Smartphones for Learning in Rural University Classrooms: A South African Perspective

Abstract

The study examined the views of lecturers and Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) Tutors on students’ use of smartphones for learning at a rural university in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The research adopted a quantitative approach and the design was a survey. A total sample of 50 academics that was comprised of 39 lecturers from the Faculty of Business Science & Management and Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology from a population of 71 and 11 PAL Tutors from Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology from a population of 14 voluntarily partook in the survey. A five-point Likert-scale questionnaire was employed to collect data. The questionnaire consisted of two sections in which the first section was used to obtain the demographic data and the second section to collect the core data. The quantitative data were captured into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 26) which were analyzed using descriptive statistics and triangulated by sources among lecturers and PAL Tutors. The results obtained revealed that the lecturers and PAL Tutors showed positive attitudes on the students’ use of smartphones in university classrooms. It has been strongly established that students do not have the multitasking capability of using smartphones and paying attention to lecture at the same time. Furthermore, this study also showed that use of smartphones for academic purposes in university classrooms were enjoyed by the students and it was motivating and enhancing their learning process.