Perception of Female Postgraduate Students on Utilization of Mobile Technologies for Learning in Selected Universities in Nigeria.
OGUNLADE, Oyeronke Olufunmilola (Ph. D), OJOYE,Bushrah And OGUNLADE,Amos Akindele
AT THE 7 TH INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE DATES: MARCH 4TH-6TH, 2013 PLACE: VALENCIA (SPAIN)
The main aim of this research was ; to examine the perception of female postgraduate students on the use of mobile learning technologies in selected Universities in Nigeria. Some other objectives included: to identify the problems inhibiting the effective use of mobile learning technologies among the selected female students, to examine the influence of gender on the perception of mobile learning technologies at these Universities, to examine the difference in the perception of female students based on area of specialization. The study used researchers- designed questionnaire to achieve the stated objectives. On the whole, a total of 130 female students were sampled to generate information on their perception. The descriptive statistics used included the frequency count and percentages. The Analysis of variance was used to test for the stated hypothesis
It is evident that the world has turned into a global village as a result of dynamic development recorded in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). These tremendous changes have shown that the world is now a digital age where digital technology has permeated every facet of human life. Traxler, (2007) defined mobile learning as any sort of learning that happens when the learner is not at a fixed, predetermined location, or learning that happens when the learner takes advantage of the learning opportunities offered by mobile technologies. In other words mobile learning decreases limitation of learning location with the mobility of general portable devices.
To further enhance effective learning of graduate students, there is the need to properly examine their perception to the use of mobile technology. In order to avoid a set back in achieving sustainable growth as a nation, there is need to avert becoming a victim of what is called digital divide. For Nigeria to regain her rightful position in the committee of nations there is the need to assess her readiness in the use of mobile learning technologies even among female students.
Purpose of the Study. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the perception of female postgraduate students on utilization of mobile technologies for learning in selected universities in Nigeria. Specifically, this research was aimed at achieving the following objectives: 1. To find out the perception of female postgraduate students on utilization of mobile learning technologies in the selected universities.
2. To examine the problems associated with the utilization of mobile technologies in learning among female postgraduate students of the selected Universities. 3. To identify the problems inhibiting the effective use of mobile learning technologies among the selected female students, 4. To examine the difference in the perception of female students based on area of specialization..
Answers were sought to the following research questions 1. What is the perception of female postgraduate students on utilization of mobile learning technologies in the selected universities? 2. What are the problems associated with the utilization of mobile technologies in learning among female postgraduate students of the selected Universities? 3. Is there any problem inhibiting the effective utilization of mobile learning technologies among the selected female students ? 4. Is there any difference in the perception of female students based on their area of specialization?
The following hypothesis was tested in the study H0 1 :There is no significant difference in the perceptions of female students towards the use of mobile technology based on their area of specialization.
The purpose of this study was to find out the Perception of Undergraduates on the Role of Information Communication Technology in Entrepreneurial Education in University of Ilorin, Nigeria. The study specifically investigated utilization of ICT facilities in the teaching and learning of entrepreneurial education in University of Ilorin.
TThe study were guided by two research questions: AAre the ICT facilities utilized in teaching and learning of entrepreneurial education in University of Ilorin? DDo the ICT facilities enhance the teaching and learning of entrepreneurial education in University of Ilorin.?
The mobile technologies that were looked into in this study were the use of global satellite mobile (GSM) phones and Podcasts. The research was carried out using some selected universities, these included: Obafemi Awolowo University,Ile- Ife, University of Ibadan, Federal University of Technology Akure, and Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho.
Related literature to the study were reviewed Examples are; Peters (2007) viewed mobile learning as a useful component of the flexible learning model. As mobile devices are becoming increasingly ubiquitous, many researchers and practitioners have incorporated the technology into their teaching and learning environments.
Keegan (2002) anticipated that mobile learning is a harbinger of the future of learning, the applications of mobile learning range widely, high school to higher education and corporate learning settings, from formal and informal learning to classroom learning, distance learning, and field study.
