Trends and research issues of mobile learning studies in hospitality, leisure, sport and tourism education: a review of academic publications from 2002 to 2017

ABSTRACT

Based on the Technology-based Learning model, the present study reviews the published papers on mobile technologies in Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism (HLST) education in the Scopus database from 2002 to 2017. Various dimensions, including application domains, research issues, research sample groups, research methods, adopted technologies, and learning strategies are taken into account. It was found that, since 2010, the research issues of mobile technology-supported HLST education have become increasingly diverse. Most of the studies investigated learners’ affect issues, while there was also a focus on learners’ attitudes, motivation and learning experiences. Moreover, wireless Internet locating (e.g. Bluetooth or Zigbee) was adopted more frequently in mobile technology-supported HLST education, while sensing technologies were seldom adopted. As for mobile devices, with the development of technologies, smart phones and tablet computers became the main devices. In addition, such extensively adopted mobile learning strategies as synchronous sharing, issue-based discussion, computers as mindtools, and game-based learning were not adopted in the studies, indicating that most previous studies focused more on learners’ learning perceptions, knowledge delivery and skills training, while less effort has been made to cultivate learners’ higher order thinking, such as problem solving, critical thinking and collaborative competences. Accordingly, potential research issues and practitioner notes of mobile technology-supported HLST education are proposed as a reference for researchers, teachers and decision-makers.

KEYWORDS:

• Mobile learning
• ubiquitous learning
• literature review
• hospitality
• leisure
• sport and tourism (HLST) education
• technology-enhanced learning model

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributors

Ms. Yun-Fang Tu is a PhD student at the Graduate Institute of Digital Learning and Education, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan. Her research interests include digital library, mobile and ubiquitous learning, quantitative Content Analysis.

Dr. Gwo-Jen Hwang is a chair professor at the Graduate Institute of Digital Learning and Education, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology. His research interests include mobile learning, digital game-based learning, flipped classroom and AI in education.

ORCID

Yun-Fang Tu http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6261-3003

Additional information

Funding

This study is supported in part by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of China under [contract numbers MOST-105-2511-S-011-008-MY3 and MOST-106-2511-S-011-005-MY3].