Tablets with Restricted Mobility: Investigating User Acceptance in a South African Mathematics Mobile Learning Project

Ericsson initiated a project called „Connect to Learn‟ (C2L), where a mobile learning solution focused on introducing creativity and interactivity into the classrooms of South Africa using various mobile technologies and applications, was developed. Ericsson has employed this solution in various schools in and around Johannesburg, South Africa. This research study focuses on investigating the user acceptance (teachers and learners) of utilizing tablets (MobiPads) in the learning of mathematics in classrooms participating in the C2L project. The tablets are not owned by the learners and are not used by learners in an informal environment outside of school boundaries. The tablets therefore have restricted mobility and the study contributes by exploring user acceptance of semi-mobile learning. It is shown that learners value the mobility feature of the devices, even though it is limited. However, what proves to be essential for acceptance of mobile mathematics learning is the content, its relevance to real-life situations, providing capability to explore and the mapping of the content to the curriculum.