A study on educational usage of mobile phones by Undergraduate engineering students in Kanchipuram District

Abstract

Mobile learning comprises any educational usage of a mobile device, be it a tablet, newlinesmartphone or eReader. There are benefits in using mobile technology in newlineeducation, namely, the ability to create courses customized to each student, more newlineinteractivity as a result of enrichment in content, preparation for future careers newlinearound these technologies. The smartphone creates an innovative and compelling newlineway of learning for the students. The publishers of educational content as well as newlineeducational institutions are beginning to digitize their content, but it is not newlinesufficient if we just place the content of a textbook on a mobile, to be viewable to newlinestudents. The students demands are increasing and they expect an enriched and newlinecompelling educational content that can be accessed whether they are at classroom, newlineor at home. Mobile learning success can be ascertained by their ease of use, newlinecollaborative, high quality in content, motivating, and most importantly the ability newlineto get more information on relevant topics. In India, which has the oldest education newlinesystem in the world, in both rural and semi-urban settings, the average Indian newlineclassroom does not meet the individual learning needs of students. Rigid newlineexamination models, rote learning, incompetent teachers, and the lack of adequate newlineinfrastructure have resulted in students getting deprived of a good-quality newlineeducation. The research involves a systematic investigation of the educational newlineusage of mobile phones among undergraduate engineering students in newlineKanchipuram district by using a modified Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use newlineof Technology (UTAUT2) model, with mobile usage experience, gender and year newlineof study as moderators. This study also empirically assesses the predominant newlinelearning styles of students and their intention to use mobile learning in Indian context. Mobile penetration in India is among the most impressive in the world, newlinewith over 300 million people accessing the internet; a number that is expected to newlinereach 550 million by 2018. The Internet and Mobile Associatio