Understanding the usefulness of social and mobile learning applications in a large class-size setting : An empirical analysis

The positive impact of social learning has been acknowledged in the higher education community. In a face-to-face teaching and learning environment, mobile apps and social networking services complement common teaching and learning activities by extending the interaction between teachers and students, as well as between peers. This study aims to evaluate the usefulness of social and mobile applications in higher education with respect to five domains: 1) feedback delivery; 2) instant knowledge sharing; 3) passive student engagement; 4) creative work support; and 5) real-world project support. A number of innovative uses of mobile apps and social networking sites for teaching and learning purposes have been deployed to support student learning inside and outside the classroom. The usefulness of these applications is confirmed in this research via empirical study, and the practical implications are discussed.