Ukrainian Journal of Educational Studies and Information Technology

The use of mobile devices has become an everyday occurrence, and more and more higher education institutions have started adopting this technology in their interactions with students. Previous research has confirmed that mobile devices are becoming more widely used in learning. The sphere of formal education is not static but dynamic and evolving all the time, and central to this are developments in the technologies of teaching and learning. Educational institutions, which are seen as the bastion of new thoughts and thinking, need to ensure that these innovations and developments are incorporated in their teaching philosophies and mode of delivery – mainly to be able to accommodate the new generation of learners in the Industry 4.0, which impacts on their social and personal domains. Central to this, where the focus at tertiary institutions has shifted to, is the implementation of mobile learning technologies. This study investigates the views of learners regarding the use of mobile learning devices in their study and learning environments. In order to explore this aspect, the study aimed to determine the significance of age, gender and year of study in the use of mobile learning devices. No statistically significant differences were found between the identified demographic variables (age, gender and year of study) and uses of mobile devices in a study and learning environment.


INTRODUCTION
The teaching landscape has changed dramatically, compared to ten years ago, with almost every student having a smartphone or some other mobile device (Campbell, 2006). It has been statistically proven that most students (64%) regard the use of a mobile device as essential in their learning activities. It is further recorded that smartphone users constantly download applications, of which at least half are used in their learning activities; while those learners that use smartphones are 45% faster in the completion of their course material, than those using computers (Powell, n.d.).
There is a marked increase in the number of students who prefer to use mobile devices, rather than PCs and laptops, for their online coursework (Magda & Aslanian, 2018). According to Pew Research Center (2021), more than 96% of Americans own a mobile device of some kind, which is, therefore, not surprising that learners make more use of these devices in their learning endeavours, such as online courses and course-related activities (Clinefelter, Aslanian, & Magda, 2019;Magda, Capranos, & Aslanian, 2020).
Technology, as can be seen from the above discussion, has gradually become an integral part of a student's life, as highlighted by Han and Shin (2016), Fu and Hwang (2018), and Morris, Lambe, Ciccone, and Swinnerton (2016).
Looking at the millennials, who have access to all kinds of technology, and educational and recreational activities 24/7, it would seem that they are developing different ways of doing things, including learning in all spheres of life (Shamir-Inbal & Blau, 2016;Uzun & Kilis, 2019). These millennials are greatly dependent on the use of these technologies to function in all parts of their lives -to share information, to receive information, to explore new things, to create new things and to acquire knowledge, both from an educational and personal perspective. The potential for using digital technology in higher education is, therefore, great.
Having said this and knowing that users of mobile devices prefer to use these devices in learning, higher educational institutions should try to exploit this trend in their teaching activities. The pace at which technology is changing and new apps are developed have resulted in major changes in our culture and daily lives. Mobile devices have become a must for people, specifically the younger generation. This leads to the opening of tremendous opportunities in higher educational institutions and their ways of teaching. The traditional way of teaching has largely made place for the use of innovative ways to teach -due mainly to advances in technology (Karim, 2018). Many educators will, therefore, look at ways and means to incorporate the use of mobile devices in their teaching, and how they can use these electronic devices to support the learning experiences.
The purpose of this study was to investigate learners' views on the use of mobile electronic devices in their study and learning environments. The primary objective was to explore the differences in demographic variables, namely, age, gender and year of study relating to the extent to which students plan to use mobile devices in their learning processes. To achieve this objective, the study focussed on establishing if there was a significant difference between age, year of study and gender, and the use of mobile devices.
This article consists of two parts. The first focuses on theoretical concepts relating to the topic. The second section is empirical, which focuses on the methodology and findings, followed by a discussion of the findings.

Mobile device defined
The definition of what a mobile device is, is an evolving process. As new technologies and tools come to light, so the definition of mobile device changes. Literature shows that in the early 21st century, a mobile device was seen as a PDA or personal digital assistant that was primarily used for taking notes and reading (Kukulska-Hulme, 2002). As stated by Milheim, Fraenza, and Palermo-Kielb (2021), mobile devices are described as mobile (or cellular) phones as well as devices such as PDAs, and gadgets that play videos and MP3 music files.
A fairly comprehensive definition of mobile devices is that it can be a mobile personal computer, which users can use in the same way as they would a desktop computer, although there will be limitations such as a smaller screen (PC Magazine, Ukr. J. of Educ. Stud. and Inf. Technol. 2023, 11(2) 2020). In this study, a mobile device refers to a smartphone or tablet device that is used by learners.

