An examination of mobile learning adoption in higher education: Research trends in twenty years

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by OmBimo

Mobile learning offers benefits to lecturers, students, and universities by enabling access to information anytime and anywhere while supporting learning autonomy and mobility. The study systematically analyzes twenty years of higher-education mobile learning publications to inform researchers in the field, using Scopus-indexed data. A total of 587 peer-reviewed works are reviewed, showing a notable increase after 2016 with further upward movement after 2018. Findings summarize prolific journals, global contributions across 91 countries, key institutions, and three research clusters, including medical education and young adults’ mobile phone use and perceptions, plus an emerging focus on academic performance and augmented reality.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Definitions and background of mobile learning

Benefits in student achievement and engagement

Research framing for technology-enhanced formal education

Contemporary Educational Technology, 2024, 16(4), ep542 ISSN: 1309-517X (Online) OPEN ACCESS Review Article An examination of mobile learning adoption in higher education: Research trends in twenty years Julia A. Krokhina 1 0000-0001-9178-758X Irina I. Kruse 2 0000-0001-5710-1855 Elmira R. Khairullina 3 0000-0002-2125-4283 Gasangusein Ibragimov 4* 0000-0002-3506-0754 Lyubov V. Kochneva 5 0000-0002-7439-7798 Olga V. Pashanova 6 0000-0003-2839-9343 1 Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Moscow, RUSSIA 2 Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Moscow, RUSSIA 3 Kazan National Research Technological University, Kazan, RUSSIA 4 Kazan (Volga region) Federal University, Kazan, RUSSIA 5 Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University), Moscow, RUSSIA 6 I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Moscow, RUSSIA * [Corresponding author:](Corresponding author: guseinibragimov@yandex. ru)[ guseinibragimov@yandex. ru](Corresponding author: guseinibragimov@yandex. ru) Citation: Krokhina, J. A., Kruse, I. I., Khairullina, E. R., Ibragimov, G., Kochneva, L. V., & Pashanova, O. V. (2024) . An examination of mobile learning adoption in higher education: Research trends in twenty years. Contemporary Educational Technology, 16(4), ep542. [https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/15612](https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/15612) ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Received: 11 Aug 2024 Accepted: 16 Nov 2024 Mobile learning presents many benefits to lecturers, students, and universities. It provides the opportunity for all to access information anytime and anywhere and also promotes learning autonomy and mobility. This paper aims to systematically analyze publications on mobile learning in higher education conducted over twenty years by providing knowledge to help researchers in this area. The data were obtained from the Scopus database. A total of 587 peerreviewed publications were analyzed. The results show that the number of articles increased significantly after 2016, and there was an upward trend after 2018. Our results regarding prolific journals show that many articles in this field were published in several prominent journals. Our results revealed that 91 countries contributed to research worldwide, and the most productive institutions are from different continents. In addition, results indicated that recently published countries on the topic are India, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Germany. Regarding research trends, our results yielded three research clusters. The first cluster focused on building a learning environment for students, while the second cluster included research on mobile learning in medical education. In addition, the third cluster investigated young adults’ use and perceptions of mobile phones in learning through surveys and questionnaires. Moreover, the results we obtained demonstrated that recent studies also focused on academic performance and augmented reality was a trending topic before academic performance. Keywords: mobile learning adoption, mobile learning, higher education, m-learning, research trends INTRODUCTION The swift advancement of technology and its widespread accessibility across all age groups has necessitated integrating mobile learning into education. In the past decade, with mobile tools’ development, online learning environments and digital tools have become important in education (Damilola & Oluwalani, 2013; Lin et al., 2023; Oyelere et al., 2017) . In parallel with this development, mobile learning, also known asm-learning, has become an emerging technology increasingly integrated into educational settings (Damilola & Oluwalani, 2013; Valencia-Arias et al., 2024) . In general, mobile learning is commonly defined as the process of learning that utilizes the internet and mobile devices like cell phones, tablets, and laptops (Oyelere et al., 2017; Pramana, 2018) . It mainly aims to

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the paper?

To systematically analyze publications on mobile learning in higher education over the past twenty years and provide knowledge that helps researchers in this area.

How was the study conducted and what dataset was used?

Data were obtained from the Scopus database, and 587 peer-reviewed publications were analyzed.

What major research trends and clusters were identified?

The number of articles increased significantly after 2016 and rose further after 2018. Three research clusters were identified: building student learning environments, mobile learning in medical education, and young adults’ use and perceptions of mobile phones in learning.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by OmBimo