Sixteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

The rapid increase in the use of technology in daily life and its growing affordability has changed our lifestyles dramatically. It is primarily the affordability of these mobile devices that have led to their wide use and acceptance around the globe and Saudi Arabia is no exception. According to the Communication and Information Technology Commission of Saudi, the number of mobile devices subscriptions in Saudi Arabia reached fifty-three million by the end of 2016 although the population is thirty-two million (Ethos Interactive, 2014; Euromonitor.com, 2015). The idea of integrating technology in education has been a remarkable interest for the last decade and many countries have implemented new projects to acquaint students with educational technologies. Recently, the minister of Education in Saudi Arabia has announced that there will be no more textbooks, and thus electronic books via mobile devices will be used as alternatives/substitutes. The proposed study was divided into two phases; phase I (pilot study) which provided important background for the main (empirical) study. A design-based research was employed in both phases, phase I is a short period to test and refine the main study. The aim of research is to investigate students’ current experiences and perceptions and learning principles towards learning English via social media mobile applications at Imam University, Saudi Arabia. Pilot study was analysed and initial findings were written accordingly.