Abstract:

Computer games, e-mail, the Internet, cell phones and instant messaging are essential parts of young people’s lives (Prensky, 2001). And today, all is in one which is the smartphone. Thus, the popularity of smartphones among young adults is more than the other age-groups. The major motivations of smartphone use among young people were information and entertainment seeking, relationship development, security, and relaxation (Kang & Jung, 2014). However, this has led to problematic mobile phone use behaviors, such as compulsive usage/checking, techno-stress, mobile phone addiction, and mobile phone dependency (Lee, Chang, Lin & Cheng, 2014; Griffiths, 2013; Hong, Chiu & Huang, 2012; Billieux, Linden & Rochat, 2007). Moreover, a new term “nomophobia”-no mobile phone phobia- has emerged, which was defined “the fear of being out of mobile phone contact” by SecurEnvoy (2012). Besides the dark side, mobile phones have brought a new perspective to the field of education in terms of flexible learning environment. “Mobility” can be considered as a key term of the definition of mobile learning. That means learners are not delimited by any physical location. Learners have opportunities to reach any books, electronic resources, places and even people outside of the classroom or in various locations. In this sense, this study is important to explore both white and dark sides of mobile phones.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the level of nomophobia among undergraduate students and its link to mobile learning. The present study addressed the following research questions:
-How do undergraduate students currently use their mobile phones informally for educational purposes?
-What is the level of nomophobia among undergraduate students?
-What is the relationship between students’ nomophobia level and mobile phone use?
-What is the relationship between students’ nomophobia level and their attitudes toward mobile learning?

The present study utilized a correlational research design. The sample consisted of 146 undergraduate students from a Turkish public university in Ankara. As data collection tools, the Turkish version of Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) developed by Yildirim and Correia (2015) was used. It was translated to the Turkish language by Yildirim, Sumuer, Adnan, and Yildirim (2016). In addition, Mobile Learning Attitude Scale (MLAS) was administrated, which was developed by Çelik (2013). The students’ mobile phone use for educational purposes were also asked. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were conducted via SPSS 22.0.

The results of the study showed that undergraduate students had an average nomophobia level and they used their mobile phones for several educational purposes. The students’ level of nomophobia was significantly related to educational activities done by mobile phones.

A medium relationship was also found between nomophobia and social media use on mobile phones. Furthermore, the relationship between nomophobia level and mobile learning attitude was examined. It was found that the students’ level of nomophobia was significantly correlated with their attitudes towards mobile learning. All these findings showed that students tend to use their mobile phones for educational purposes and they had a positive attitude towards mobile learning. Accordingly, the present study will help researchers gain a new perspective about problematic mobile phone use, specifically nomophobia, among undergraduate students.

Keywords:

Nomophobia, mobile learning, higher education.