Browsing by Author "Sharifah Sariah Syed Hassan, PhD"

The evolution of new mobile technologies such as smartphone not only has influenced the way people communicate, but has also shaped their attitudes and ethical behavior. The advent applications of smartphone which are accessible and user friendly have shifted the conventional teaching and learning towards innovative methods. Thus, smartphones are not only used for communicating, but also searching, sharing information and learning from each other, which leads to active participation in learning. In this study, the main investigation was designed to determine the trend of mobile usage among Malaysian higher learning students based on attitude, ethics, technology affordances, social wellbeing and their actual use in learning (m-learning). Secondly, the researcher attempted to study the influence of students’ attitude, ethics, technology affordances and social wellbeing in using smartphones on m-learning. A model has been hypothesized based on a framework from theories related to Theory of Acceptance, Structuration Theory, Connectivism and Khan’s e-learning framework. A total of 582 students responded from three research universities in Malaysia (UM, UTM, UPM) which were selected through proportional sampling. A mix method with the explanatory sequential design has been employed. An adapted questionnaire with 50 items was used based on a 5-point Likert scale in measuring students’ experience from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Additionally, semi-structured interviews with four informants were conducted to collect qualitative data. These informants were selected purposively based on their experience in using smartphones in learning. Descriptive statistics and Stepwise Regression have been employed for the analysis procedures. To confirm the results, cross validation was employed. Even though high dependency on the technology is apparent, the findings reveal that the majority of students show positive attitude in using smartphone which is determined from the indicators to check notifications, reading and replying immediately and giving feedback in group messages when needed. From ethical standpoint, the students seem to show ethical use of smartphone from the indicators of switching off whenever they are in the mosque, church or temple and putting in silent mode while meeting the lecturers. Moreover, majority of the students have agreed that they do not have any technical problems accessing the internet using their smartphone applications while in campus that leads to positive technology affordances. The actual use of smartphone in learning has shown that students search more information during class. Additionally, the results of social wellbeing in using smartphones show that students are satisfied when they can retrieve information via smartphones. However, when these factors are hypothesized in a model with actual use as the dependent variable, it has been found that ethics is not able to determine the actual use of smartphone in m-learning. The findings have contributed to the literature of m-learning which related to the culture of learning to be imparted in the framework. This research has also addressed the empirical evidence to support m-learning and the theories tested.

With the availability and affordability of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) devices worldwide, teaching no longer centers on teachers. Higher Learning institutions must find ways to embrace technology applications via the Internet to ensure higher order thinking activities are involved in learning. This study has five folded objectives. The main objective was to investigate the extent of the students’ i. actual use of Web 2.0 tools, ii. Practice techno ethics iii. Readiness to embrace technology iv. Cognitively engaged. Secondly, this study attempted to determine the effects of the three variables (actual use of Web 2.0 tools, practice techno ethics and readiness to embrace technology) on cognitive engagement. The Theories of Acceptance Model (TAM) and Web Pedagogical Affordances were used to underpin the research framework. A sequential mixed methods of quantitative and qualitative techniques were deployed. The findings of the two approaches were analyzed, compared and contrasted where qualitative data were used to support the quantitative data. The quantitative data obtained by selecting from the 409 returned responses of the undergraduate students from three universities in Tanzania. University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT), and Muslim University of Morogoro (MUM). A proportionate random sampling was employed for quantitative data while interviews were carried out among six students purposely chosen to supplement the quantitative findings of this study. Descriptive statistics using mean scores and percentage, Independent Sample T-test, One-way ANOVA, Post-hoc and Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA) were utilized to address the research questions. The findings reveal that the majority of students (93% to 94%) use Web 2.0 tools for learning involving both low and higher order thinking skills. The majority of the students (82% to 89%) are either already using or are planning to use Web 2.0 tools in learning. The findings also show that most of the students (67% to 89%) practice techno ethics in using Web 2.0 tools in learning. The findings reveal a non-significant difference in the mean scores of technology readiness for ICT related courses and non-ICT related courses. The results of One-way ANOVA reveal a statistically significant difference in students’ technology readiness in the mean scores for the three groups. The Post-hoc comparison using Tukey HSD test reveals a statistically significant differences between the Beginner and Intermediate groups, and Beginner and advanced groups indicating knowledge and skills play important role to influence technology readiness. However, there is no statistically significant difference between the Advanced and Intermediate groups as both show similar competencies. In addition, the findings show that students have positive perceptions towards adopting the 21st Century learning activities. Further findings indicate that student technology readiness and practice of techno ethics have effects on students’ cognitive engagement. On the contrary, the use of Web 2.0 tools shows non-significant effect on student cognitive engagement despite the actual use is apparent. The study has expanded TAM from the standpoint of cognitive engagement. It also shows empirical evidence that knowledge and skills become the external variable in dealing with TAM on the aspect of readiness in embracing the technology.