The educational impact of using mobile technology in a database course in college

Abstract

Purpose Nowadays, when mobile devices are actively evolving and penetrating the various spheres of human activity they have a potential to modernize and facilitate the sphere of IT education as well. This paper aims to test the hypothesis stating that introduction of mobile technology to the college-level database course for future IT specialists has a positive academic impact on students. Design/methodology/approach The main theoretical premises for the present study were the general findings of the surveys by Hinze et al. (2017) and Bowen and Pistilli (2012) indicating that: using mobile tools to work on classroom projects improves student’s academic success students, especially those from computing specialties, actively turn to mobile tools in their academic activity students favor the Android and iPhone platforms and prefer native mobile apps to Web-based mobile apps The key idea of the present study was to validate these general premises in the specific case of the college-level database class. Namely, the authors formulated a hypothesis that Android-based mobile devices have a positive impact on the IT students’ academic performance and interest in the subject at the college-level introductory database lessons. Throughout the study, the authors examined both quantitative (students’ scores and attendance rate) and qualitative aspects (students’ and teachers’ opinions) of the hypothesis. Findings Based on the experiment’s positive outcome resulting in students’ increased academic performance and interest in the subject, the authors conclude that in the context of the college-level database course mobile devices can successfully substitute traditional desktop computers and positively affect students’ academic activity. Originality/value Based on the experiment’s positive outcome resulting in students’ increased academic performance and interest in the subject, the authors conclude that in the context of the college-level database course mobile devices can successfully substitute traditional desktop computers and positively affect students’ academic activity.