Presentation of draft findings to the SOTL@UJ mini-conference on 1 December 2015.

1. Perceptions and experiences of 1st year
UJ Humanities students about the use
of PMDs for learning: Implications for
a socially just pedagogy
Presented by Edith Phaswana, Leigh Southey, Ingrid Marais,
Hemali Joshi and Carina van Rooyen on 1 December 2015 at UJ!
(Puleng Motshoane was part of survey design)

2. #ujhtl research
What are the perceptions and experiences of
first year Humanities UJ students about the use
of personal mobile devices (PMD) for learning? !
!
Project done for HTLC!
Part of SoTL@UJ and DHET PMD

3. Rationale
Growth of PMDs is having a “profound impact on
universities settings worldwide both inside and outside
the classroom” (Brown & Pallit 2015: 1-2) !
In 2014 UJ adopted policy that made handheld devices
(tablets & laptops) compulsory for all 1st year students

4. Phase 1 of #ujhtl 2015 research
Survey of 1st year Humanities students = just over 1200
students!
Completed on Google Forms - banner on Blackboard; email
to all; 2 bulk SMSs to all; six posters on APK; handed out
QR code after Sociology 1B exam (to about 600 students) !
Raffling iPad Mini 4 to those who completed questionnaire!
Sample = 229 1st year humanities students!
95% confidence level; 6% margin of error

5. Descriptive analysis

6. Demographics
Age (years)
Black Coloured
Indian White
Race
Gender
89%

7. Payment of uni fees?
43%
24%
14%
13%
3%
3%

8. Financing of device

9. Funding for
university
Funding for device
Parents 43% 47%
NSFAS 24% 10%
Loans 14% less than 1%
Bursaries 13% 0%
Self 3% 28%

10. e-Reader Desktop Laptop Tablet Smartphone
Devices that own and have access to

11. Amount of apps
downloaded

12. Campus Uni Res Home Internet cafe
From WHERE most often access internet on device?

13. WHAT access & HOW OFTEN with device via UJ network?
Every day Once a week Once a month Once a year Never

14. Often need IT support to help with device

15. Satisfied with charging stations?

16. Connection speed using UJ wifi is acceptable

17. Reach monthly data limit?

18. Uses of devices
Academic & other Academic only Other only Not used in past year

19. How often use device in class for academic purposes?

20. Never In one or two modules
In three or more modules Have never heard of this use
How use device for
learning & how often?

21. Devices a distraction in class?

22. Source: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/c5/ce/92/c5ce92aec732e78d31d8d587ad333314.jpg

23. Attitude towards new tech
Knowledge of tech

24. How important is device in your academic success?
Extremely important Very important
Moderately important Not at all important

25. Importance of being better trained/skilled at using
technologies for learning

26. All Most Some None
Lecturer use of tech

27. So then…
what of social justice & pedagogy?
Source: https://goodmenproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/funny-equality-justice-baseball-fence.jpg

28. 1. Ownership and access
One aspect is about inclusion!
!
Smartphones acknowledged as learning device at
UJ?!
!
Access to device does not ensure its use for
learning [success]

29. Source:http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/viewFile/1753/3259/6724
Source: http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/images/articleimages/EDICT-2006-196-image001.gif
Sen’s capabilities

30. 2. Use of device for learning
Content consumption vs content production!
Banning use of devices in class & not using device
for transformative purposes issue of social justice?!
Issue not just WHAT in curriculum but HOW
derive at curriculum and how teach - engagement!
How lecturers learn

31. Source: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/ff/6c/2a/ff6c2aea24a727e0cc6a42199a1908ce.jpg

32. Application Integration Creation
Admin
Info
Communicate
Collaborate
Transformation
Professionalisation
2014 Humanities lecturer survey
Lecturers’ use of handheld devices
2015 UJ lecturer survey

33. 3. Digital literacies
As tech becoming more pervasive, understanding of
digital divides has shifted from those who ‘have’ or ‘have
not’ to those who ‘can’ and ‘cannot’ (Brown et al 2015:2)!
!
Digital literacies = process of using ICTs “to create,
design, plan and behave in ways that shape students’
personal, academic and future professional
lives” (Brown, Czerniewicz & Noakes 2015)!
Relevance - meaningful for students and their lives &
communities

34. Source: https://vpstories.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/img_1353.png?w=627

35. Run correlations of variables in survey!
Conduct Phase 2 = focus groups!
Compositions determined by outcome of Phase 1
correlations!
Focus on understanding of learning and reasons for not
having access to device!
One focus group of those not completing our
questionnaire
Next for #ujhtl research in 2016

36. What students consider as academic use? (sort of uses/
activities)!
What is students’ understanding of learning!
Issue re NSFAS funding of devices!
Understanding of digital literacies
To explore in focus groups

37. Comments & suggestions please!
Source: http://cdn.meme.am/instances/56683251.jpg
Digital

38. List of references
Bozalek V & Ng’ambi D 2015 The context of learning with technology. In Kilfoil
WR (ed) Moving beyond the hype:A contextualised view of learning with technology in
higher education. Pretoria: Universities South Africa: 3-7!
Brown C & Czerniewicz L 2010 Debunking the ‘digital native’: Beyond digital
apartheid, towards digital democracy. Journal of ComputerAssisted Learning 26:
357-369. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2729.2010.00369.x!
Brown C, Czerniewicz L & Noakes T 2015 Online content creation: Looking at
students’ social media practices through a connected learning lens. Learning, Media
and Technology. DOI: 10.1080/17439884.2015.1107097!
Leibowitz B & Bozalek V 2015 The scholarship of teaching and learning from a
social justice perspective. Teaching in Higher Education. DOI:
10.1080/13562517.2015.1115971!
!
Tikly L 2011 A roadblock to social justice? An analysis and critique of the South
African education roadmap. International Journal of Educational Development 31:
86-94