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A study of students' perceptions and attitudes toward the use of SMS to support learning and teaching at the Kuwait University
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Almisad, Budour |
| Copyright Year | 2015 |
| Abstract | The aim of this study was to examine relations between Kuwaiti students' perceptions of ease of use, usefulness and attitudes towards the use of Short Message Service (SMS) to support learning and teaching. In developing countries, students may not have access to information and communication technologies such as computers and highspeed internet connections, and the use of digital technologies in learning may be limited. However, mobile phones are a popular and inexpensive technology that most university students can access. Research has suggested that SMS is a mobile phone service that has advantages as an educational tool. Kuwait, as a developing country, has a high mobile subscription rate among university students. This study examined Kuwaiti university students' acceptance of the use SMS technology to support their learning, their preferences regarding how SMS is used and their views on the educational value of SMS to understand how SMS may support learning in higher education. To do this, students' perceptions of and attitudes about SMS were investigated through the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and a mixed methods survey and prepost quasi-experimental study design. The study examined students' perceptions of and attitudes toward SMS as an educational tool before and after one semester of use, in two university subjects. The participants were 171 students enrolled in English and engineering programming subjects in the Autumn semester, 2013–2014 at Kuwait University. Data were collected over two rounds, each of which included a questionnaire and interviews. Students' perceptions of the use and usefulness of SMS as an educational tool and their attitudes towards the use of SMS in education were strongly and positively related. Students believed that SMS was easy-to-use and was a useful communication tool. Students reported that they would like to use SMS in their learning. Participants said they liked educational SMS because in general they had a positive attitude toward the use of technology in education and because they found SMS to be a useful and easy-to-use communication tool. Students found SMS convenient and motivating in their learning. They felt it helped them regulate their study and improved their connections with the lecturer. They preferred SMS to be used to send discrete pieces of educational content, at appropriate times and frequencies. A STUDY OF STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES 4 Positive beliefs about the use of SMS suggest a number of possible uses in higher education. The key message from the interview findings was that the selection of SMS content should be clearly linked to educational content such as lectures and homework, and should not be complex. Educational SMS should contain stand-alone material that supplements face-to-face instruction. SMS could also be used to send administrative information and quizzes. SMS would have some advantages as an educational tool in Kuwaiti higher education. Students would accept its use. The selection of the content of SMS, ways of using SMS, and the implications of SMS for learning should be considered in light of students' expectations and concerns. The findings from this study contribute to the body knowledge in relation to the use of TAM to examine the adoption of technology in different settings. The original TAM was effective for explaining students' acceptance of SMS as an educational tool in Kuwaiti institutions of higher education. The empirical findings can be used to guide higher education practitioners' efforts to enhance the adoption of technology in education, particularly the popular and widelyavailable SMS technology. The findings of the current study have practical value for faculty members who wish to use SMS to support face-to-face teaching. A STUDY OF STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES 5 Table of |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5716&context=theses |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
