Tracking Learner Usage of Mobile Phones for Language Learning Outside of the Classroom

Abstract

Mobile technologies have the potential to empower learners to work outside of the classroom with a freedom that is difficult to achieve with more traditional technologies such as desktop computers. Of these, it is the mobile phone that has attracted a good deal of attention in the language learning literature in recent years (e.g., Kennedy & Levy, 2008; Author, 2010) but questions remain as to whether this enthusiasm is shared by the learners themselves. Author (2008), for example, showed that learners who were given the option of using their mobile phone or a personal desktop computer (PC) for language learning tasks showed an overwhelming preference for the PC. The study investigates server logs of how fifty Japanese learners of English complete activities on both mobile and PC platforms, in terms of the amount of time spent using each platform, when and where learners engaged in the activities, and the effect of a “push mechanism” email they could opt to have sent on a daily basis. Results are discussed in terms of patterns of learner usage with both platforms, and suggestions for activity design to enhance learner engagement are provided.