17 Educational Use And Misuse Of Smartphones Among Economics Students In Tertiary Institutions In Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study employed a descriptive survey design in assessing the educational use and misuse of smartphones among Economics studentsin tertiary institutions in Enugu state. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 300sample size from the total population of 764 Economics students in the study area. In the first stage, simple random sampling was used to select one federal and one state higher institutions in Enugu. Economics students were purposively selected from each of the higher institutions and were divided into strata. The simple random sampling was employed to select 300 respondents as the sample size.The main instrument for the study was educationaluse and misuse of smartphones Questionnaire (EUMSPQ) designed by the researcher. Mean, standard deviation, t-test and ANOVA were used to analyze collected data in order to answer research questions and hypotheses. The findings of this study showed that the use of smartphones for educational purposes significantly influence male and female students positively in their academic performance.Secondly, some students used smartphones for examination mal-practice to the extent that they lose confidence in learning. The age difference was not a significant factor in the use and misuse of smartphones in higher institutions for educational purposes. Moreover, the frequency of use of the smartphone by male and female senior secondary school students for educational purposes encourages examination malpractice,especially in external examination. The recommendation is that the administrator should educate studentsa better way to utilize smartphones for educational purposes for effective learning.

Keywords: Smartphone, use, Misuse, Gender, Economics.

Introduction

Tertiary Institutions are institutions where students that have completed the primary and secondary school continue their study. It comprises of all post-secondary education, and research guidance at educational institutions such as universities that are authorized as institutions of higher education by state and federal authorities. According to World Bank (2017), the tertiary institution is the third level of education after primary and secondary education and it gives the attendees the opportunity to study a subject area that can boost career prospects and potential earning in future. Tertiary education is most times referred to higher education. Tertiary education is taken to include: undergraduate and postgraduate education. This study is focused on students of undergraduate education in tertiary institutions in Enugu State. There are innovations in tertiary institutions especially in the quality of learning. These changes deal with methods of learning, improving in content and so on. In today modern institutions, methods of learning are advancing to digital learning the essence is to comprehend information and give students opportunities to globally compete with their peers.

Technology according to Remey (2013) is a body of knowledge devoted to creating tools processing actions and the extraction of materials. Technology has an important impact on all aspect of higher education. It brings new opportunities and means of improving access and quality of higher education (Jense, 2019).. technology reduces inequalities in terms of access to knowledge and information. There are many technological devices used in the educational system to enhance learning, they include computers, smartphones, tablets and so on. For the purpose of this study, the smartphone is the technological device which the researchers investigated to find out how undergraduate students use and misuse them for academic purposes.

Education transforms an individual to adapt to changing situations in society. Higher institutions is an important stage that attracts the attention of parents, teachers,and the government of every modern society because they are the future hope of any country. Most students at higher institutions level have attained adolescence. This stage is a critical stage in human development where an individual experience a lot of developmental changes (Njihia & Owor, 2017). Children at this stage are eager to become what they want to be by all means. Some of them go astray if they are not directed properly. Hence, many of them who are opportune to have smartphone occupy their daily activities with the use of smartphones where they learn both good and bad way of life. To them, it is information and technological age.

Literature Review

The smartphone is one of the most unique and sophisticated trends in communication in today’s world. It is a mobile phone running a complete operating system in a manner similar to a traditional computer which offers advanced computing abilities and connectivity options (Hejab & Jusoh, 2014). These features of the smartphone pave way for the invention of a new kind of mobile phone that gives the users the opportunity to learn new skills and information. According to Hejab and Jusoh (2014), the smartphone came into being in the year 2000. Smartphone has become the desired device by users due to the thing it can do. This device is beginning to replace desktop computers. Activities which can be performed on the smartphone include, sharing information, sending and receiving emails, chatting, opening and editing documents, playing games, buying products, shopping, sourcing for information, video recording and so on.

