Mobile learning in higher education : a study of the technology readiness of students at a South African higher education institution

Abstract

Recent accessibility drives and price wars between the major SA cell phone companies suggest that the landscape for the adoption of mobile learning (m-learning) at Higher Education Institutions (HEI's) level may be changing. As such there is a need to gauge the current mobile technology readiness of students for m-learning, where mobile technology readiness refers to the extent to which students have access to mobile devices (and not only handsets), and can afford data bundles that meets or exceeds the requirements of a base set of currently available m-learning applications. This paper presents and discusses data gathered from a questionnaire distributed under students at a HEI in South Africa, the explicit purpose to determine the technology requirements of currently available m-learning applications and the extent to which student mobile devices comply with those requirements . Our findings show that despite a high level of ownership and a reasonable compliance with application requirements, data costs remain prohibitive. In discussing the results, we present several data views to guide HEI's in their m-learning decisions.