Skip to main content
International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education
Download PDF
  • Special Section: Open Educational Resources Initiatives in Oceania
  • Open access
  • Published:

Analysis of the didactic use of tablets in the European Higher Education Area

Análisis de la funcionalidad didáctica de las tabletas digitales en el espacio europeo de educación superior

International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education volume 11, pages 63–77 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

This article presents a study in which we analyse the didactic use of tablets in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The competential and didactic use of mobile devices is a challenge for lecturers, students and universities alike. In the current university system, mobile devices play a key role that requires rigorous analysis to open up new channels of participation and didactic design in accordance with the EHEA. The research is contextualised in a sample of 419 students from three Spanish public universities: Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), University of Oviedo and National University of Distance Education (UNED), Spain. Through a quantitative and qualitative methodological approach, we proceeded to analyse the life stories of students who are familiar with tablets and use them in both their personal lives and for their university studies. The results show that this mobile device can be a useful resource in information processing, content access and creation, and generic competency development in line with the Dublin Descriptors and the main recommendations of the Tuning, Reflex and EUConverge European projects.

Resumen

Este artículo presenta una investigación en la que se analiza la funcionalidad didáctica de las tabletas digitales en el espacio europeo de educación superior. El uso didáctico y competencial de los dispositivos móviles es un reto al que se enfrentan profesores, alumnos y las propias instituciones universitarias. En el actual sistema universitario, los dispositivos móviles desempeñan un papel esencial que precisa de análisis rigurosos que abran nuevas vías de participación y arquitectura didáctica acordes con el espacio europeo de educación superior. La investigación se ha contextualizado en una muestra de 419 estudiantes de tres universidades públicas españolas: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Universidad de Oviedo y Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED). A través de una metodología cuantitativa y cualitativa, se ha procedido a analizar historias de vida de estudiantes que conocen y usan las tabletas digitales de forma personal y en sus estudios universitarios. Los resultados muestran cómo este dispositivo móvil puede llegar a ser un recurso muy útil en el tratamiento de la información, en el acceso y creación de contenidos y en el desarrollo de competencias genéricas conforme con los descriptores de Dublín y con las principales recomendaciones de los proyectos europeos Tunning, Reflex y UEConverge.

References

  • Allen, J., & Van der Velden, R. (2012). Skills for the 21st Century: Implications for Education. ROA-RM-2012/11. Maastricht: ROA, Maastricht University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barbosa, J., Barbosa, D., & Wagner, A. (2012). Learning in Ubiquitous Computing Environments. International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education (IJICTE), 8(3), 64–77. doi http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/jicte.2012070108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Billinghurst, M., & Dunser, A. (2012). Augmented Reality in the classroom. Computer, 45(7) 56–63. doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MC.2012.111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castro, M., & Lizasoain, L. (2012). Las técnicas de modelización estadística en la investigación educativa: minería de datos, modelos de ecuaciones estructurales y modelos jerárquicos lineales. Revista Española de Pedagogía, 251.

  • Caudill, J. (2007). The growth of m-learning and the growth of mobile computing: Parallel developments. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 8(2).

  • CEDEFOP (2010). The development of national qualifications frameworks in Europe. Working Paper, 8. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2009). Ubiquitous Learning. Exploring the anywhere/anytime possibilities for learning in the age of digital media. United States: University of Illinois Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Pablos, J., Colas, P., & González, T. (2010). Factores facilitadores de la innovación con TIC en los centros escolares. Un análisis comparativo entre diferentes políticas educativas autonómicas. Revista de Educación, 352, 23–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • D’Orio, W. (2011). iStudent. Scholastic Administrator, 10(5), 46–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dublin Descriptors (2005). Shared “Dublin” descriptors for the Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral awards. (Draft 1.31 working document on JQI meeting in Dublin. 2004PC).

  • European Commission (2010). The social dimension of education and training. European Union.

  • Feldman, R., & Sanger, J. (2006). The Text Mining Handbook: Advanced Approaches in Analyzing Unstructured Data. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511546914

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Franklin, T. (2011). Mobile Learning: At the Tipping Point. Turkish Online Journal Of Educational Technology-TOJET, 10(4), 261–275.

    Google Scholar 

  • García-Aracil, A., & Van der Velden, R. (2008). Competencies for Young European Higher Education Graduates: Labor Market Mismatches and their Payoffs. Higher Education, 55, 219–239. doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10734-006-9050-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goral, T. (2011). Take II Tablets. University Business, 46–49.

  • Harrold, R. (2012). Measuring the Effect of iPads in the Classroom. International Educator, 26(4), 5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hine, C. (2007). Multi-sited Ethnography as a Middle Range Methodology for Contemporary STS. Science, Technology, and Human Values, 32(6), 652–671. doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0162243907303598

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mobile Life (2012). Mobile Life (report). Retrieved from http://discovermobilelife.comLa sociedad en red (report) (2011). Ministerio de Industria, Energía y Turismo. Retrieved from http://www.ontsi.red.es/ontsi/sites/default/files/la_sociedad_en_red_2011_ed2012.pdf

  • Marcus, G. (1995). Ethnography In/Of the Word System: The Emergence of Multi-Sited Ethnography. Annual Review of Anthropology, 24, 95–117. doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.an.24.100195.000523

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miner, G., Elder, J., Hill, T., Nisbet, R., Delen, D., & Fast, A. (2012). Practical Text Mining and Statistical Analysis for Non-structured Text Data Applications. London: Oxford Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, G. (2011). Post-PC devices: A summary of early iPad technology adoption in tertiary environments. E-Journal of Business Education & Scholarship of Teaching, 5(1), 18–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murray, O., & Olcese, N. (2011). Teaching and Learning with iPads, Ready or Not? Techtrends: Linking Research And Practice To Improve Learning, 55(6), 42–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pachler, N., Bachmair, B., & Cook, J. (2010). Mobile learning:structures, agency, practices. New York: Springer. doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0585-7

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sevillano, M. L., & Quicios, M. P. (2012). Indicadores del uso de competencias informáticas entre estudiantes universitarios. Implicaciones formativas y sociales. Revista Teoría de la Educación, 24.

  • Siemens, G., & Baker, R. (2012). Learning Analytics and Educational Data Mining: Towards Communication and Collaboration. Second International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge (LAK12). doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2330601.2330661

  • Van’t Hooft, M., & Swan, K. (2007). Ubiquitous computing in education: Invisible technology, visible impact. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vázquez, E. (2012). Mobile Learning with Twitter to Improve Linguistic Competence at Secondary Schools. The New Educational Review, 29(3), 134–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Villa, A., & Poblete, M. (dirs.) (2007) Aprendizaje basado en competencias. Una propuesta para la evaluación de las competencias genéricas. Bilbao: Mensajero/ICE Universidad de Deusto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walters, E., & Baum, M. (2011). Will the iPad Revolutionize Education? Learning & Leading With Technology, 38(7), 6–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Witten, I., & Frank, E. (2005). Data mining: Practical Machine Learning Tools and Techniques. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, C/ Juan del Rosal, 14, Madrid (28040) Despacho 215, Spain

    M. Luisa Sevillano García (Professor) & Esteban Vázquez Cano (Lecturer)

Authors
  1. M. Luisa Sevillano García
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Esteban Vázquez Cano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Luisa Sevillano García.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sevillano García, M.L., Vázquez Cano, E. Analysis of the didactic use of tablets in the European Higher Education Area. Int J Educ Technol High Educ 11, 63–77 (2014). https://doi.org/10.7238/rusc.v11i3.1808

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.7238/rusc.v11i3.1808

Keywords

Palabras clave