Access to mobile learning for novice programmers via social networking sites

Mobile devices are fast being realised as tools to facilitate increased interaction among learners and improve engagement with subject material. We report results of a survey of students in their early stages of learning programming, about their perceptions of the use of mobile devices for accessing social networking sites for discussions, chats, brainstorming, and accessing designated learning materials uploaded to support their learning of programming. Students from three universities were surveyed, involving three distinct delivery contexts: traditional face-to-face; blended; and fully online. Our findings include among other things that instant access to discussions, increased interactions, instant feedback in a student-student context, and the ability to share ideas and views anytime, anywhere, were just some of the perceived advantages of using mobile devices and social networking sites for learning programming.