching the library catalog and online databases
are considered to be very useful library services. Becker et al. (2013) explored the use of
mobile devices for research purposes by students in one college belonging to the City
University of New York and their findings support Paterson and Low’s (2011) results.
546
LHT
33,4
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