The use of wireless technology in UKM: Challenges faced & its impact on English language learning

Abstract

The use of wireless technology has become increasingly popular among students in Malaysian Institutions of Higher Learning. However, the extent this technology benefits these students is still debatable. Wireless technology is commonly defined as any services that provide general electronic information and educational content to assist learners in the acquisition of knowledge, regardless of location and time. Studies have shown that the usage of wireless technology can provide new learning opportunities to the learners by increasing their interest in education and enabling them to overcome physical barriers. However, some studies revealed that the abuse of wireless technology may have negative effects that culminate in students’ poor performance in their studies. Easy availability of wireless technology in the university under investigation led to this research study which is designed to find the challenges faced in using wireless technology and its impact on learning particularly the learning of English among a group of students in a public university in Malaysia, i.e. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. A questionnaire survey and individual interviews were used to collect data for this study. The findings revealed that wireless technology has led to direct learning of English through accessing English language learning websites and online dictionaries, communicating socially online for learning purposes, to incidental learning through involvement in social networking and entertainment activities. The study also revealed some of challenges faced which include infrastructure problems such as traffic congestion, no network coverage and interference from the environment, and coping issues resulting from students’ excessive involvement in online activities.

Full text

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The use of wireless technology in UKM: Challenges faced and its
impact on English language learning
THANG SIEW MING
School of Language Studies and Linguistics
FSSK,Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Malaysia
thang@ukm.my
NAJIHAH MAHMUD
School of Language Studies and Linguistics
FSSK, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Malaysia
NORIZAN ABD RAZAK
School of Language Studies and Linguistics
FSSK, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Malaysia
ABSTRACT
The use of wireless technology has become increasingly popular among students in Malaysian Institutions of Higher
Learning. However, the extent this technology benefits these students is still debatable. Wireless technology is commonly
defined as any services that provide general electronic information and educational content to assist learners in the
acquisition of knowledge, regardless of location and time. Studies have shown that the usage of wireless technology can
provide new learning opportunities to the learners by increasing their interest in education and enabling them to overcome
physical barriers. However, some studies revealed that the abuse of wireless technology may have negative effects that
culminate in students’ poor performance in their studies. Easy availability of wireless technology in the university under
investigation led to this research study which is designed to find the challenges faced in using wireless technology and
its impact on learning particularly the learning of English among a group of students in a public university in Malaysia,
i.e. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. A questionnaire survey and individual interviews were used to collect data for this
study. The findings revealed that wireless technology has led to direct learning of English through accessing English
language learning websites and online dictionaries, communicating socially online for learning purposes, to incidental
learning through involvement in social networking and entertainment activities. The study also revealed some of challenges
faced which include infrastructure problems such as traffic congestion, no network coverage and interference from the
environment, and coping issues resulting from students’ excessive involvement in online activities.
Keywords: wireless technology, computer assisted language learning, internet; challenges; impact
INTRODUCTION
The advent of the Internet has brought about tremendous changes to the acquisition of knowledge
and to learning. It has introduced new opportunities for learning via the World Wide Web, be it to

