Leveraging Communication Skills Through the Usage of Smart Phones Among the Students

Recent advancements in smart phone technologies have created unique opportunity to learn and teach. Critics used to focus the drawbacks of mobile addiction and its consequences which on other side suggest going back and rejecting the technology advancement. When it comes to the usage of technology, going back is not a solution. At the same time using technology as a learning tool is not just a cool new thing. More than quarter of the student population in higher education has an access to smart phones and the number continues to rise every year. The next generation of students needs to meet and surpass the expectations of next generation educational standards. This will happen with a tremendous effort from both the sides of students and faculty alike to learn and use technology effectively. This paper reports on recent research undertaken at an Indian state university in order to understand the awareness level and influential rate of useful mobile application to leverage the communication skills among the student community. A survey questionnaire was developed and deployed based on the literature study and the data collected were analyzed quantitatively. Upon analysis, these data validate that students are well aware of mobile learning applications but the usage differs as those practices are not encouraged as a part of formal learning.