Smartphone Use of University Students: Patterns, Purposes, and Situations

Abstract

In order to integrate smartphones into educational settings effectively, there is need to describe routine use of smartphones by university students in detail. This study aimed to describe smartphone use of university students in a developing country, focusing on the purpose, the patterns and the situations of smartphone use. The participants of this study were 842 university students studying in 101 different universities. A cross-sectional survey method was employed in the study. Regarding use patterns, majority of university students have been using their smartphones for about 3 years, mostly at nights and/or in the evenings, and approximately 5 hours a day. Also, they connect to the Internet about 4 hours via their smartphones a day, and check their smartphones about 32 times a day. The results indicated that the most frequent smartphone use purpose is texting and talking with someone, followed by checking social media and doing Internet search while the less frequent purpose is shopping. Smartphones are mostly used by university students to spend free time when bored, alone, and/or waiting for someone. Educational implications and recommendations are provided.