Adapting Smartphones as Learning Technology in a Korean University

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Kim, Juseuk | Ilon, Lynn | Altmann, Jörn

Affiliations: College of Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea | College of Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

Note: [] Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] Tel: (+82)2-880-7644

Abstract: iPhone and Android technology only became available in Korea in 2010, yet today, nearly every student in Korea's top university carries either an iPhone or Android enabled phone. Students are plugged in and communicating constantly. One Lifelong Learning class1 investigated the use of smartphones among Education and Engineering students. Both the process of the class and the outcomes of the research reveal much of how the practices of learning are changing in a dynamic, globally-linked university. Their answers to a set of surveys on smartphone use for learning revealed that smartphones were used extensively by all students. Students had a broad definition of how they used their smartphones for learning. Engineering and Education students varied somewhat on how they used their phones for learning. Most interesting, the heavy users of smartphones were not usually the ones who were the most intensive users of apps that most students agreed were most useful for learning.

Keywords: Smartphones, m-learning, learning apps, collective learning, Seoul National University

DOI: 10.3233/jid-2013-0002

Journal: Journal of Integrated Design and Process Science, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 5-16, 2013