An empirical study on the impact of mobile learning apps on college students' physical education learning

Introduction: The objective of this study was to assess the mobile learning apps on the college students’ physical education with an emphasis on skill acquisition, theoretical knowledge, motivation, and learning engagement. Following the philosophy of positivism, the study’s guide was deductive reasoning, it employed primary quantitative methods and secondary qualitative reviews. Data was gathered through questionnaires which were administered to a sample of 100 students and their responses analyzed with statistical software SPSS. The study found that mobile applications enhanced students understanding of theoretical concepts in PE to a large extent while the improvement in the students’ physical skills was moderate. Students’ motivation and commitment towards learning were enhanced by the gamified and interactive nature of the content. On the downside, the lack of standardized content in the application and unequal access to technology among learners undermined the overall impact mobile applications could make. The findings of the qualitative analysis added to the initial findings by primary data as they showcased in the literature provided some of the same conclusions. The overall findings of the study indicate that mobile learning applications positively influence the defined objectives of the education framework often referred to as PE, but without appropriate access and well-planned integration into the curriculum, the applications are rendered ineffective.