Mobile Technologies in Education: Student Expectations – Teaching Reality Gap

Abstract

In the world where mobile technologies are generally available to the majority of population, there is an obvious demand to make use of them in education. But, despite the fact that there is no lack in creative ideas on how to incorporate them in the learning process, most formal educational systems do not specifically support nor encourage teachers to use mobile devices in their teaching. As a result, there is a discrepancy between the expectations of students and working practices of teachers. The paper intends to discuss this discrepancy using the data of the surveys on the implementation of mobile learning conducted among the students and teachers of Tambov State Technical University (Tambov, Russia).

Appendix

Student Survey

1. Gender: Male/Female	2. Age:
3. Do you have access to a computer with Internet access in your home? Yes/NoWhich mobile devices do you own? (You can select multiple devices.)
• Basic feature phones	• Virtual reality headsets (e.g., Google Cardboard)
• Smartphones
• Tablets	• Augmented reality headsets (e.g., Google Glass)
• Media players (e.g., iPods & iPod Touches)	• Drones
• Smartwatches	• Robots
• Fitness trackers	• Other
	• I don’t own mobile devices
4. How often do you access the Internet from your mobile device?
5. Several times a day/about once a day/3–5 days a week/1–2 days a week/every few weeks/less often/never
6. What do you use mobile devices for?
7. Which mobile devices do you use for your personal activities? (You can name multiple devices.)
8. Which of the following personal activities do you currently engage in on your mobile device? (Select all that apply.)
• Phone communication	• Send and receive email
• Send and receive text messages	• Read and/or edit documents such as PDF, Word and Excel documents
• Schedule appointments or tasks
• Banking	• I do not engage in personal activities on a mobile device
• Play non-academic interactive games
9. Which of the following information resources do you currently access in on your mobile device? (Select all that apply.)
• Ebooks or print content	• Social Networks (such as Facebook, LinkedIn)
• Internet
• Library	• Video, audio
• Movie Times/Reviews	• Weather
• Online Maps	• Other mobile information gathering applications
• Sports/News/
10. Which mobile devices do you use for learning purposes? (You can name multiple devices.)
11. Which of the following learning resources do you access on a mobile device?
• School/university LMS	• Print content
• Educational apps	• Ebooks
• Lecture PPT slides	• Flashcards and other interactive educational games
• Audio recordings (e.g., recordings of lectures, school information)	• Hyperlinks to course related reference material
• Videos (e.g., course related, recordings of lectures, school information)	• I don’t access learning resources on mobile devices
12. Would you want your teachers to use mobile devices in educational process? Yes/No/I don’t know
13. How far do you agree or disagree with the following statements? (You can choose between Strongly disagree/Disagree/Neither agree nor disagree/Agree/Strongly agree) • I would find mobile learning useful in my university studies • Using mobile learning enables me to accomplish learning activities more quickly • Using mobile learning increases my learning productivity • If I use mobile learning, I will increase my chances of getting a better grade
14. If you use mobile devices for learning purposes, please give a brief example of one activity where you do this.

Teacher Survey

• 1. How many years in total have you been a teacher/lecturer? _________________

• 2. Which subjects(s) do you teach? ___________________

• 3. How long have you been using mobile devices in your teaching? Less than 2 years/2–5 years/More than 5 years/I don’t use mobile devices in my teaching

• 4. Which mobile devices do you use in your personal life?

• 5. Which mobile devices do you use in your teaching?

For questions 5–24 choose between Never/Rarely/Sometimes/Often/Always.

• 6. I design mobile learning activities where the students use devices which are mobile (e.g., feature phones, smartphones or tablets).

• 7. I design mobile learning activities where the students are mobile themselves (e.g., the students are moving around a classroom to interact, or they are using their devices while on the move on a bus or train).

• 8. I design mobile learning activities where the students take part in learning experiences which are mobile (i.e., the learning experiences are directly affected by the contexts and environments through which students are moving, such as when students are recording or interacting with their surroundings).

• 9. I design mobile learning activities where the students use the mobile devices in conjunction with non-digital materials (e.g., books, paper or pens).

• 10. I design mobile learning activities where the students can choose and control the context (e.g., where, when and/or how the activity occurs).

• 11. I design mobile learning activities where the students can choose the pace at which they progress through the activity.

• 12. I design mobile learning activities where the students can choose what they want to learn (e.g., choosing their own question, problem or project to explore).

• 13. I design mobile learning activities where the students can choose how to express their thinking (e.g., through a text, diagram, annotated image, or narrated animation).

• 14. I design mobile learning activities where the students can choose their own apps and platforms to support their learning.

• 15. I design mobile learning activities where the students can use apps or platforms that adapt automatically to their preferences and learning (e.g., adaptive apps or learning management systems).

• 16. I design mobile learning activities where the students can participate in peer face-to-face discussions (e.g., around an iPad screen).

• 17. I design mobile learning activities where the students can participate in peer online discussions (e.g., via email, SMS, messengers, Skype, or social media platforms).

• 18. I design mobile learning activities where the students can network with peers they would not normally work with (e.g., interacting with peers at other institutions through discussion boards, blogs, or social media platforms or multiplayer games).

• 19. I design mobile learning activities where the students can network with experts they would not normally work with (e.g., interacting with experts through discussion boards, blogs, or social media platforms).

• 20. I design mobile learning activities where the students can work together and create their own digital products (e.g., photos, audio podcasts, videos, digital posters, digital stories, or multimedia artefacts).

• 21. I design mobile learning activities where the students can share their own digital content with peers (e.g., emailing or sharing content in an LMS or on another class platform).

• 22. I design mobile learning activities where the students can receive feedback on their own digital content from peers (e.g., after emailing or sharing content in an LMS or on another class platform).

• 23. I design mobile learning activities where the students can offer feedback on their peers’ digital content (e.g., after it has been emailed or shared in an LMS or on another class platform).

• 24. I design mobile learning activities where the students can publish their own digital content on the internet (e.g., posting it on a website, blog or wiki).

• 25. If you selected “Always” or “Often” for any of these statements, please give a brief example of one activity where you do this.