The impact of COVID-19 on reading behaviors among high school students through the adoption of mobile learning

Abstract

In this study, the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on Jordanian high school students’ reading habits and attitudes was examined. COVID-19 has indeed affected education systems all over the world; education institutions all over the world were compelled to implement innovative technological approaches so that education could still be delivered to students, fulfilling the academic expectations, while the Sustainable Learning and Education (SLE) ideals are consistently embraced. One of these approaches has been the use of mobile learning applications (MLA). These applications (MLAs) employ some prominent features of mobile apps, to allow students to collaborate and participate in purposeful online learning. Still, the success of any technology is dictated by the acceptance of the user, in this context, the acceptance of students. In other words, student acceptance of MLA will determine the success of MLA. Accordingly, the effect of COVID-19 lockdown on the information behavior of high school students was examined in this study, with MLA being used by these students. Data were gathered from 394 high school students in Jordan. These students were chosen randomly, and they were all mobile phone users. The data covered the 2022–2023 fall term and were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Based on the analyses results: Self-Efficacy and Perceived Compatibility had significant impact on Perceived Performance Expectancy and Perceived Effort Expectancy; Perceived Convenience and Perceived Effort Expectancy had significant impact on Perceived Performance Expectancy; Perceived Enjoyment had significant impact on the Behavioral Intention to use MLA; COVID-19 had significant impact on the Behavioral Intention to use MLA; Perceived Compatibility showed no significant impact on Perceived Enjoyment; and Perceived Effort Expectancy, Perceived Performance Expectancy and Perceived Compatibility showed no significant impact on the Behavioral Intention to use MLA. The outcomes of this study demonstrate a practical indication in support of digital information behavior among high school students in this era.