This document summarizes the results of a study on students' use of mobile devices for mobile learning (m-learning) at the School of Management at the New Bulgarian University. The study found that: 1. Smartphones, tablets, and e-readers are commonly owned by students, with smartphones being the most popular. 2. Students have a positive attitude toward using their mobile devices for educational purposes, though m-learning cannot fully replace traditional learning currently. 3. Android and iOS are the dominant operating systems for smartphones and tablets, while Kindle is the top e-reader brand. Most students own 1-2 mobile devices, and many opportunities exist to incorporate m-learning, though the

1. STUDENTS’ EQUIPMENT
FOR M-LEARNING
at the Schoolof Managementat
the NewBulgarian University,Sofia
Georgi Yadkov
15 June 2013
School of Management – New Bulgarian University

2. TRENDS

3. 2013 in numbers
Users of mobile services
1,7 bln use mobile internet
4,5 bln users

4. Trends - smartphones
2015 – 80 % of the internet traffic
will be generated by mobile devices

5. Trends in higher education

6. What is m-learning?
„using mobile technologies
to facilitate learning “
(Hwang & Tsai 2011)

7. Mobile devices
Criteria:
1. Communication and information functions
2. Small and easily carried
3. No physical connection to fixed power source
or telecommunication service

8. RESEARCH OVERVIEW

9. Goal of the research
To identify the level of equipment with mobile devices
and the attitude for using them in the learning process
of the students in the MA programs at the
School of Management – New Bulgarian University.

10. Target group
All students and alumni of the MA programs
“Management for Organizational Excellence” and
“Human Resource Management and Development”

11. RESULTS

12. Mobile devices owned by students
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
E-readers
Tablets
Smartphones
Mobile devices owned by students

13. Attitude to the m-devices’ usage
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
E-readers
Tablets
Smartphones
Positive Negative

14. Number of m-devices per person
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
0 1 2 3

15. Smartphones - OS
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
BlackBerry Synbian Windows iOS Android

16. Tablets - ОS
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Don't know iOS Android

17. E-readers - Brands
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Acer Sony Kindle

18. CONCLUSIONS

19. Conclusions
• Mobile devices are widely spread among the
target group
• There are opportunities to use m-devices in
the learning process but at this stage it is not
entirely possible to replace regular learning
with m-learning
• Android and iOS are the leading OS among
smartphones and tablets
• Kindle is the leading brand among e-readers

20. THANK YOU!
Georgi Yadkov