Ogunlade, (2009) submitted that girls are under represented in school computer courses, computer clubs and in computer science based careers and do not spend as much time at home using computers as boys do. Hou et al (2006) also stated that girls treated computers as a device to complete a task while boys considered computers as recreational devices. Thus, the study indicates that boys use technology for fun, while girls tend to use it as a means of communication. Another study by Erstad (2004) at the University of Oslo also observes that while differences in time spent on computers between girls and boys have lessened, the genders tend to use the technology in very different ways.
The population was all postgraduate students while samples for the study were female postgraduate students of selected Universities in Nigeria. The female postgraduate students currently on their Masters or PhD programme were purposively selected based on those that were on ground at the time of visit.
The frequency count of the available mobile devices used by the respondents in the selected Universities. The results show that 20 respondents representing 15.38% had IPod touch, 110 respondents representing 84.6% had Notebook/Laptop, 35 respondents representing 26.92% had Play station portable, 10 respondents which representd 7.69% had Nintendo, 7.69% of the respondents had Ipad, 26.92% of the respondents had MP3, 26.92% had MP4 while all the respondents had a Cell phone. The results showed that at least one mobile device was available to the students for utilization. This is an indication that learning with mobile devices could be possible by the lecturers since all the students had them.
Furthermore, from the available mobile devices for learning, the study further enquire whether there was access to internet facilities on these available mobile devices. This was carried out on the two most available mobile devices, which were Notebook/laptop and Cell phones to see the extent of the availability of internet access.
The result revealed that 100 respondents representing 76.92% said that they own computer with internet connection while 30 respondents representing 23.8% of the respondents said they did not have access to internet connection on their computer. 89 respondents which represented 68.46% of the respondents had access to internet through cellular network on their mobile phones while 41 respondents representing 34.54% said they did not have access to the internet through mobile network. When asked whether they had access to internet through wifi connection on their phones, 25 respondents representing 19.23% of the total number of respondents for the study said they did while, 105 respondents representing 80.76% said they did not have access to the internet through wifi connection on their phones.
Research Question 2 What is your perception of the use of mobile technology? In the analysis for percentage ranking, Strongly Agree (SA) and Agree (A) were collapsed and indicated as “Agree”, while Disagree (D) and Strongly Disagree (SD) were termed as “Disagree. Two columns were then created to bear the raw figure and the corresponding percentages. Postgraduate students had positive perception in the use of mobile technology. This can be deduced from the responses to the items which ranged between 57.7% to 93.8%
What are the problems associated with the use of mobile technologies in learning by the Postgraduate Students of the selected Universities? For the analysis of the problems associated with the use of mobile learning technologies by the postgraduate students of the selected Universities, the scale of very serious a problem and really a problem were collapsed and named “a problem” while “seems not a problem” and “not a problem” were collapsed and named “not a problem”. The results of the analysis were presented in Table 5.
The analysis performed on the data collected on the perception of female postgraduate students on the use of mobile learning technologies in selected Universities in Nigeria revealed the following results. There were numerous mobile learning technologies available for use in learning at the selected universities but the commonest of them were; Notebook/Laptop where 84.61% said they had the device, 100% had Cell phones. The female students selected at the various Universities showed a positive perception to the use of mobile learning technologies as most of them used them for meaningful and gainful studies. Mobile learning could improve communication between the students and the lecturers. Some problems were associated with the use of mobile learning technologies at the various institutions. Area of specialization of the students did not affect their perception of the use of mobile learning technologies. The study revealed that quite a number of mobile learning devices were available but for most of the postgraduate students the common ones were the laptop and cell phone. The students affirmed that these two devices were the most easily sort for and due to the awareness of the technology the devices were becoming more difficult to come by..
The findings of the study have made it mandatory to proffer some recommendations. These include: The government through the various Universities should introduce a scheme where Laptops would be made available to students at affordable prices The University authority should encourage research in the power sector which will provide alternative sources to the present power supply to improve its quality. The management of the various Universities should make provision for more bandwidth to enable students access the internet at faster rate. The government should integrate mobile learning technology into the University curriculum.
FOR LISTENING AND GOD BLESS YOU