The use of mobile devices in learning
Several studies have been conducted with regards to the use of mobile devices by college students. In this regard, Clinefelter et al. (2019) found that 56% of online college students use a mobile device for at least some of their courses, while Vasudeva, Colthorpe, and Ernst (2017) categorised the use of mobile devices as "student initiated mobile learning". Other researchers (Dabbagh, Fake, & Zhang, 2019;Heflin, Shewmaker, & Nguyen, 2017;Tang & Bradshaw, 2016) found that students place a high value on mobile devices as collaboration tools, which makes it possible for them to access coursework, contact and interact with students and academic staff at various times.
As can be expected, the use of mobile devices escalated during the Covid-19 pandemic from 2019 to 2022. Branscombe (2020) indicated that the use of mobile phones escalated across all age groups -more so than the use of normal personal computers. It is also a known fact that many businesses and educational institutions opted for a hybrid approach in their instruction and learning, and implemented remote contact and instruction, either, fully online or a combination of online and face to face contact.
It can be stated that, largely due to the pandemic, higher education institutions adapted to the changing environment and re-evaluated their modes of the delivery of learning material to students, to accommodate and encourage students who were using their mobile devices to access their learning material (Naciri, Baba, Achbani, & Kharbach, 2020). Needless to say, the pandemic impacted the world and by implication, daily routines, the business world and so forth, in different ways. Therefore, it impacted learners as well, changing their typical mode of learning.

Mobile learning in higher education
In simple terms, mobile learning refers to the use of mobile devices in the learning activities and interactions of learners. Over the years, with advances in technology and the growth of the internet, both computers and the internet became central to education; devices became more mobile, compact, smaller, affordable and less restrictive than a personal computer. Using mobile devices, its broad applications and uses, it is now possible for learners to access the web in more cost-efficient ways. Today, students are entering higher institutions with the knowledge of these technologies, therefore, these innovations must be incorporated by educational institutions. These mobile devices make it possible for learners to expediate learning outside the classroom, due to fast access to the internet to source information and resources. Over the past years, mobile devices have provided comprehensive learning experiences for learners, made learning resources convenient and readily available, enabled learners to multitask and gain easy access to information at any time, from any place.
Learners need to constantly refresh and update their knowledge of mobile devices and technology in order to assist themselves in their self-directed learning (Patil et al., 2016).

Ukr. J. of Educ.
Stud. and Inf. Technol. 2023, 11(2) Studies by Pratama and Scarlatos (2020) indicate that both ownership and use of mobile devices varies significantly among students of different sex, age, location and socio-economic status. This view is supported by Daud, Wong, Ghani, and Ramli (2021) who found that the impact of multimedia learning could be different across genders, based on the use of mobile technologies, their interests and preferences. A study by Parveen and Zamir (2020) found that there was no significant difference between the behavioural intentions of male and female respondents for using mobile learning. No evidence of research has been found that has been conducted amongst the different years of study and the use of mobile devices. Due to the lack of research in the areas of age, gender and year of study, a gap was identified in the literature and is addressed in this study.

METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION
A quantitative approach was adopted for the study. Data was collected using a survey questionnaire, distributed online to undergraduate students at a leading South African institution of higher learning. An ethical clearance certificate was obtained from the institution before the distribution the questionnaire. The LimeSurvey platform was used for this purpose. A link to the survey was e-mailed to students, via their institutional e-mail addresses, inviting them to participate in the survey. The link was provided and sent out by a gatekeeper, the institutions ICT. Due to convenience and accessibility to data, convenience sampling was applied. The respondent's consent was obtained before completing the survey. The survey questions relate to e-learning and the use of mobile devices, such as laptops, smartphones and tablets. Demographic information, namely, age, gender and years of study were included in the questionnaire.

Demographic information
The overall sample for the study consisted of 660 respondents, with 30.2% (n = 199) males, 65.8% (n = 434) females and 2.4% (n = 16) of respondents preferred not to answer. In terms of age, the majority of the sample were between the ages of 19 and 30 (39.7%, n = 262), and 31 and 40 years old (30.3%, n = 200). Finally, a large portion of the sample were in their third year of study (29.8%, n = 197). For complete transparency, missing values for each demographic variable have been included in Table 1. A further detailed breakdown of the sample is below.

Data analysis
The data for the current study was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 28 (SPSS 28). Basic descriptive and frequencies, as well as a between-group analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to explore and test for differences between i) age; ii) year of study and iii) gender and uses of mobile devices, respectively. All the results are presented below.

FINDINGS AND RESULTS
The results focus on the various uses of mobile devices for learning purposes and results from the various ANOVAs, where differences between various variables were tested for.
In order to explore the differences in demographic variables, age, gender and year of study, relating to the extent that students use mobile devices in their study and learning processes. The first aspect that needs to be determined is which mobile devices (smartphone, tablets and laptops) are being used for study and learning (Table 2). It is clear from Table 2 that students use multiple or a combination of devices. It appears that the majority of students use a laptop (86.1%, n = 552) and smartphone Ukr. J. of Educ. Stud. and Inf. Technol. 2023, 11(2) (83.1%, n = 511) combination. It can be safely assumed that the (13.9%, n = 89) students might be using a smartphone or tablet for study and learning purposes. Table 2 provides a robust indication of the mobile device use and that students are in a position to answer the remainder of the survey questions.

