Usage of mobile learning in Malaysian secondary education: stakeholders' view

Abstract

21st century learning has given impetus to the exponential growth of mobile learning. It fosters engaging personalized learning where students can optimize their understanding and learning gratification via wireless mobile devices. Nonetheless, in the context of Malaysian schools, mobile learning is not yet fully explored due to policy constraints towards mobile learning utilization in primary and secondary education. Yet, Connectivity Scorecard in 2013 reported how Malaysia is in second place behind Russia for digital connectivity among the resource and efficiency-driven economies worldwide. This indicates a vast potential for the usage of mobile apps and mobile devices amongst the students and teachers who are the stakeholders. Hence, this paper discusses myriads of perspectives on mobile learning from educational researches that later leads to stakeholders’ analysis on the mobile learning in Malaysian secondary education. In order to verify and validate these perspectives, a survey on stakeholders’ views and usage of mobile learning and mobile devices are carried out from September to November 2013. Data were collected randomly from 130 respondents comprise teacher trainers in university, teachers and students from secondary schools (rural and urban). The result indicated that almost all teachers and students in Malaysian secondary schools own smart phones and mobile devices. The findings will propagate future studies on development of prototypes on suitable mobile apps for secondary education that caters to the needs of the stakeholders.