Investigation of the awareness of rural students on M-learning using smartphones

Abstract

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a sudden transition from face to face to online teaching and learning practices in various parts of the world. Meanwhile, the level of awareness and adoption of mobile learning (M-learning) by means of smartphones in many rural parts of Africa tends to be considered low. The reasons for this include various factors, such as poor access to internet facilities, a lack of funds, the cost of smartphones, amongst others. This study investigates the level of awareness of South African rural higher institution students (SARHISs) on M-learning using smartphones. A quantitative method was adopted for the study. Convenience sampling was used to select the institution and the 75 respondents who took part in the study. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire, entitled “Smartphone questionnaire (SQ)”. The collected data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), Version 25. The findings of the study show that the adoption of M-learning using smartphones by the respondents who are students from the South African Rural Higher Institution (SARHIS) is moderate – a little above the average. Based on the study, it is recommended, that students’ awareness should be raised and that M-learning should be supported given the recent transition from onsite to online teaching and learning practices