MINING.COM Staff Writer

Mark Bullen, Tannis Morgan, and Adnan Qayyum discuss the influence of generation in the use of ICTs (information and communication technologies) in higher education.

...a comprehensive review of the research and popular literature on the topic and an empirical study at one postsecondary institution in Canada suggest there are no meaningful generational differences in how learners say they use ICTs or their perceived behavioural characteristics. The study also concluded that the post-secondary students at the institution in question use a limited set of ICTs and their use is driven by three key issues: familiarity, cost, and immediacy.

In the Canadian Journal of Learning Technology, Macdonald and Chiu's paper Evaluating the Viability of Mobile Learning to Enhance Management Training explores the augmentation of an e-learning program using mobile content delivered through smart phones.

Study participants who were regular users of mobile phones found the mobile learning materials to be user-friendly, offering increased convenience and flexibility. Use of the mobile content tended to increase as learners spent more time in their day away from locations where Internet-linked computers could be found.