Title: Investigating mobile cloud learning through blog mining

Authors: Yong Chen; Ran Tao; Wu He

Addresses: Center for Learning and Teaching, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA ' School of Computer Science & Technology, Donghua University, Shanghai, China ' Department of Information Technology and Decision Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA

Abstract: With the help of cloud computing, Mobile Cloud Learning (MCL) can overcome many of the obstacles related to mobile learning. It holds considerable promise when it is developed and delivered in the business and education sectors. However, the discussion of MCL is disparate, fragmented, and distributed among different outlets. Systematic, extensively published research on MCL is unavailable. This paper adopts a novel method called blog mining to synthesise the MCL-related discussions in the literature, to provide an in-depth review of MCL, and to identify future trends and challenges to MCL. The findings indicate that, although MCL can offer many benefits to educational institutions and learners, concerns about MCL exist, including security concerns, privacy concerns, vendor lock-in/dependency concerns, price concerns, and concerns about legal/regulatory/information policy consequences. Wireless networks are facing challenges as well.

Keywords: mobile learning; m-learning; mobile cloud learning; blog mining; cloud computing; literature review; security concerns; privacy concerns; vendor lock-in; vendor dependency; price concerns; legal policy; regulatory policy; information policy; wireless networks.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMLO.2016.076190

International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation, 2016 Vol.10 No.1/2, pp.61 - 77

Received: 07 Dec 2015
Accepted: 16 Feb 2016
Published online: 28 Apr 2016 *

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