Document Type

Conference Paper

Publication Date

2015

Publication Title

The Eurasia Proceedings of Educational & Social Sciences

Volume

2

Pages

165-172

Conference Name

ICEMST 2015: International Conference on Education in Mathematics, Science & Technology, April 23-26, 2015, Antalya, Turkey

Abstract

Smart mobile devices are becoming ubiquitous among educators and students in Palestine. Mobile devices can be used to provide learning that is contextualized, personalized and unrestricted by location and time. Although these device capabilities are available, many faculty in higher education are not effectively incorporating this technology into their teaching. This study therefore examined academics’ perceptions of the value of integrating mobile devices into their teaching activities. A questionnaire survey collected data from 56 academic staff of the Palestine Technical University - Kadoorie, eliciting perceptions of the pedagogical affordance of mobile devices and challenges to their use in teaching. The findings show that participants were still at the stage of actively experimenting with smartphones and iPads, trialing their use at different levels and for different purposes. In general, although participants were unaware of the full potential of their functionalities, they viewed positively the various pedagogical affordances of integrating these devices into their teaching activities. The most important affordances were linking formal and informal learning spaces by providing anywhere-anytime learning opportunities, and developing interest in the subject matter, thus making learning more enjoyable, meaningful, and accessible. The results also identify various challenges including lack of experience and knowledge, finding the time to design and implement such integration, and selecting appropriate apps for the content being taught. Participants also expressed concerns with the limited connectivity and unreliability of Wi-Fi and 3G/4G networks in Palestine.

Comments

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 Unported License, permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

ORCID

0000-0002-1775-8219 (Crompton)

Original Publication Citation

Shraim, K., & Crompton, H. (2015). Perceptions of Pedagogical Affordance of Smart Mobile Technology. Paper presented at the ICEMST 2015: International Conference on Education in Mathematics, Science & Technology, Antalya, Turkey.

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