Future of M-Learning in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Mobile-learning, (or 'm-learning' as it will be referred to throughout this paper), dueto a considerable number of technological advances (Prensky, 2006), plays a significant rolein global education standards. Many education specialists believe that m-learning whencombined with conventional classroom learning yields better results in class (Simonson, andZvacek, 2014). Many studies have been conducted examining the viability of m-learning inthe institutions of higher learning (Fozdar, and Kumar, 2007; El-Hussein, Osman, and Cronje,2010; Simonson, and Zvacek, 2014); however, little is known about the social benefits mlearningpresents to future education standards on a global basis. The future of m-learning isincreasingly challenged by the initial high cost (Althunibat, 2015) involved in creating theinfrastructure required to implement m-learning. Lack of goodwill and high Internet costs(Wang, Chen, and Khan, 2014) can be attributed to poor results in adopting m-learning. Thispaper identifies some of the benefits and challenges inherent to m-learning and the future itholds in Saudi Arabia. It is a result of a survey conducted using more than one hundredlearners in Saudi Arabia institutions of higher learning.