Continuance use intention of primary school learners towards mobile mathematical applications

Abstract

Mobile educational applications include some of the most useful learning tools that have ever been developed. Games for learning are most effective when multiple sessions are involved, in other words, when users replay the games. Previous research on the use of educational games in mathematics education have focused primarily on the learning potential of these games and have not adequately addressed the continuance use intention, or the replay value, of these games. This is a serious gap in literature due to the fact that mobile mathematical applications will only be able to assist primary school learners to improve their math skills if they continue to use these apps on a regular basis. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap by investigating the continuance use intention of primary school learners towards mobile educational mathematical applications. This study adopted the Flow Theory, GameFlow and EGameFlow model, Game Based Learning model and the Technology Acceptance Model adapted to mobile gaming as theoretical base. A mixed method research methodology was employed where qualitative and quantitative data was gathered through surveys, individual observations and focus groups. Twenty-six children, aged 10 to 13, from selected schools in one of South Africa's provinces, participated in the study. The results indicate that the fun, fantasy, immersion and sensation constructs were the most influential in terms of the continuance use intention. The findings of this study could be used by educators and designers of educational mathematical applications in the evaluation of the re-use potential of these applications.