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retrieve information or to connect to other learners across the globe, and as a result developed thriving
communities of people exchanging information, ideas and opinions. Wireless technology is commonly
defined as any services that provide general electronic information and educational content to assist
learners in the acquisition of knowledge, regardless of location and time (Lehner, Nosekabel &
Lehmann, 2003). Examples of such technology include portable devices with built-in wireless receiver
such as laptops, mobile phones and tablets. With the use of built-in wireless receiver or transmitter, it
is no longer necessary to use physical connection (i.e. using cable to connect to fixed telephone lines)
to access the Internet and this has dramatically increased the usage of interactive web applications
and available platforms (Elliot, 2008). This phenomenon has led to tremendous changes in societal
practices, patterns, behaviours and values and has also hugely impacted developments in various fields
including the field of education.
New technologies may produce new teaching approaches and open new pathways of learning,
leading to new research agendas. In addition, as pointed out by Warschaeur (2000), the introduction
of new technologies always represents an opportunity to reexamine current educational practices. For
many students, wireless technology has become part of their lives. They depend on it for entertainment,
social interaction (social networking), information and for a myriad of purposes.
In the context of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) (the National University of Malaysia),
the Information Technology Centre provides two wireless services i.e. UKM Hotspots and UKM Jaring
Wi-Fi. UKM students can use these services to access the Internet when they are within the vicinity
of UKM and this makes it possible for them to use a variety of online technological tools when they
are in campus. Studies have shown that the usage of wireless technology can provide new learning
opportunities to the learners by increasing their interest in education (Yerulshalmy & Ben-Zaken,
2004), providing opportunity for independent learning (Benson, 2001; Thang & Bidmeshki, 2010) and
allowing learners to overcome physical barriers such as distance from the source of information with
ease through the use of online libraries and other online sources (Nor Shahriza & Siti Hawa, 2006).
Easy availability of wireless technology in UKM and the lack of research studies that
investigate the impact of wireless technology on Malaysian students are the main reason that have
led to this research study. Thus, it is important to undertake this study to determine to what extent its
easy availability impacts the learning of English among UKM students and the challenges faced in
using this technology. It will also consider the forms and types of wireless technology accessed by the
students. This study, which hopes to serve as a reference point to other institutions of higher learning
in Malaysia in their plans to provide effective technological support to their students, is guided by the
following research questions:
1. What types of wireless services are used by the students to access the Internet in UKM?
2. For what purposes do the students utilise wireless technology?
3. What do students perceive as the added values of wireless technology?
4. To what extent do wireless technology affect students in relation to the following:
(a) Learning of English
(b) Learning in general
5. What are the challenges the students faced in using wireless technology?
WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY IN MALAYSIA
The use of wireless technology in Malaysia can be traced back to as early as 1980, when Internet was
first introduced by Jaring, one of the largest Internet service providers in Malaysia (O’Shea, 2007).
Jaring’s vision was and still is to provide seamless Internet connectivity linking Malaysia with the rest

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of the world. To date, there are 2.6 million of Internet subscriptions in Malaysia (www.mcmc.gov.my)
and close to half of the Malaysian population is using wireless technology.
In 2008, Jaring collaborated with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia to provide wireless Internet
access for UKM students, known as UKM Jaring Wi-Fi. This was followed more recently by UKM
Hotspots which is provided by Telekom Malaysia and managed by UKM. These Hotspots access points
are provided free of charge to anyone within the campus however, their strongest access points would
be within the vicinity of the designated Hotspots. UKM Jaring Wi-Fi can be subscribed only by UKM
students and they are charged RM45 per semester to use it. Students will be able to use this service
within a certain radius of the campus and it covers places which are too far from Hotspots access points.
Thus, these two services complement each other in covering most of the buildings in UKM including
the 14 residential colleges which are spread out in various parts of the university sprawling campus.
Students’ high dependency on these services can be gauged by their quick reactions in Facebook
whenever something goes wrong. One of the more popular groups in Facebook declared that “100,000
UKM Students Think UKM Jaring Wi-Fi is VERY Disappointing” (http://www.facebook.com/
pages/100000-UKM-Students-Think-Ukm-Jaring-WiFi-VERY-Dissapointing/155584994469381).
Such entries revealed that the wireless services in UKM still needs to be improved substantially to
meet the needs of the users. This will be one of the key issues investigated in this study.
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY
As discussed earlier, societies are continuously being transformed with the advent of technology and
wireless technology has been instrumental in bringing about many of these changes and opportunities
especially in the field of education. Batten Chowdhury & Drew (2003) posited that wireless technology
can benefit students by enabling them to take part in online activities, such as online quizzes, online
exercises and online discussions at any location, at anytime of the day. Hudgins (2003) tested this
out on her Mathematics classroom and found that the technology enhanced instruction, motivated
students’ interest in new technology and familiarised the students with the new technology. She
administered quizzes by sending them to her students’ Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) (yet another
wireless device). The students would complete the quizzes and then send their answers to the teacher’s
computer and the computer would instantly check students’ responses and generate a feedback which
would be sent to the students’ PDAs. One of her prominent findings was that passive students appeared
to be more involved and motivated to the extent of competing with each others to get better results
through educational computer and video games.
Another advantage of wireless technology is that it is much cheaper to set up compared to wired
technology and yet is able to provide almost the same facilities. It also reduces unnecessary wastage
of paper as everything is done online, for example, data can be stored and shared among wireless
devices such as PDAs or laptops electronically, or it can be downloaded onto a disc (Stacey, 2000).
In a nutshell, wireless technology can be said to benefit four broad areas: interaction; networking;
entrepreneurship development and e-trading; and access to edutainment materials (Norizan Abdul
Razak, Zaini Amir, Mahamod Ismail & Suhaidi Hasan 2010).
However, wireless technology is not without its shortcomings. A very serious negative effect
can result from too easy access to wireless technology. Students may get too absorbed with surfing
the Internet for various purposes to the extent of neglecting their coursework. Such overindulgence
especially late at night may lead to truancy, failure to complete assignments or tasks in time and
tiredness which may lead to a lack of concentration on studies (Massimini and Peterson 2009).
Besides that wireless technology has been accused of causing poor data security (Drew, 2003).
Batten et al. (2003), discovered that the storing and transferring of data online through the wireless