Smartphone in this study is one of the information and communication technological device that aid in the fast acquisition of knowledge necessary for the development of an individual and the society at large. According to Fawareh and Jusoh (2017), the smartphone is a device that has the capability to change people way of lives. Arefin, Islam, Mustafi, Afrin, and Islam (2017) defined smartphone as a document from which information on education and entertainment are obtained through the usage of numerous applications. Smartphones are one of the advancements of ICT’s devices which became popular since the late 1990s (Meek, 2006). Now, it is very popular with young people. Previously, when telephones( landlines) were in use, distractions and disruptions are minimal. In the present, newer communication devices are now developed such as a smartphone which is becoming a compulsory basic need among adolescents. This device (smartphone) has become so rampant that they are used in the classrooms by students. The motive of a parent who provides this smartphone to their wards is for them to communicate with them but students have gone beyond this motive to get themselves distracted with a negative application which is accessible through the internet. Most times, the limited time the children have to study are being wasted on non-academic use of a smartphone. This does not only affect them socially but also impact negatively on their academic performance. Fawareh and Jusoh (2017) opined that many people adopted new and exciting technology as one of the most important required facility in their everyday life, and smartphone is one of them which according to the researchers is a distractor if not used wisely. In education and specifically in higher institutions, smartphones has led to the evolution of a new paradigm known as mobile learning or (m-learning) (Muyinda, Mugisa & Lynch,2007). According to Ferry in Halder et al (2015), smartphones can be used to help students to access web-based contents, remix it, share it, collaborate with others and create information that is useful for the classroom teacher and the global audience.

Higher institutions is a level of education where adolescents utilize their time and energy to learn and build up their future carrier. It is a stage students learn how to be independent and use their initiative to decide what they will be in the future. Most of them have the opportunity to utilize and access their smartphone because that is the only medium to contact their parents and relation. It is assumed that this class of students will use their smartphone effectively as theyadvance in experience but some of them are misusing it. Effective use of smartphones could transform education and prepare students to adapt to the rapid changes and challenges of this century. Before the 21st century, parents do not buy a mobile phone for their children but presently in this 21st century, technology has advanced so rapidly that parents buy a smartphone for their ward with the intention that it helps them academically. Students in higher institutions come to school with a smartphone and even use it in the class when the lecture is going on and in the examination hall. This has become a big concern to teachers, parents and other education stakeholders due to the activities they engage in using a smartphone which may or may not help them academically. Although, some students use smartphones effectively to acquire new knowledge without the guidance of the lecturers. This also encourages students to study on their own and imbibe the skills of self-efficacy introduced by Albert Bandura. Smartphones applications allow users access to share relevant information for their class programs quite effectively, it equally gives them an opportunity to collaborate in resolving different academic tasks. Students who use it academically can learn at their own pace and parents and teachers can follow up the academic progress of their students more closely (Njihia & Owor, 2017). Sevari (2012) retorted that effective use of smartphones could help the students to learn through sound, short text messages, a graphical display, information obtained from data, internet search, cameras, and video chips. Abstract and difficult concepts can easily be comprehended through the use of smartphones. Sevari (2012) buttressed that these smartphones could improve students’ critical thinking skills; constructive use of time and short message service. This implies that students can access information on several topics given by the teacher onthe internet. Some students of higher institutions use smartphones as a guide in doing their class assignment and in that manner discover more knowledge and ideas which is different from the one the lecturer gives in the class during the learning process. Students can have access to textbooks they do not have through the effective use of smartphones. According to Wainwright (2007), smartphones are alternative to textbooks as it reduces the time students use to search for information from the encyclopedia and other hard copy sources. Students find digital textbooks, articles and lots of materials for educational purposes on the internet through the use of smartphones. Irrespective of fact that some students effectively utilize smartphones for educational purposes, there are lots of students that misuse it in order to entertain themselves while the lesson is going on.Students of various disciplines including Economics use smartphones. However, students use of smartphone in Economics will enable them to understand the abstractness of the subject and more so, understand the economic system of other economies due to unending access to information on the internet using a smartphone.

