Syrian Refugees' Acceptance and Use of Mobile Learning Tools during the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT

Mobile learning, which is widely used in educational settings during the COVID-19 pandemic, will continue playing a critical role in learning environments in the future. Since the successful implementation of mobile learning in education is largely based on users' acceptance of these technologies, it is essential to understand the factors affecting learners' acceptance of mobile devices as learning tools. This study investigated Syrian adult refugees' acceptance and use of mobile learning tools. The results revealed that Syrian adult refugees were positive about using mobile devices in learning Turkish as a second/foreign language, and there exists a concrete and significant correlation among all the constructs of the mobile learning tools acceptance like Perceived Ease of Use, Contribution to Foreign Language Learning, Negative Perceptions, and Voluntariness of Use. Factors affecting mobile learning acceptance was also investigated in the study, and the results indicated significant differences among the refugees regarding their characteristics such as age, gender, level of education. The results also revealed that while the refugees did better in the tests over time, mobile learning acceptance had no significant effect on foreign language achievement. Depending on these results, it can be suggested that mobile devices should be integrated into the education system as a component of the curriculum.