Introduction

The main purpose of this study is to provide an overview of library and information science (LIS) students’ actual experiences in using mobile phones or smartphones for study and learning purposes and their perception of the usefulness and effectiveness of mobile phones for learning in general. The study is focused on LIS undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the University of Tsukuba from Japan (UT).

Recent studies of mobile learning in higher education generally suggest that mobile phones are increasingly being used for learning purposes (Dahlstrom, Dziuban and Walker, 2012; Dresselhaus and Shrode, 2012; Cheon et al., 2012; Bomhold, 2013; Gikas and Grant, 2013; Park and Jung, 2013; Kim, Ilon and Altmann, 2013). A few studies involving students from Hong Kong and Japan (Kukulska- Hulme et al., 2011; Ang et al., 2012; Bibby, 2011) indicate students’ tendencies to use mobile phones or smartphones for learning as well.

Objectives

This study is based on current research findings on learning with mobile phones and the following research questions were identified:

Research methods

A qualitative research methodology was applied to this study. The data was collected through an asynchronous online focus group (Williams et al., 2012), while a Facebook page titled ‘LISEXCHANGE’ was used as a platform for online discussions. The Facebook page was established by researchers from HKU and UT: undergraduate and graduate students of LIS programmes from both universities were encouraged to participate in discussions about using smartphones for everyday needs, focusing on learning purposes. The discussions were initiated and moderated by researchers.

Altogether 13 students from HKU and 5 students from UT actively took part in online discussions. The empirical materials gathered contained 42 postings (34 posts from HKU students and 8 posts from UT students). The study was conducted over a period of three months, from October to December 2013.