Economics in this study is a social science that deals with human relationship with his environment and how the scarce resources will be equitably shared and utilized to achieve maximum satisfaction. Robbins as far back as 1932 refers to Economics as a social science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses. This definition by Robbins reveals different concepts in Economics which if well understood explain what the study of Economics is all about and its benefits to mankind and the economy. Sharma (2012) refers to Economics as a subject that studies laws and principles which govern the functioning of an economy and its various parts; that is how society decides on using its scarce resources to obtain the maximum possible satisfaction for the members of the society whose wants for goods and services are unlimited. Consequently, Hall (2013) states that Economics is the study of how individuals, firms and whole societies identify their most important needs, allocate and manage scarce resources in such a way that satisfy as many needs as possible.The study of Economics enables an individual to find a possible solution to the economic problem in society.  Application of smartphone can help Economics students to understand some certain concept in Economics which does not well explain in the lecture hall. Economics students can use their smartphone and browse the internet to get more knowledge of the concepts and equally guide them to do their assignment outside the classroom environment. The use of smartphone in the study of Economics is so needful especially due to the nature of Economics and also the attitude of students towards the subject. Economics is seen as a difficult and abstract subject. The use of a smartphone may help to improve the learning difficulties in Economics and give the learners the opportunity to understand it more and it could be a stress-free platform. The issue is that some Economics students misuse the smartphone and do other things that are not academically in nature like sending text messages to their friends while the lecture is going on, watching the video, etc. Students in higher institutions are carried away by games, videos chat even class hours thereby reducing the abilities to concentrate during lessons (Njihia & Owor, 2017). This is one of the reasons while students insist to use the phone regularly in the classroom.  Some parents are not aware of the danger they expose their children to especially when the smartphone is misused. Some criticsare of the opinion that text messages and other digital communication that is habitual affect social skills negatively like effective listening (Kuznekoff & Titsworth, 2013). Rabiu, Muhammed, Umaru and Ahmed (2016) argued that smartphones make it easy for the adolescents to possess different kinds of social media and pornographic sites where they access, download, exchange and watch pornographic films of different sexual orientations worldwide. All these things distract them during the learning process and lead to poor performance. Some parents are ignorant of what their ward use smartphones to do because of their carefree attitude. Some students in the higher institutions use smartphones to occupy themselves by chatting with each other, sharing pornographic images, brief funny video clip within and outside the school environment and danger their progress in education at this crucial stage of preparation for their future (Njihia & Owor, 2017). According to Burns and Lohenry (2010), both students and instructors see mobile phone use as a distraction in class, and moreover, Campbell (2006) also discovered that students and instructors are aware that the ringing of cell phones in class has become uncontrollable.

More so, a good number of students use smartphones for examination malpractice. It serves as an aid for cheating and that is why the problem of poor performance is a big challenge to educators as if there is no remedy for it. Njihia and Owor (2017) further buttressed that teachers and students involve themselves with text messages and camera in the smartphones to send and photocopy examination questions. Consequently, some copies of examinations and answers that used to be circulated among students a few days before the date of examination are held could be as a result of misuse of the smartphone. In our country today,some universities examination papers used to leak before the actual day of the examination, this can be as a result of misuse of smartphones. Most times, students download lecture materials online and decide not to attend classes since the information is on their smartphones. They also educationally misuse smartphone when they engage in chatting in the class while the lecture is going on. Moreover, the misuse of smartphones in higher institutions could cause cases of drop-outs, immorality, truancy, massive failure, examination mal-practices, improper dress codes, indiscriminate sexual relationships with opposite sex as well as same-sex and other violent behaviors. Another issue of concern in this paper is the issue of whether these problems are attributed more to male or female students.