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network could lead to unscrupulous practices such as copying, stealing, or corrupting of student or
teacher files; accessing and altering of grades; and gaining unauthorized access to the general computer
system. Poor coverage and low speed are also common problems associated with wireless technology.
This is normally caused by network congestion, when the number of user population is much higher
than the number of wireless routers available and this could case to a collapse of the network system.
Interference of bad weather may also impede its functionality. However, despite these drawbacks, it
has to be acknowledged that the new generation of students has embraced the technology and will not
be willing to give it up unless a better alternative comes up. Thus, this study is both necessary and
timely in order for us to gain deeper insights into the patterns of behavior and needs of the current user
population of wireless technology in UKM.
METHODOLOGY
SAMPLE POPULATION
33 third-year undergraduate students of the English Language Studies (ELS) programme from the
School of Language Studies and Linguistics, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) participated in this study. All of them were residents of the university
on-campus colleges, thus, they had ready access to the wireless technology available in campus. All
these students could be described as having upper-immediate level of proficiency in English as they
had obtained at least a Band 3 in MUET (Malaysian University English Test). The MUET exam has
five bands with Band 1 being the lowest and students in this band are considered as having a low
proficiency level in English. The highest band is Band 5 and students in this band are considered
highly proficient in English.
Analysis of the first section of the personal particulars section of the respondents’ revealed that
majority of the respondents were female (78.8%), with age ranging from 20 to 24 years old. They were
all unmarried. The population was racially mixed as shown in Figure 1. The Malay students made up
the largest number followed by the Chinese and Indian students and there was one Kadazan student.
FIGURE 1. Racial Composition of Respondents
All respondents (n=33) possessed a laptop and a mobile phone. The respondents for the
individual interviews were selected randomly from the same sample as the quantitative data. There
were seven respondents involved, four males and three females. Respondent B, C and F were female
and Respondent A, D, E, and G, male.

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RESEARCH DESIGN AND PROCEDURES
This research applied a mixed method approach involving quantitative and qualitative tools to gather
data. The instruments used were a questionnaire and individual semi-structured interviews. The
questionnaire was adapted from the questionnaires developed by Norizan et al’s (2010) and Mohd.
Muzhafar (2009). The questionnaires were distributed to the 33 ELS undergraduates and mean score
analyses and frequency counts were performed using SPSS version 17.
The questionnaire administration was followed by individual semi-structured interviews with
each of the seven students randomly chosen from the same group of respondents. The interview
questions covered the main areas covered by the questionnaire. The interviews were recorded and
transcribed and then analysed for themes and patterns that would substantiate as well as add depth and
scope to the questionnaire data.
FINDINGS
Jaring UKM,
31
Tetamu UKM
Hotspot, 15
Library UKM
Hotspot, 10
Residential
Colleges
Hotspot, 6
FIGURE 2. Accessibility to Wireless Technology
As shown in Figure 2, the most popular Wi-Fi service used by the 33 questionnaire respondents
was UKM Jaring Wi-Fi followed by the UKM Hotspots Wi-Fi service provided at several locations in
UKM i.e. Tetamu UKM Wi-Fi, followed by the Library Wi-Fi and finally the Residential Colleges Wi-
Fi. The total responses were 62 (sample population =33) which indicate that most respondents chose
more than one option. This suggests that most of them used more than one type of wireless service. A
quick frequency count of responses for this section of the questionnaire data confirmed this.
Six out of seven interviewees also indicated they preferred UKM Jaring Wi-Fi except for
Interviewee E who preferred to use wired connection as indicated below.
Cable connection, so far so good. At home I use streamyx. I seldom use jaring because there are
times when cable connection is not available, so I forced myself to use Jaring. Jaring is not as
good as wired in terms of download speed, surng speed, streaming speed. (Interviewee E)
Interviewee C had no choice but to use UKM Jaring Wi-Fi because the wired connection in her
dormitory did not work.
Me too. I use wireless because the cable is not working in the dorm. (Interviewee C)

