INFuture2015
Zvjezdana Dukic
The University of Hong Kong dana.dukic@gmail.com

Hong Kong MTR
Singapore
South Korea
Sweden
Hong Kong
Spain
China
Denmark
UK
Norway
Taiwan
Australia
Netherlands
Ireland
Israel
Source: Google's
Switzerland
New Zealand
Consumer Barometer
Finland
USA
Canada
60%
58%
57%
57%
57%
66%
65%
65%
62%
85%
80%
75%
74%
72%
70%
69%
68%
68%
67%
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• To what extent LIS students use smartphones for academic leaning?
• What typical learning related activities do LIS students perform with smartphones?
• What are possible barriers to LIS students’ smartphones use for learning?
4

• Research method: online survey
• Research technique: questionnaire
– 17 questions: 15 closed-ended and 2 open-ended
– 3 parts: demographic data, smartphone use for daily needs, smartphone use for learning purposes
• Sample: 93 LIS bachelor and master students –
University of Hong Kong
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Male
Female
Age
Gender
35%
65%
20 - 30
31 - 40
41 - 50 3%
43%
54%
Study level
Bachelor degree…
Master degree students
42%
58%
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Communicate with email, SMS, chat, etc.
Use search engines
Use social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter)
Games, music, movies, TV series, etc
Use productivity tools (calendar, notes etc.)
Casual reading
Find locations (streets, restaurants etc.)
Accessing reference sources (e.g.…
Hobbies, sports, fitness, travel
Academic reading: articles, e-books, websites…
46%
40%
52%
59%
Popular activities: talking, sending email, texting, chatting, connecting with social media, using search engines and
productivity tools, casual reading
95%
75%
82%
75%
89%
83%
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Study findings on LIS students’ smartphone use for learning are organized under four major categories:
• communication and sharing
• browsing, reading, viewing and listening
• searching and accessing information and
• using productivity tools and recording
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Daily/weekly
Talking to classmates to discuss course materials, assignment etc.
Using email, SMS, MMS or chat apps for study related issues with classmates/teachers
Posting to class forums on the learning management platform (e.g. Moodle)
Posting or commenting study related items to social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter,…
26%
33%
58%
62%
• Study participants frequently use smartphones to discuss
study related issues by talking or texting
• Extensive smartphone use for study related communication indicates that smartphones facilitate collaborative learning
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Daily/weekly use
Browsing through websites, blogs, wikis,…
Browsing or reading posts on social…
Reading articles from academicl journals &…
Reading e-books
Viewing a video clip (from YouTube, TED talks…
Accessing and browsing learning management…
Listening to podcasts
22%
23%
24%
22%
55%
68%
85%
• Study participants use smartphones to browse websites, read
posts on social networking sites and watch video clips
• Less frequently they read academic literature
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Daily/weekly use
Searching with search engines (e.g. Google,…
Accessing reference sources (e.g.…
Accessing and searching e-databases
Accessing and searching library catalog
20%
28%
44%
• More often they search with search engines than by using e-databases or library catalogs
79%
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Daily/weekly use
Planning or checking a personal schedule (e.g.
Google calendar, organizers)
Making notes with note taking tools (e.g.
Evernote)
Creating documents (e.g. text, presentation, spreadsheets)
Taking photos to record learning materials (e.g.
book pages, slides)
Audio recording presentations, seminars, interview, etc.
21%
28%
• Frequently use scheduling and note taking tools
• Photo taking is also popular
45%
45%
55%
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Medium/high barrier
Screen size is too small
Reading is difficult
Typing is difficult
Web page is not formatted for smartphone
Load time is slow
72%
87%
82%
86%
72%
• Small screen is the major barrier
• Web pages not formatted for smartphones and slow load
time are also high barriers
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• LIS students from Hong Kong use smartphones for learning and study purposes
• They use smartphones for browsing, reading or watching study related materials from the Internet but less frequently for reading academic journals and e-books
• Further, they use smartphones for searching with search
engines, but less frequently for searching library catalogs and e-databases
• LIS students frequently use productivity tools (e.g. calendars, note taking tools, to-do lists) and photo taking smartphone capabilities
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• Study findings also show that LIS students commonly use smartphones to discuss study relates issues with classmates, therefore, smartphones can be considered as facilitators of collaborative learning
• Major barriers are smartphone small screen, absence of
smartphone friendly webpages and too slow loading time
• Findings of the study can be useful for educators and librarians
• Further studies on smartphone use for learning are recommended
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