Gender in the use of smartphones is a significant factor in this study. Gender consists of male and female students attribute in the use and misuse of smartphone for educational purposes. Some authors believe that the use of smartphones in higher institutions is feature more among male students than female students while some believe that female students use smartphones regularly than male students. Snowman, McCown, and Biehler (2009) argued that although there is no overall difference between males and females in computer use, small gender differences still exist in the ways in which computers are used. Gender is usually a problem in the educational system. Male students are inclinedtothe use of a computer device and they can smuggle it in the classroom environment even if the teacher disallowed it. Gender difference also exists in the ways in which smartphones are used. Yang, Lin, Huang, and Chang (2018) indicated that females exhibited significantly higher degrees of smartphone dependence and smartphone influence. Consequently, Chen, Liu, Ding, Ying, Wang, and wen (2017) discovered that males were addicted by playing games on smartphones while females were addicted by multimedia and social networking applications on a smartphone. Their masculine features affect their characters in educational purposes. Some of them cannot be controlled in the classroom environment.The use of smartphone both in federal and state universities can make some students be lazy in making research for their courses. Many of them depend on the information in the smartphone than learning how to develop critical skills that will enable them to improve their academic achievement.

Since recent technological advancement has made smartphones to be popular in higher institutions and students use or misuse it in different ways which may enhance or endanger its purposes education. There is a high rate of immoral, indiscriminate sexual relationship, massive failures among others in the educational system. Students have become too lazy to study and read materials instead they have resorted to be distracted by communication gadget like a smartphone to the extent that they use it in the examination hall to download information. This affected their student-teacher relationship and their general performance.It is very needful to source the opinions of students themselves on their uses of a smartphone. Thus, it was against this background that this study investigated the educational use and misuse of smartphones among Economics students in tertiary institutions in Enugu state. Specifically, the researchers focus on Federal and State Universities in the study area.

The objective of the study

The main objective of the studyis on the use and misuse of smartphones for educational purposes by  Economics students in the higher institutions. Specifically, the objectives are:

1. To determine the educational use of smartphone among Economics students in tertiary Institutions in Enugu State
2. To determine the educational misuse of smartphones among Economics students in tertiary Institutions in Enugu State.
3. To determine the extent Economics students in the tertiary Institutions misuse smartphones for educational purposes.

Research Questions

1. What is the educational use of smartphone among Economics students in tertiary Institutions in Enugu State?
2. What is the educational misuse of smartphones among Economics students in tertiary Institutions in Enugu State?
3. What is the extent Economics students in tertiary Institutions misuse smartphones for educational purposes?

Hypotheses

The hypotheses below that guided the study were tested at 0.05 level of significance.

Ho1: There is no significantmean difference in the educational use and misuse of smartphones among Economics students in tertiary Institutions by gender.

Ho2: There is no significantmean differencein the educational use and misuse of smartphones among Economics students in tertiary Institutions by school type.

Theoretical Framework

This study is anchored on connectivism theory propounded by George Siemens (2004) and

Stephen Downes (2005). This theory is a learning theory for the digital age. The proponent of this

theory is that learning and knowledge depend on the diversity of opinion. Learning deals with

connecting information from different sources which improves the capacity to know more.

Continual learning is facilitated by nurturing and maintaining connections. When the learners

have the ability to connections in ideas and concepts, core skill will develop. This theory also stated that knowledge is cause to be beyond individual human participants and is changing everytime. Furthermore, knowledge is distributed across a network connection.

The relationship between the theory and the present study is that students connect

information through internet browsing and this information will be disseminated among their

friends. Effective use of smartphone will enable the students to connect their ideas and thoughts

when they get information from social media. Students connect information from different social media when they use their smartphone effectively. This will motivate them to understand the concept presented to them and equally connect their friends and share information and it will make them be connected learners both within and outside the society.