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Students’ rooms in the residential colleges in UKM like Kolej Pendeta Za’ba and Kolej Keris
Mas were not equipped with wired connection and UKM Hotspots were also unavailable in these
colleges. Hence the only way these students could get university wireless services was via UKM Jaring
Wi-Fi. Interviewee A stayed in Kolej Pendeta Za’ba and Interviewees C and F stayed at Kolej Keris
Mas. Most of the Interviewees complained about wireless access through UKM Jaring Wifi. According
to Interviewee B, every night she would be disconnected at least two to three times. Interviewee A
agreed and added:
For Jaring, sometimes it’s good, sometimes it is not that good because it depends on the amount
of the users. (Interviewee A)
In the morning, the speed is faster. (Interviewee A)
With regard to the use of broadband modems (which come in the form of small pendrives)
that have to be purchased from private companies such as Celcom and Maxis, the questionnaire data
showed that only 9 respondents (27.3%) subscribed to them. None of the interviewees subscribed to
them. Thus, it is safe to conclude that it is not a mode of wireless technology that is widely utilised
by UKM students. Hence, the study will only take into consideration wireless technology provided by
UKM.
UTILIZING WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY
The purpose for accessing the Internet using wireless technology can be classified under two broad
categories: accessing for learning purposes and accessing for general purposes (which include materials
for communication, entertainment, social networking).
ACCESSING WIFI FOR LEARNING PURPOSES
Table 1 demonstrates the frequency of use for various learning purposes among the 33 respondents
that took part in the questionnaire survey. This is further divided into four sub-categories i.e. accessing
(1) to utilise relevant learning materials/tools, (2) to communicate for learning purposes, (3) for
coursework-related purposes and finally (4) for independent/ lifelong learning as shown in Table 1. It
was encouraging to see the highest percentage (100%) was for visiting online website in subcategory
(1) which is accessing for the purpose of utilising relevant learning materials.

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TABLE 1. Accessing Wifi for learning purposes
Sub-category % of students
(1) To utilise relevant learning materials/tools Visit online learning websites 100 (n=33)
Use translation tools 69.7 (n=23)
(2) for coursework-related purposes
Search for reference materials 90.9 (n=30)
Submit assignment online 90.9 (n=30)
Conduct research 63.6 (n=21)
Communicate with lecturers 63.6 (n=21)
(3) to communicate for learning purposes Join discussion forums/online meetings/
video conferences to discuss coursework 60.6 (n=20)
(4) for independent and lifelong learning learn on their own 39.4 (n=13)
Total (n=191)
8 out of 33 respondents listed Dave ESL Café’s as one of the language learning websites that
they frequently accessed. The interview data revealed that this was the website recommended by one of
their English lecturers. The interview data demonstrated further evidence of use of wireless technology
for English Language learning. Interviewee F stated that she used various sources available from the
Internet to help her improve her English:
I do go online for correcting my grammar if there’s something I’m not sure about it. I do that
often. I’ll just randomly go to any grammar websites for reference. (Interviewee F)
She also accessed non-academic websites to keep up-to-date on her favourite sports and also to
look for materials to help her improve her English:
Besides that, ESPN Star because I want to keep updated with the sports event around the world.
The other one is AC Milan authentic online because it’s my favourite football club. So,
I want to keep updated with what happen to the club and recently I always use twitter to update
my current status. They help in language learning like there’re a lot of different languages used
in the websites. (Interviewee F)
Aside from that, 23 (69.7%) students also indicated that they used wireless technology to
access free dictionary online websites such as Merriam-Webster Online (www.merriam-webster.
com), Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (prpm.dbp.gov.my) and also Oxford Dictionaries Online
(oxforddictionaries.com) on a regular basis. Interview data also supported this finding. Interviewee A
declared that his favourite website was Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu, (PRPM):
My favourite website is of course Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu, when I access any website,
I’ll make sure the other tab of my browser is the PRPM website so that I can check what the
meaning of the word and so on. (Interviewee A)
For sub-category 2, the highest percentages (90.9%) of students utilised Wi-Fi to search for
reference materials and to submit assignment and 63.3% used it to conduct research and communicate
with lecturers. All the interviewees also used the Wi-Fi to undertake course-related tasks especially
with regard to searching for reference materials. Three of them expressed confidence in their ability to
recognise reliable sources:

