Table 7 Possible Barriers in Teachers’ Adoption of Smartphones in Higher Education
Category | Activity | No. of Respondents | Percentage of Respondents | Example of Quotations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Lack of Training/Support | Don’t know many functionalities of Smartphones | 9 | 40% | Respondent # 14: “I feel I know very little about Smartphone functions. There should be a hands on training to educate faculty on how to use Smartphones in formal and informal learning.” |
Lack of knowledge | Don’t know how to use Smartphones in promoting formal and informal learning | 10 | 47% | Respondent # 6: “I don’t have much idea about using Smartphones in promoting learning in higher education. The success stories of Smartphone usage in Higher Education should be shared with every faculty member to motivate them to use this sophisticated gadget.” |
Time constraints | Using technology puts additional time constraints on already overburdened university faculty | 9 | 40% | Respondent # 17: “Faculty members in Higher Education are already overburdened and asking them to use Smartphones for academic purposes will put an extra burden on them.” |
Lack of Incentives | No difference among the users and non-users of technology in terms of awards and recognition | 7 | 33% | Respondent # 9: “… there is no difference among those using technology and those who are not using it in terms of rewards and recognition. Use of technology in Higher Education demands extra time and effort which should be compensated in terms of awards and rewards.” |
Technological Constraints | Small screen size | 9 | 40% | Respondent # 12: “I am not very much comfortable in reading text on small screen of Smartphones. Also data entry using its small keyboard is troublesome for me.” |
Small keyboard | 12 | 53% |