The Effect of Using Mobile Devices on Students' Performance in Writing

Abstract

The number of projects exploring the potential of mobile device-facilitated learning is steadily growing in higher education, prompted, in part, by the use of mobile technology in the work place. The use of mobile devices has expanded from short-term trials on a small scale to large-scale integration in educational settings from primary to higher education. With this increase, the use of textual-based communication has also increased. Hence, the mode of writing faces a new environment from printed text to the digital. However, there remains a lack of analysis that brings together the findings of the impact of using mobile devices on students' performance in academic writing. Consequently, the aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of how mobile devices impact students' performance in writing along with recommendations for possible future pedagogical uses of mobile technologies. The chapter builds on a pilot study conducted in spring 2014 at a university in Dubai, UAE, which explored the effect of using the iPad on learners' writing performance.