Fatma Salem Alzahrani*
, Ammar Saleh Alshamrani
Taif University -Faculty of Dentistry- Department of Preventive Dentistry
Abstract:
This study aimed to evaluate mobile usage and mobile learning (m-learning) amongst dental students for
dental education at Taif University. The study comprised 51 dental students from the 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 6th years.
Data were collected through an online google survey form and analyzed using Excel 2016 and SPSS 17.0. The
questions were both quantitative and qualitative. The chi-square test was also applied to non-parametric questions
for two independent variables, study year and gender, to evaluate mobile usage for m-learning. We found a
significant association between the time duration of mobile usage and study year (P=.00) and gender (P=.00). There
was also a significant association between the purposes of mobile usage with study year (P=.00) and gender (P=.02).
Moreover, we found a significant association between preferences for mobile usage and study year (P=.00) and
gender (P=.00). A total of 29% of the students use mobile devices for m-learning for more than 7 hours. A total of
78% of the students trust the reliability of mobile devices for m-learning. Most students use mobile devices (37%)
more often than computers (6%). A total of 96% of dental students consider mobile devices as a medium for m-
learning. Considering the results mentioned above, it was concluded that students have adapted to m-learning
quickly as it is fast, convenient, and reliable. Mobile devices can also be used for numerous tasks and different
purposes.