The Impact of M-learning on Learning Experience in Higher Education Settings during Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract: Education field has been affected by Covid-19 pandemic, same as many other aspects of our lives during this period. Many universities and schools had to close for physical education and had to find different kinds of solutions to continue their educational activities. Therefore, the purpose of this master's thesis is to study students' experiences of using M-learning in higher education during the pandemic to see how they have been affected by this type of learning in their education during the time that Covid-19 changed the routine lives of students. To conduct this master's thesis an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach is used in order to get a deeper understanding of the students' learning experience. The results of this research show that using M-learning during the Covid-19 pandemic has positive effects on learning experiences of most of the participants, and a great number of the students have not seen any effects on their grades. Advantages of using M-learning are ease of use, convenience, understanding the concepts by searching on their own and independent learning experience, being able to participate in lectures from anywhere, even in time of sickness, and easily accessing course materials. On the other hand, the disadvantages of this type of learning are losing physical face-to-face interactions with teachers and other students, low level of activeness from the other students in discussions in the online lectures, losing motivation, and missing learning physical experience in some courses. The challenges that students have experienced with M-learning are low internet connection, problems with batteries of mobile devices, small screen of smartphones for reading files, some technical problems regarding the online lectures, and experiencing different types of distractions by using mobile devices and attending online classes. Finally, participants agree to recommend M-learning in times of crisis.