Trends of Mobile Learning: A Review of the Top 100 Highly Cited Papers

Highly cited papers can be representative of the latest changes in specific research issues, as they reflect the important issues or research trends that researchers have paid attention to recently. Through reading highly cited papers, researchers can identify some important issues for consideration in their own research, which can then catch other researchers' eyes easily and efficiently. In order to explore the feature of the latest changes in mobile learning, in this study, a review of the top 100 highly cited mobile learning papers was conducted. According to the review, four advantages were identified from the highly cited mobile learning studies: proposing new learning strategies, applying mobile learning to seldom-considered subjects, applying mobile learning to seldom-investigated domains and investigating seldom-discussed issues. It was found that the studies focused more on comparing different mobile learning modes for finding more effective mobile learning approaches rather than comparing the impacts of mobile learning with traditional instruction. Moreover, the studies focused more on learners' higher order thinking performance and learning behaviors. Some suggestions, differing from those presented by previous mobile learning reviews, are provided as reference for researchers to conduct related research.