Female students’ perception of m-learning in the higher education institutions of Palestine during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

To understand the viability of utilizing m-learning as the principal facilitation channel of education, the present study aims at identifying the Palestinian female students’ perceptions of using mobile phones in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Gaza Strip to investigate the influence of using mobile phones on the female students’ academic achievement. For the purpose of the study, a questionnaire was designed by the researchers to collect the data from a sample of (156) second-level diploma female students who were selected from the Departments of Child Education and Midwifery at the University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS), and the quantitative descriptive analytical approach was followed. The results indicated that the use of mobile phones improved the UCAS female students’ skills, enhanced their academic achievement, made the learning experience more enjoyable, and improved their use of mobile devices. Additionally, there is no statistically significant relationship between the students’ perception of using mobile phones in the learning process and their academic specialization and their academic achievement. Upon the results of the study, the researchers recommend implementing m-learning in the educational process effectively and conducting future studies to measure the impact of courses’ content design and educational programs using smartphone applications.