Methodology

The study adopted a descriptive survey design because it intended to investigate the educational use and misuse of smartphones among Economics students in higher institutions.The study was carried out in Enugu State. The population of the study consisted of all Economics students in two higher institutions in Enugu state (University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Enugu State University) with a population of 764 Economics students.Three hundred and twenty-Eight (328) Economics students are from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka(UNN) while four hundred and thirty-six (436) Economics students are from Enugu State University(ESUT). From the total population, 484 are male students while 280 are female students. Multi-stage sampling technique was employed in this study. Firstly, simple random sampling was used to select one federal and one state higher institutions in Enugu State. Economics students were purposively selected from the institutions. Simple random sampling was also used to select 150 students from both federal and state higher institutions making a total of 300 Economics students.

The main instrument for the study was Educational Use and misuse of smartphones Questionnaire (EUMSPQ) designed by the researchers was sub-divided into two sections. Section “A” is personal data while section “B” is on the use and misuse of smartphones and it is divided into three clusters. The instrument was a 35-items structured questionnaire. Cluster A was structured on a two-point scale of “use and not use”. Cluster B was structured on a 4-point rating scale of:Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree and strongly disagree with a corresponding weight of 4, 3,2, and 1 respectively. Cluster C was structured on a 4-point rating scale of very high extent, high extent, low extent and not all with a corresponding weight of 4, 3, 2, and 1 respectively. The instrument was validated by three experts; one from the Department of Science Education and two from the Department of Social Science Education, University of Nigeria Nsukka. The overall reliability of the instrument was estimated to be 0.82 using Cronbach Alpha method. Mean, percentage and the standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while t-test of independent samples was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance.

Results 

Research question one. What is the educational use of smartphone among Economics students in tertiary institutions in Enugu state?

Table one: frequency and percentage of responses of respondents on the educational use of smartphone among Economics students in tertiary institutions in Enugu state.

N = 296

The data in table one shows the educational use of smartphone among Economics students in tertiary institutions in Enugu state. In this cluster, 11 item questionnaires were presented to the respondents in which their percentage ratings were above 50 benchmark required for accepting an item. Hence, the responses from the respondents shows that they use smartphones to access topics in Economics, send text, search relevant information, understand difficult topics, assignment, tutorial program and digital textbooks.

Research question two. What is the educational misuse of smartphone among Economics students in tertiary institutions in Enugu State?

Table two: frequency and percentage of responses of respondents on the educational misuse of smartphone among Economics students in tertiary institutions in Enugu State.

N = 296

The data in table two shows the responses of respondents on the educational misuse of smartphone among Economics students in tertiary institutions in Enugu State. In this cluster 12 item questionnaires were presented to respondents. It shows that respondents responses on item 1 and 3 had percentage score of 60.5 and 51.3 respectively which showed that the respondent agreed that use smartphone to chat and download educational materials as the percentage score were above 50%. On item 2, 4 to 12 which had percentage range between14.0 to 49.7 shows that the respondents disagreed on those item as their percentage score were below 50% in agreement column. Thus, the respondents disagreed that they used their smartphone to, copy assignment verbatim, in exam hall, for revision instead of notes, play music in class, recording lectures, play game and answer call in exam hall.

Research question three: What is the extent Economics students in tertiary institutions misuse smartphone for educational purposes?

Table three: mean and standard deviation of the responses of the respondents on the extent Economics students in tertiary institutions misuse smartphone for educational purposes

N =296

VHE = Very high Extent, HE = High Extent, LE = Low Extent, VLE = Very Low Extent

In the table three, the data shows the mean and standard deviation of respondents on the extent Economics students in tertiary institutions misuse smartphone for educational purposes. In this cluster 12 item questionnaires were presented to the respondents in which all the item had mean ratings below 2.50 indicating that they misuse their smartphone to a low extent in the classroom.

Hypothesis one: there is no significant mean difference in the educational use and misuse of smartphones among Economics students in the tertiary institutions by gender

Table four: t-test of analysis of no significant mean difference in the educational use and misuse of smartphones among Economics students in the tertiary institutions by gender.

Table four show the probability associated with the calculated t (1.034) for the moderating influence of gender on the educational use and misuse of smartphones among Economics students in the tertiary institution is .302. Since the probability value of .302 is greater than the 0.05 level of significance, the null hypothesis was not rejected meaning that there is no significant influence of gender on the educational use and misuse of smartphones among Economics students in the tertiary institutions.