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I think it is reliable if it has some references. It will have the same reliability with the book if
they put some references. (Interviewee A)
I think some of the information or articles I get from the Internet are reliable like the one
from the library because they also provide journals online and they are reliable as our
reference.(Interviewee D)
We have internet access directly from the library, PTSL even our PPBL we have GEMA online.
As scholars we know that they’re reliable sources, so it depends on our ability to recognise
which sources are reliable which sources are not. (Interviewee C)
Respondent F further pointed out that she went online as that is the easiest way to get information
for her assignment.
I’ll go online rst because it’s the easiest way to get rough information about the topic that we
are going to do and to get another references then we go to the library. (Interviewee F)
Respondent C concurred by saying:
I will say 80% will be on assignment and 20% will be the realization of my motivation to learn
more.
(Interviewee C)
Utilising Wi-Fi to communicate for learning purposes seemed to be less common with only
20 (11.8%) indicating that they practiced this. Thus, despite the fact that the Wi-Fi can allow students
to communicate in any location and at any time to discuss their work, not many students exploited
this benefit. However, two interviewed respondents seemed to have successfully utilised it for this
purpose:
Most of the time, we did our discussion on our assignments online. Because we are not from the
same residential college. (Interviewee D)
Quite often. We always use that because we are lack of time to do the discussion. But I still
prefer face to face discussion. (Interviewee B)
Interviewees A’s and C’s responses supported that of Interviewee B above:
No, I never tried online discussion for my assignment. I prefer face to face interaction.
(Interviewee A)
Communication needs real life authentic interaction between friends so that we can really share
our opinion because when we are online on Skype or even on messengers we tend to say
yes and nod our head virtually to everything just to make the online discussion goes
faster. (Interviewee C)
Thus the finding suggests that the students prefer face-to-face discussion with their coursemates.
However, the students would do it if they were put in a position where they had no choice but to
comply as indicated below:
Some subjects they provide us with this facility like Multimedia English. We had to participate
in the discussion forum, talking about academic stuff. The lecturer will post a topic or a
question then we will give our opinion. We did that through SPIN and we got mark for it also.
(Interviewee F)