Uses of mobile devices
Table 3, below, depicts the level of agreement among participants on how often they use mobile devices and what they use them for (question six from the survey). Respondents were required to select how often they use mobile devices, based on each use listed in question six with the following options: (1) = never; (2) = rarely; (3) = sometimes; (4) = often and (5) = always.  Table 3 shows that the most popular use of mobile devices for learning and study purposes is to "submit assignments online" (M = 4.82). A total of 88.5% (n = 577) of the sample said they always use their mobile device to do this. Even though the aforementioned use was the most popular one, the mean response (M) for the rest of the statements relating to how often mobile devices get used to perform the listed tasks, in question six, were all above 3.5. This insinuates that mobile devices get used more often than not for study and learning purposes.

Group differences
The three demographic variables that will be focussed on, in the next part of the report, are age, year of study and gender. Each variable will be tested using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to check if there is a significant difference between these demographic variables and the various uses of mobile devices for learning and studying purposes, as postulated in the questionnaire. These are: A mobile device is used to … 1. … study for online exams 2. … study for offline exams 3. … prepare for class lectures in advance 4. … submit assignments online 5. … communicate with my lecturers and other students 6. … watch video tutorials 7. … interact on social networks about academic matters. The results of the findings are presented in the following section.

Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
In the section that follows, the focus is on presenting descriptive statistics regarding the age, year of study and gender in terms of mobile device usage. The descriptive is followed by an analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine whether there is any statistically significant difference regarding age, year of study and gender in terms of mobile device usages.

Age and use of mobile devices
An overview of participants per age category and how each category uses mobile devices for study and learning purposes (Table 4). It is clear from Table 4 that regardless of age category, the mean response value for each use was always above 3. This means that participants use their mobile devices often, for all the uses listed, regardless of their age. The ANOVA results: age and mobile device use are presented in Table 5.  Table 5 shows that the one-way ANOVA that was performed to compare the effect of age on mobile device uses revealed no statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) across all uses (questions 6.1 to 6.7).

Year of study and uses of mobile devices
An overview of participants' year of study and how in each academic year, students make use of mobile devices for study and learning purposes are presented in Table 6 below.
Ukr. J. of Educ. Stud. and Inf. Technol. 2023, 11(2)  It is evident from table 6 that the mean response value for each use was always above 3.5, regardless of which year of study the participant was in. This means that participants use their mobile devices often, for all the uses listed, regardless of their year of study. The ANOVA results: Year of Study and Mobile Device Use are presented in Table 7.  Table 7 shows that the one-way ANOVA that was performed to compare the effect of year of study on mobile device uses revealed no statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) across all uses (questions 6.1 to 6.7).

Gender and use of mobile devices
An overview of participants' gender and how each gender makes use of mobile devices for study and learning purposes is presented in Table 8. It is clear from the mean response values ( Table 8) that there are minimal differences in each gender's level of use of mobile devices across all uses. Additionally, the mean responses show that each gender makes use of mobile devices more often than not, for every use listed in question six of the survey. The ANOVA results: Gender and Mobile Device Use are presented in Table 9.  Table 9 revealed no statistically significant difference between gender and any of the mobile device uses listed. Remember that a significant difference requires p < 0.05.

DISCUSSION
The primary objective was to explore the differences in demographic variables, age, gender and year of study relating to the extent to which students plan to use mobile devices in their learning processes. A self-completion survey was conveniently sent to undergraduate students at a leading South African institution of higher learning. A total of 660 usable responses were received back. Thus, the number of responses regarding the demographic variables of age, gender and years of study were sufficient for the purpose of analysis.
The descriptive analysis showed that the entire sample made regular use of mobile devices to study online and offline for exams, to prepare for class lectures in advance, to submit assignments online, to communicate with lecturers and other students, to watch video tutorials and to interact on social networks about academic matters. When differences between age, year of study and gender, and various uses of mobile devices were tested using ANOVAs, no statistically significant differences were found. The findings are in contrast with that of Daud et al. (2021) who found that the impact of multimedia learning could be different across genders, based on the use of mobile technologies, as their interests and preferences could be different. It does, however, support the study of Parveen and Zamir (2020) who found that there was no significant difference between the behavioural intentions of male and female respondents for using mobile learning.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Finally, no statistically significant differences were found between the identified demographic variables (age, gender and year of study) and uses of mobile devices in a study and learning environment. It is evident from the findings that the respondents embraced mobile learning devices, however, it is recommended that tuition as well as non-tuition material be provided by the institution to ensure it is device friendly. This means that material should display correctly on all the mobile devices, especially material that is mathematical in nature, such as statistics and accounting. Prescribed software, for example, software used for statistical analysis and accounting, should be device friendly, in case that software cannot be tailored to be device friendly, institutions should accommodate students by making alternatives workstations available. Although there are no statistically significant differences in terms of age, it is advisable that the institution provide users with clear guidelines/instructions on how to use the device effectively for learning and study purposes.