Operational use of mobile learning : understanding and retention of curriculum content

Abstract

This chapter aims to evaluate and explore students’ perceptions of mobile phones in helping with understanding and retention of curriculum content. This aim is achieved within a theoretical framework on the use of mobile learning with understanding and retention. Student learning is influenced by different environmental factors, which impact the adequacy of their understanding and retention of curriculum content. At tertiary education level, the intensity and quality of work become more physically and mentally demanding. Students may find it more difficult to deal with the workload they are presented with. As a result, this may affect the potential level of understanding that can be accomplished in certain subject areas. This study was conducted on undergraduate students studying Information Technology (IT) at a university in Durban, South Africa in 2016. The self-administered questionnaire-based survey was used while transactional distance theory (TDT) is the core theoretical framework that underpins this study. The outcome of students’ perception was analyzed and it was found that the use of mobile phones in teaching and learning improved their understanding and retention of curriculum contents