Abstract—This paper reflects on a research that was carried
out in Turkish secondary schools where tablets were supplied to
students across the country by the government. There is a
growing number of research trying to explain students’
attitudes towards using tablets for in-school activities, however,
the literature is very limited in showing students’ attitudes to
using tablets outside the school and the pattern of usage. As
‘mobility’ is the main attribute of mobile learning, it is equally
important to understand the use pattern outside the school
context. This paper will examine and explain how and why the
tablets were / were not used by the students in their free times
while comparing the use pattern with that of computers and
smart phones. Data was gathered through questionnaires and
student focus groups. Results show that, contrary to our
expectations, students do not use their tablets in their free times
and smart phones are still the first choice of mobile while
computers remain to be the main tool for school works.
Index Terms—Mobile learning, student attitude, tablet, use
pattern.
Tugba Mutlu is with the University of Sheffield School of Education, UK
(e-mail: tmutlu1@sheffield.ac.uk).
Cite: Tugba Mutlu, "Examining Students‟ Attitudes towards Using Tablets Outside School Contexts," International Journal of Information and Education Technology vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 275-278, 2017.