With the unprecedented situation that COVID-19 brought globally, all learning environments were forced to go remote with obviously no warning. Therefore, much research is being done in the field of online education to study the potential benefits and drawbacks to it. The research notes that online learning can provide some significant perks to learning as it makes the education system in general more globalized and universal for coming closer to equal learning opportunities. In addition, it reduces the cost of education which also works towards a more universal experience for students. This study aimed to determine the perceived usability of online learning based on the consumption platform (either mobile on a phone or on a computer) in addition to seeing if there is a relationship between the measures of the perceived usability through two different qualifications (the system usability scale and the technology acceptance model).
Interestingly enough, the size of the screen actually did not have a significant impact on the quality of learning. This goes against the researcher’s hypotheses as they believed that the larger the screen, the better the experience for the user. However, due to the maturity of mobile websites now, this is not the case as they are designed much simpler than the same website on a computer to aid the user in usability. Another finding of the study is a positive correlation between the two measures, indicating that people did in fact like the platform they were using (Microsoft Teams).
In addition to these issues that come with online learning, it is certainly important to also recognize that the difference in access to technology varies immensely throughout the world. This article referenced that “86% of the students use their smartphones (mostly android) for attending the online classes, while a mere 14% use their laptops”. While this specific fact was important for this study as it concerns screen size, it is significant that the vast majority of these students did not have access to a laptop. Therefore, teachers need to keep this in mind when assigning work that may be more applicable for one type of technology over another. Perhaps studies should be conducted to determine the relationship between access to technology and quality of learning.
It’s interesting to hear that the majority of students used their smartphones to attend class. At Lehigh, I rarely see people using their phones to attend lectures. Most use their computers for better access to assignments and better screen visibility. It puts into perspective the privilege that a lot of us have, compared to others who don’t have the same type of access. In that way, I definitely agree that teachers should take into consideration the lack of access students may have to computers and adjust their assignments accordingly.
I also thought this was a very surprising statistic, but the reason behind it makes complete sense. I cant imagine having to do an assignment on my phone that requires a lot of typing or any amount of writing, since the screen is so tiny. The people who use their phone must be at some level of a learning disadvantage, so I think studies like these are very important for finding potential issues, like this one, so that teachers can address them properly and adjust.