Over the past decade, research on the use of mobile devices for learning has seenincredible growth. Researchers and teachers alike have capitalized on the affordances ofthese devices and used them as tools for learning (e.g., Kearney, Schuck, Burden, &Aubusson, 2012; Kukulska-Hulme & Shield, 2008). Mobile devices, however, arepersonal devices and it is likely that individuals use them for learning in unique ways thatbest suits their needs. In addition, it follows that these individuals would also have aunique understanding of learning using mobile devices. According to Cochrane (2013)and Traxler and Vosloo (2014) the learner perspective on the use of mobile devices inlearning has not been adequately examined.The purpose of this study was to contribute to the growing field of mobilelearning and shed light on the learner perspective on the use of these devices for learning;specifically, the use of smartphones for learning. To do so, this study followed aphenomenographic approach, focusing on revealing participants’ use of smartphones forlearning and their understanding of this phenomenon by examining their experiences ofusing their devices for learning (Marton & Booth, 1997).This qualitative study provided an in-depth look at the phenomenon of learningusing smartphones from the perspective of learners. Questionnaires were sent out to arandom sample of students at a large Midwestern university. These were used todetermine how individuals used their smartphones for learning. In addition, follow-up,Smartphones and Learning Sawaya semi-structured interviews were conducted with a subset of participants. These examined the participants’ understanding of this type of learning. This study also considered whether and how the use of smartphones changed the participants’ understanding of learning.Findings from the analysis of the questionnaire data suggested that participantsused their smartphone for learning predominantly by looking up information on the web.These types of learning activities were characterized by the following dimensions:timeliness, duration, size, motive, and focus. Moreover, they each have an explicitpurpose: either to consume, to practice, to keep up-to-date, to manage, to play, toparticipate, and to generate; and one of two implicit purposes: to achieve an emotional,cognitive, and behavioral balance or to extend one’s sensory, cognitive, or behavioralself.Analysis of the interview data suggested that participants’ conceptions (or tacitunderstandings) of learning using smartphones are as follows: filling gap in knowledge,supporting pre-existing knowledge, adding to pre-existing knowledge, discovering newknowledge, applying knowledge, and sharing knowledge. These conceptions reflected aconcrete way of understanding what learning is. In addition, the data further revealedthat participants’ understanding of learning has somewhat changed after having usedsmartphones and has taken on characteristics similar to those of mobile devices.
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