Lisa Kolakowski Critique 1

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Lisa Kolakowski

May 22, 2013

AEET/EDET 780

Critique 1

Ruth, D.M., Mastre, T.M., & Fricker, R. (2013, 28). EDUCAUSE Homepage | EDUCAUSE.edu. A Study of

Mobile Learning Trends at the U.S. Naval Academy and the Naval Postgraduate School |

EDUCAUSE.edu. Retrieved May 14, 2013, from http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/study-mobile-

learning-trends-us-naval-academy-and-naval-postgraduate-school

Introduction

The purpose of the study conducted by Ruth, Mastre and Fricker was to address three questions aroundmobile learning. Those questions are: What are the trends in mobile device usage by today’s students? Which

types of course content do current students prefer for their mobile devices and in what format? And, what will

future university students expect schools to provide on their mobile electronic devices? These questions were

answered by two surveys. The surveys were led by the NPS Center for Educational Design, Development and

Distribution. The respondents for the surveys were the United States Naval Academy undergraduate students

and the Naval Postgraduate School graduate students. The respondents were selected as a representation of

other universities across the country, with the ages of respondents between 20 and 35. The survey was

entirely web-based and sent to the graduate students in the Summer of 2010 and the undergraduate students

in the Spring of 2011. The survey was organized into four categories: Current Device Ownership, Device

Connectivity, Device Usage, and Future Interests. The survey did go through pre-testing prior to sending out to

the students.

The survey found the majority of respondents had a smartphone, and most had unlimited data plans. Fifty

percent of the smartphone owners for both respondent groups owned an iPhone. The Naval Postgraduate

School respondents owned more Blackberry devices than the undergraduate respondents, due in part because

the Navy issues Blackberry devices to officers. The two main features used on smartphone devices are to

browse the internet and to check email. Half to three-fourths of respondents use their smartphones to view

PDFs or word files. Less than a fourth of the respondents owned a tablet. However, this number has most

likely grown significantly since the study took place. At the time of the study, iPads were newly introduced into

the market. Nearly seventy-five percent of the respondents owned an MP3 player, particularly an iPod to listen

to audio files or watch video files. Overall, respondents are interested in using mobile devices for classroom

use in the future.

The limitation of the study, according to the researchers, is that the survey did not ask about smartphone usage

to the amount of detail the ECAR National Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2011 had asked. There are multiple findings, according to the researcher, than can impact us and other readers.

The trends in mobile device usage are constantly increasing. Many respondents to the survey would use

mobile learning if it was available. The dominance of the iPhone has gone down with the use of Androids

increasing. Students are doing more things with mobile devices on a higher frequency. An important outcome

of the survey was the future usage interests. Students are interested in mobile applications that support

classwork. However, the seamlessness and user-friendliness is very important. It cannot be a hassle to use

on a mobile device.

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/study-mobile-learning-trends-us-naval-academy-and-naval-postgraduate-school








If I were conducting the research in this area, my next step would be to continue the same survey questions, on

the next wave of undergraduate and graduate students. This survey can be done year after year, especially

since the frequency and dominance of mobile devices is rapidly growing. Another important area to research

next is how to determine what pieces of a course should be mobile compatible and what pieces should not be

mobile compatible. The “too much of a good thing” could apply here, in that we do not want to make more than

necessary mobile compatible so that we do not loose students’ interest in mobile learning. Another area to

research next is how universities can incorporate their systems seamlessly onto mobile platforms. This will bea challenge for all universities over the next few years.

Critique

This study clearly defines the three research questions at the beginning of the article, then clearly responds to

these three questions at the end of the research. I find this review of the literature very useful. The article or

case study is well organized. The authors provide enough background on the study by giving insight into prior

research that was taken into account, who supported the research, background on the respondents, the three

main research questions for the survey, how the material for the survey was determined, extensive survey

results, conclusion of the results, answers to the initial research questions, and what it all means. The authors

were critical of their survey results, by providing possible reasons for the data results. For example, the highusage of Blackberry devices among the graduate students could be explained by the devices being given to off

duty officers. Or suspecting the usage of PCs and PDAs would increase significantly if the study was

conducted at a later date because the release of the iPad happened right before the study was conducted.

The researchers do write for a wider audience. The audience does not need to know in great detail about

instructional design of prior knowledge of mobile learning. The writing is well organized and explained. The

use of graphs throughout the article helps explain the survey results beyond what the text says.

I find this article extremely beneficial to my topic of mobile learning. Currently, I am helping to develop a mobile

strategy for corporate sales training at work. We have sales agents across the country that are independent

business owners. This means we cannot require them to take training or surveys. This makes it difficult to

determine how many are using mobile devices, or what information they would like to have on a mobile device.

Research such as this case study helps determine usage within the field based on other surveys conducted.

At the end of this report, it is clear that my assumptions around mobile device usage are true. The majority of

students, at the time surveyed, have a smartphone and are interested in mobile learning. Since mobile

learning is a relatively new topic, even early research is beneficial. However, the research is not overly

surprising, nor does it suggest any learning theories. I would have liked the article to go into more detail on

learning theories to apply to a mobile learning strategy. However, this case study focused primarily on the

survey conducted, not how to develop a mobile learning strategy. The researchers provide other surveys as

references, or theories used to develop the survey, but they do not go beyond that. Since it is still a new and

emerging topic, at the time the article was written it was just on the brink of the capabilities of mobile learning. I

believe more can be gained from furthering this case study.

Conclusion

Overall, I do find this case study valuable. The data collected is useful in determining the current usage of

mobile devices among undergraduate and graduate students, as well as their opinions on future usage. The

study does have its limitations in that it only focused on surveying students and not on implementing a strategy.

Another limitation is the duration of the study since it took place just as iPads were introduced to the market.

Today, the results could be significantly different. I did find this study useful to determine what learners would



like to use a mobile device for regarding a class. In applying this case study to my situation a work, the

responders were students, where my learners are sales agents that are not required to take training. However,

it does help support the type of training we should provide to sales agents on a mobile device. Reference

materials and access to intranet sites would be a great use of a mobile device for a sales agent. This case

study helps to provide some figures as to why these uses are applicable.

This case study provided a background for a mobile strategy. Research such as this help to determine whatshould and should not be considered mobile learning. By determining what the learner would like to do on a

mobile device is an important part of a mobile learning strategy. We should not create materials or training for

a mobile device that does not make since to the learner, or that the learner would not use. This case study can

help provide the right amount of learner interest. There is still more research to be done before creating a

mobile strategy, and this article leaves many questions to examine next. For example, a follow up to the

survey should be conducted now that tablets are more prominent. A case study on examples of universities or

corporations developing a mobile learning strategy would need to be examined. Learning theories applied to

mobile learning could also be examined. I found this case study useful, but with many possibilities for

additional research.

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Lisa Kolakowski Critique 1