The impact of mobile tablet use on students' perception of learning processes

The purpose of the current research was to explore the impact of tablet use for various subjects in Israeli schools on students' perception of learning processes in the cognitive and affective dimensions. For this purpose, 122 ninth and tenth grade students from the Boyar School in Jerusalem completed an online questionnaire. The main hypotheses were that a difference would be found between STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and non-STEM subjects in the weight attributed to the cognitive dimension of tablet use, as well as in the weight attributed to the affective dimension of tablet use. These hypotheses were not confirmed. In contrast, the hypothesis concerning gender differences in the weight attributed to cognitive and affective dimensions was partially confirmed. Males attributed more weight than female adolescents to both the cognitive and affective dimensions of tablet use. A possible explanation of the findings is the male inclination towards STEM subjects that include more cognitive use of learning. In future studies, it is advisable to utilize a larger sample and to thoroughly explore gender differences regarding this topic.