Abstract

ORGANISTA-SANDOVAL, Javier; SERRANO-SANTOYO, Arturo; MCANALLY-SALAS, Lewis  and  LAVIGNE, Gilles. Appropriation and Educational Uses of Cell Phones by University Students and Teachers. REDIE [online]. 2013, vol.15, n.3, pp.139-156. ISSN 1607-4041.

This paper presents a study on appropriation and educational uses of cell phones in a random sample of 954 students and 246 teachers, representing 12% and 24% respectively of the total population of the two campuses of the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC) in Ensenada, Mexico. A survey was developed and applied to this university population in 2011. The results show that students had used cell phones for an average of seven years, while teachers had an average of ten years of use. Students were able to operate their mobile devices with more ease. Cell phone ownership was 97% among the teachers and students. However, we observed that there was not much use of the cell phone for educational purposes, the principal ones being communication, information management and organization. The main disadvantages found were the potential for distraction and the high cost of Wi-Fi connection. The cell phone has great educational potential; nevertheless, further research is needed for its proper integration in the university educational process.

Keywords : Appropriate technology; educational trends.

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