Considering parental perceptions on mobile learning systems with in-app advertising-Taiwan case study

Abstract

The present study investigates parental perspectives on the adoption of mobile learning applications with in-app advertisements for their children enrolled in elementary schools. Mobile learning is a new method of learning via the employment of ubiquitous devices that can be accessed anywhere at any time through the Internet access. Although mobile devices and the usage of applications are abundant, parental readiness for allowing their children to utilize mLearning to learn and develop new skills has yet to be explored to a full extent in Taiwan. The present research is based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to understand parents’ attitudinal, normative, and control beliefs towards their intention in adoption for children’s use. Partial least squares (PLS) is used to analyze the collected data from 167 parents, whose children are between the ages of 5 and 13 studying in the city of Tainan, Taiwan. The findings show that TPB explained for parental attitudes towards adoption of mLearning with in-app advertisement quite well. Moreover, attitudinal, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control all play roles in the influence of their intention to adopt mLearning with in-app advertisement.