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Finally, the questionnaire survey indicated that only 13(39.4%) students accessed Wi-Fi for
autonomous/life learning purposes. However, this finding should not be interpreted as meaning that
they lacked autonomous/lifelong learning characteristics as the questionnaire and interview data
indicated that many students used it to search the Internet for learning materials, checking dictionary
and also communicating with their coursemates to discuss work on their own accord without being
directed by their lecturers which are all characteristics of autonomous/lifelong learning. In addition,
when the interviewees were questioned directly, they said that wireless technology did not help them
improve their English language skills. Thus, it would appear many students were not aware that the
activities that were undertaking would enhance their English language skills and would enable them
to be more autonomous.
ACCESSING WIFI FOR GENERAL PURPOSES
As depicted in the Table 2, more than 80% of respondents access the Internet via wireless technology
for social purposes to communicate with their friends and relatives. Thus, it can be deduced that this
seems to be the prime motive why these students access wireless technology. Accessing the Internet
for entertainment and utilities purposes took a distance second and third position respectively.
TABLE 2. Accessing Wifi for general purposes
Sub-Category % of students
1. Communicate for social pur-
poses (with family and friends)
Communicate via emails 100 (n=33)
Social networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc) 93.9 (n=31)
Chatting (Yahoo messenger, MSN, Skype, etc) 84.8 (n=28)
Blogging 97.0 (n=32)
2. Entertainment Watching videos, music les, documents, pictures via emails 45.5 (n=15)
3.Utilities purposes
Movie tickets booking 36.4 (n= 12)
Online shopping 21.2 (n=7)
Making online payment (bills, prepaid, etc.) 21.2 (n=7)
Total 500 (n=165)
Data from the questionnaire revealed that 66.6% of respondents spent around 1 to 8 hours every
day online, followed by 27.3 % who spent 9 to 16 hours online every day and only 6% spent 17 to 24
hours online every day. The high possibility of these students spending the bulk of their online visits
for social purposes is highly disturbing and this seems to be the case as supported by the interview
data. The seven interviewees admitted that they spent a lot of time accessing wireless to communicate
with their families and friends via Facebook.
Facebook. To keep in touch with others, to look at the friends’ photos, to comment on the status.
(Interviewee B)
Most of the time Facebook because it’s for social networking. I think all people around the
world use facebook as their rst medium for communication. (Interviewee D)
Facebook to keep updated with friends that’s the easiest way to get connected with friends.
(Interviewee F)

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Mostly it will be those social websites. And Youtube searching for latest videos, latest update
on my favourite celebrity. Interviewee C)
THE ADDED VALUE OF WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY
Likert scale of 1 to 4 was used to measure added value of the wireless technology available in UKM.
1 was for “Strongly Disagree”, 2 for “Disagree”, 3 for “Agree” and 4 for “Strongly Agree”. As show
in Table 3, the mean scores for all the items were 3 and above which indicates that the respondents
agreed that all the added value items listed applied to accessing wireless technology. The top two items
were for accessibility anywhere and productive use of leisure time and this was followed closely by
acquisition of appropriate skills and the other items. The lowest mean score was for “Communication
with native speakers of English” but the score is still 3 which suggests students do use it for this
purpose. Interviewee E explicitly elaborated on this:
Yes, it does. For me, mastering a language is all about practicing it. The more I use it, the better
I get. With wireless technology, I get to communicate with native speakers of English through
some forums on computers, on mobile phones that I joined online. Even though those forums
that I joined are not for academic purpose, but I get to somehow communicate with the members
who mostly are native speaker of English. I think it’s a great opportunity to improve my English
language and at the same time, adding more contacts and gained new knowledge on technology.
(Interviewee E)
TABLE 3. Added values gained from wireless technology
N Mean Std. Deviation
Able to access the Internet anywhere 33 3.48 .508
More productive leisure time 33 3.45 .506
Become more skillful 33 3.42 .614
Wider general knowledge 33 3.39 .556
Stronger bonding among friends 33 3.24 .561
Cut cost for connection 33 3.18 .846
Communicate with the native speakers of English 33 3.00 .707
Valid N (listwise) 33
The interview data also suggested that although some respondents may be using wireless
technology for general purposes and this may have added value of enhancing learning indirectly by
enabling them to be more productive and to acquire multitasking skills and general knowledge. This is
demonstrated in the responses from the interviewees below.
Honestly, the laptop will be on for the whole day. Maybe while waiting for a le to nished
downloading, I can do something else and it’s not really a problem because it’s up to individual’s
motivation. (Interviewee C)
I use my Facebook, not only for entertainment but also for enrichment of my knowledge. You
can see that I post Facebook status that is related to language. Actually every day I access the
Facebook to enrich my knowledge. (Interviewee A)

