Mobile learning adoption: towards a seamless learning model in private higher education in Trinidad

The research is set in the context of the private higher education sector in Trinidad, where adult learners predominantly study on a part time basis in a traditional classroom environment that utilize a teacher-centered approach. Therefore, the main purpose of the study involved the generation of a mobile learning adoption model, as research into mobile learning is still in its infancy stage in developing countries like Trinidad. In so doing, the researcher sought to evaluate the motivational, pedagogical and constructivist mobile learning preferences as predictors of behavioural intention to adopt mobile learning. Thus, the research addressed gaps in the literature and the ongoing debate on the suitability of the Technology Adoption Model (TAM) to explain behavioural intention to adopt mobile learning by integrating the Uses Gratification Theory (UGT). The study was also able to shed light on the learning preferences of adult learners for a mobile learning environment. The research was conducted under the interpretivist research paradigm which was implemented through an action research project, SL2G. An online questionnaire was administered to 345 students at a private higher education institution. The data was analysed using structural equation modelling to derive and validate the proposed model for mobile learning adoption. The findings show that preference for a constructivist mobile learning environment and the pedagogical factors have the strongest effect on students’ behavioural intention to adopt mobile learning, whereas the motivational factors were found to have a lower effect. The proposed model demonstrated the explanatory power of integrating TAM and UGT to predict the behavioural intentions of students to adopt mobile learning. The findings from this research will be valuable to institutions and educators in developing countries as a guide for the effective integration of mobile learning and transformation to constructivist pedagogy.