Hypothesis two: there is no significant mean difference in the educational use and misuse of smartphones among Economics students in the tertiary institutions by school type

Table five: t-test analysis of no significant in the mean difference in the educational use and misuse of smartphones among Economics students in the tertiary institutions by school type.

Table five shows the probability associated with the calculated t (3.635) for the moderating influence of school type on the educational use and misuse of smartphones among Economics students in the tertiary institution is .000. Since the probability value of .000 is less than the 0.05 level of significance, the null hypothesis was rejected meaning that there is significant influence of school type on the educational use and misuse of smartphones among Economics students in the tertiary institutions.

Discussion of Findings

Results obtained for research question 1, showed that students use smartphones to access topics in Economics, send text messages, research relevant informations, understand difficult topics, search for Economics digital textbooks and search information to do assignment. This findings is in line with the observation of Cha and Seo (2018) that youg people express themselves, communicate with friends and serach for relevant information using smartphones. This showed that students frequently used their smartphones for learning. This result supports the earlier findings of Campbell (2006) who found that young people usually see smartphone as a way of life and regard technology as very important for social connections. This results is in agreement with Wainwright (2017) which found that smartphone are alternative to textbooks and it reduces that time students used to search information from encyclopedias and other hard copies. The implication of this results is that students  use and trust the information they get from their smartphones more than the lecturers note/ information.

In the findings of this study in research question 2, showed that students agreed that they used their smartphones to, chat with their friends in the classroom and download educational materials during lectures. They equally disagreed that they use their smartphone to, copy assignment verbatim, inside examination hall, in place of class note during revision, listen to music during class, play game when lecture is going on and record lectures. This results revealed that students use their smartphones during lecture and this may cause distractions while the lecture is going on although many of them disagreed on items 2,4, 5 to 12. This findings is in line with the findings of Kayulilo (2014) who found that smartphone use is very common among young people and that there are both educational opportunities and dangers attached to them. This result is in line with Kuznekoff and Titsworth (2013) who observed that students who use their smartphone during class lectures are distracted and write down less information.

Result of research question 3 revealed that students misuse their smartphone to a low extent in the classroom. The results of this study also revealed that there is significant influence of school type on the educational use and misuse of smartphones among Economics students in tertiary institutions. This result is not in agrrement with Jackson et al (2014) who argued that smartphone has negative impact on students’ academic performance. This showed that the extent students used smartphone is minimal and that they are not addicted with the smartphone. The result of this study is not in support of Oulasvirta ea al (2012) who observed that smartphone addiction increased due to the habit of checking the phone when notification of sound or message is identified.

Conclusion

This study revealed that Economics students used smartphones to access topics in Economics, send text, search relevant information, understand difficult topics, assignment, tutorial program and digital textbooks. Further t-test analysis showed that that there is no significant influence of gender on the educational use of smartphones among Economics students in the tertiary institutions. Secondly, this study also revealed that Economics students do not use their smartphone to copy assignment verbatim, in exam hall, for revision instead of notes, play music in class, recording lectures, play game and answer call in exam hall. Further t-test analysis showed that there is significant influence of school type on the educational misuse of smartphones among Economics students in the tertiary institutions. Consequently, that economics student misuses their smartphone to low extent.

Recommendations

As a results of this research finding the following recommendations are made:

1. For effective utilization of smartphone for educational purposes, there is neeed to organize workshop for students in higher institutions to educate them on how to use smartphones to acquire relevant information for educational purposes and for a greater connectivity to academia in other countries. This will reduce unnecessary chatting in the lecture hall.
2. Lecturers should give their students assignment that will help them to utilize their smartphone for educational purposes instead of social activities.

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Correspondence can be directed to:

Ejimonye, Jovita Chinelo
Department of Social Science Education
University of Nigeria, Nsukka