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CHALLENGES FACED IN USING WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY
Despite all the added values associated with the use of wireless technology there are challenges that
need to be overcome. As presented in Table 4 below, the biggest challenge is to overcome infrastructural
problems faced by wireless service users in UKM i.e. network congestion, lack of coverage and
interference from environment. A problem related to this is high possibility of getting virus infection
which also recorded a reasonably high mean of 2.79.
TABLE 4. Challenges faced in using wireless technology
Challenge Problem N Mean Std.
Deviation
1. Infrastructural problems
Network congestion 33 3.24 .614
No network coverage 33 3.15 .712
Interference from the environment 33 3.06 .704
High possibility to get virus infection 33 2.79 .857
2. Coping problems
Affect my health 33 2.75 .839
Having difculties to focus on my work 33 2.70 .883
Suffering of insomnia due to staying up late 33 2.36 .859
Laziness 33 2.33 .816
Financial constraints 33 2.27 .674
No time to access the Internet 33 2.15 .712
The interviewees also complained about such problems.
For Jaring, sometimes it’s good, sometimes it is not that good because it depends on the amount
of the users. (Interviewee A)
In the morning, the speed is faster. (Interviewee A)
Very bad. It’s very fast in the morning but it always disconnect during night. (Interviewee B)
The second challenge is overcoming problems related to coping issues. Though the mean
scores for this set of problems are lower than the first set, it is still of serious concern for the university
as problems such as health problems, insomnia and laziness will adversely affect students’ academic
performance. Thus, it cannot be denied that overindulgence on wireless technology can lead to poor
time management and eventually poor academic results though as pointed out by Interviewee G, it is
not the technology that is at fault but the users themselves.
It’s mainly because of time management and the students’ attitude, not because of wireless
technology. (Interviewee G)
However not every student has the willpower to control themselves and that in itself may pose
as a serious problem unless the university authorities take steps to rectify this problem.

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DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS OF FINDINGS
The data revealed that the two wireless service providers in UKM, UKM Jaring Wi-Fi and UKM
Hotspots have provided reasonably wide coverage and almost all students utilised these services to
access the Internet. However, the lack of Hotspots access points as well as wired connection in some
residential colleges is a problem that needs to be addressed rapidly to reduce the traffic imposed on
UKM Jaring Wi-Fi and available Hotspots.
The results further revealed that the students accessed the Internet through wireless services
for a variety of purposes and many of these reasons are related to learning in general and in particular
the learning of English, such as accessing Dave’s ESL Café and accessing English dictionaries. This
is indeed encouraging which suggests that UKM lecturers should make an effort to introduce more
such websites to students to further help them improve their English language skills and also promote
autonomous and lifelong learning. Besides that, many students also utilised the Internet to undertake
course-related tasks. However, these services seemed to be less use for the purpose of communication for
learning. The interview data further revealed that students preferred face-to-face discussion. However,
if directed by the teachers they would comply willingly. This supports studies undertaken by Thang
& Azarina (2007), Thang (2009a & b), Thang & Bidmeshki (2010) revealed that Malaysian learners
in particular UKM learners are teacher-centric and preferred learning via the face-to-face mode. This
suggests that UKM lecturers need to introduce components that will give the students opportunities
to take part in online discussions and online blogs for learning purposes. Lecturers can also include
the activities into their courses. This will encourage the students to participate and hopefully this will
develop into a pattern of behavior that they will practice even when they are not forced to do so. With
everything being mobile nowadays, mobile language learning through mobile phones can also be
introduced. The fact that not all students can afford a laptop; mobile learning through mobile phones
will come in handy. There are plenty of applications for mobile phones that can be downloaded for
free on the Internet.
All these students also used wireless technology to communicate with their friends and family
members. The data suggest that a lot of the students’ time is spent on social networking systems such
as Facebook. This finding is in line with the finding of a study by Razak et al. (2010) on the use of
social networking tools like Facebook, Friendster, and MySpace in Malaysia. Her study revealed that
even in the rural areas, the utilization of social networking sites was as high as 59%. Thus, it is not
surprising that all students in UKM participate actively in such activities. This is worrying as excessive
involvement in such activities may affect academic performance adversely. However, such activities
are not without benefits as it may have added value of enhancing learning indirectly by enabling
students to be more productive and to acquire multitasking skills and general knowledge. Majority of
the students also acknowledged that wireless accessibility are capable of providing added values such
as accessibility anywhere, productive use of leisure time and acquisition of appropriate skills including
“Communication with native speakers of English” (though this is happening to a lesser extent) which
suggest that efforts which should be taken by lecturers to initiate such efforts in a more structured
way.
Although it is not possible to pinpoint with precision the benefits of wireless technology to
English Language learning, it is possible to surmise that wireless technology has opened up new
avenues for English Language learning for UKM students leading to direct learning through accessing
English language learning websites and online dictionaries, communicating socially online for learning
purposes, to incidental learning through involvement in social networking and entertainment activities.

