Mobile learning in higher education: mapping perceptions and practices of online students

Abstract

Mobile-learning is still an emergent field of research, especially if we consider the scope of higher education (HE). In fact, few studies have been developed with regard to higher education contexts, namely within Open Universities [1], [2], [3], [4]. Given the importance of studying mobility in real learning contexts, we aim at studying the perceptions that higher education students have about mobile and non-mobile devices and also how they describe their uses and practices in different types of interactions in online courses at a Distance Virtual University. In this context it was intended to know a) what are the students' perceptions about the affordances of various mobile and non-mobile devices, and b) what types of devices do students prefer to use in interactions with teachers, with other students and with contents. The data obtained in this study show that there is some discrepancy between students' perceptions of mobile devices, their educational potential and their actual use. The actual use of mobile devices seems to be much more conservative than we would be led to assume from the discourse of learning everywhere at any time with any device.