Abstract:

This presentation will discuss research findings that examine what devices (laptops, tablets, smartphones) students preferred to use when producing multimodal writing projects in an English Composition classroom at a university in the United Arab Emirates. This presentation will also discuss findings about the specific devices students used to perform certain tasks for their projects.

Mobile learning reflects the way we absorb, handle, and process information. Sharples, Taylor, and Vavoula (2005) state that we need to rethink how information is learned in our mobile age as humans “learn across space”, applying information in one location that was acquired in a different location. Mobile learning not only reflects our multiple usage of laptops, mobile devices, and tablets in multiple locations, but is also reflects the way we best learn. Jones and Issroff (2007) state that the motivational benefits of mobile learning are “control over learner’s goals, ownership, fun, communication, learning-in-context, and continuity between contexts.” Mobile learning aids student motivation as learners can take ownership over specific projects in an academic context, and enjoy doing it.

There are benefits of learning through mobile devices, but which devices do students prefer to use in an academic context? Students in and out of the classroom often use a multiple range of mobile devices to consume information, such as laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. Searching for and reading information on handheld devices (smart phones, phablets, tablets) seems to be more popular than laptops, but does this popularity of handheld devices translate when producing academic projects? Do students in the classroom prefer to use laptops or handheld devices when producing projects that require a multimedia component? And if they use handheld devices, what do they use them for?

73 participants filled out questionnaires measuring their attitudes and preferences for completing multimodal tasks on tablets vs. laptops, and focus group interviews were used to investigate the reasons behind this preference. 70 out of 73 participants had both laptops and tablets. Preliminary data analysis shows that students much preferred using laptops to create their projects. Data from questionnaire comment boxes and five focus group interviews suggests that participants preferred laptops to handheld devices (tablets and phones) because laptops were easier, more convenient, and more practical. Despite this preference for laptops, the majority of participants reported using handheld devices to complete at least one part of their project, such as recording audio and video. These results suggest that although students might find laptops more useful when producing multimodal assignments, they often use a combination of devices to create multimedia work.

Keywords:

Multimodal composition, mobile learning, device choice.