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These activities are more stimulating and motivating than conventional face-to-face mode learning.
However, teachers’ guidance, direction and supervision are still needed to spur the students forward as
these students value teachers’ directions and are generally reluctant to participate in online discussion
and blogs unless their contributions are evaluated and marks are given for their efforts.
The challenges facing the use of wireless technology in UKM is not very different from those
facing other developing countries and also in other contexts in Malaysia. Infrastructure problems such
as traffic congestion, no network coverage and interference from the environment are severe problems
facing UKM. Thang et al (2010) in their study on the use of technology in creating communities of
practice among Malaysian Smart schools teachers also found infrastructural problems to be a serious
impeding factor. Network congestion in UKM is particularly serious during the peak hours of 5pm to
12am. This has caused a great deal of dissatisfaction among the UKM students especially since they
are required to pay a fee for using the service. To make it worse, there is no wired connection in two
big residential colleges. A possible solution is to provide more wireless routers at the dormitories so
that the network would not crashed during peak hours.
Another possible cause of traffic congestion is heavy streaming of materials from online websites
such as Youtube.com for example and downloading media files like songs and movies. Razak et al.
(2010) in a nationwide study found this to be a serious problem among Malaysian youths. It cannot be
denied that the data derived from this study revealed that the usage of wireless technology for language
learning is less compared to social networking and entertainment purposes. Thus, measures have to
be undertaken to address this problem. However, some students in this study used social networking
sites to discuss online and to do group assignments. Thus, measures undertaken should be restricted to
non-academic activities such as excessive downloading and streaming of materials as these can cause
serious traffic congestion.
Another problem that needs to be looked into is the high possibility of the students’ laptops
being infected by viruses. This can happen because the laptops are connected to the network and virus
transmission can occur if the users do not take due care. Ali Salman et al (2010) states that computer
virus attack should not be taken lightly and that it is not sufficient only to install antivirus software to
protect our systems because new viruses are discovered every day. Therefore, such matter should be
carefully monitored by the university and students should be given appropriate advice on how to assure
their laptops are virus-free.
Another serious challenge is how to assure students do not neglect their studies because of
excessive involvement in online activities. Massimini and Peterson (2009) in their study also reported
that accessing Internet was the prime cause for students’ tardiness for classes. Time management
courses and courses to instill self-discipline should be offered to students and lecturers should monitor
student progress on a regular basis. Measures should also be undertaken by the university authorities
to halt unhealthy online activities.
However, despite the challenges faced, it cannot be denied that the advantages of wireless
technology outweigh its disadvantage and if the problems identified can be significantly reduced it will
open up new avenues of learning that were not possible before.
CONCLUSION
More extensive data can be gathered if a bigger sample was used in this study. It would be better if
the samples are students from different faculties and disciplines so that comparative analysis between
fields can be done concerning the pattern of accessing wireless technology and also the types of

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online materials that they accessed. This can be used to determine whether the availability of wireless
technology is beneficial to the students, not only ELS students, but to all the students of UKM.
The invention of wireless technology has opened up a world of possibilities as far as teaching
and learning are concerned. This technology has the potential of changing the way students access
their learning opportunities. Instead of learning something for the sake of getting good grades in
the examination, it has the potential of changing students’ mindset into accepting autonomous and
lifelong learning as being ‘just the way it is’ rather than something that is separated from everyday
living and working (Esson, 2005). However, this will not occur if wireless technology is misused
and abused, thus it is hoped that the findings of this research will provide insights that will enable a
better understanding of the intricacies involved in adopting wireless technology and will lead to the
fulfillment of the abovementioned goals.
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