Evolution of the versatility of gadgets

Phones before are not used that much in school. People use gadgets before just

for communication. Because technology are not yet that wide, most gadgets before are

just limited to communication. Gadgets were not yet involved in education (Rahul,

2012).

The very first gadget used for communication which was introduced in the ’60s

as a precellular system is the Radio Common Carrier (RCC). Like a radio, it could

transmit voice communication through a push-to-talk system, but it used a public

telephone network and had its own telephone number (Nguyen, 2012). And then Brick

phone followed. The classic brick phone had an LED screen and boasted 30 minutes of

talk time with eight hours of standby (Nicole, 2011). These two were only limited for

communication. After that the Clamshell Phone came. It had a red LED display and a

standard 12-button keypad, plus a menu of options including a calculator, hands-free

operation, keypad tones, and much, much more (Chowdhury, 2009). At this time, phone

now has its own calculator and much more that can help students in education. After

that, Nokia 8250 came. It was just like the Clamshell Phone but now has a better design

and background (Kathrin, 2007).

After those, smartphones came. At this time gadgets are more versatile and are

capable enough to help students at school.

In 2007, Apple Inc unveiled the Apple iPhone, which was the world’s first

advanced touchscreen smartphone. It can have applications for storage, internet access,

calculators, camera etc. which can help students in classroom works and homework.

(Chowdhury, 2009)
 After that the gadgets’ evolution continued and now it is more versatile and more

capable of doing things that can make communication, education, socialization, works

etc. a lot easier.

Bad effects of gadgets in academic performance

The gadgets are very useful, they help us connect to each other, they make us

learn new things and discover new things. The reason why computer technologies are

invented is to help make people’s life easier and to improve their way of life, especially

the students. Modern computer technologies make studying easier and fun to the

students. (Padilla, 2016)

But because of the misuse of gadgets the advantages of the gadgets are formed

into negative one. Students, because of lack of guidance and immaturity, they tend to

use gadgets in a different way making it a problem.

Students who use their computers or cell phones to participate in social

networking sites may post material considered inappropriate by school authorities. They

may also develop an unfavorable reputation based on those pictures or comments.

Pictures of misbehavior can adversely affect their chances of getting into the university

of their choice or of getting a job. (Coen, 2017)

Some students may attempt to do texting, playing games, talking on the phone

or socializing online while in class, which disrupts their learning, and at home it detracts

from study time. Kids putting in long hours on their gadgets will give less attention to

assignments and may be irritable when they are away from their gadgets. They might

also sleep less, which can slow down their thinking the next day. (Coen, 2017)
 Also gadgets can harm our brains. In The Mail Online, neurologist Susan

Greenfield (2005) says that technology use changes our brains and not always for the

better. Just thinking about doing something --- such as performing an action in a video

game --- affects your brain nearly as strongly as actually doing it. There is circumstantial

evidence linking a rise in Attention Deficit Disorder with increased use of video games,

causing many scientists to worry that children may do permanent harm to their brains

by spending too much time interacting with such gadgets.

Excessive use of mobile phones causes students to fare poorly in elementary,

junior high and high school, not only because it makes them lose their concentration

due to a lack of sleep, but also because it apparently compromises what they have

studied, researchers say. Students who spend several hours each day staring into

mobile phones or smartphones tend to change their sleeping habits and stay up late to

use the devices, education ministry research published Thursday showed. The research

was conducted last November with 23,139 participants from the fifth grade of primary

school up to the third year of high school, at 771 public schools nationwide. It showed,

for instance, that 53.5 percent of junior high students who said they use a mobile phone

for more than four hours a day to talk, send email or surf the Net, habitually do not get

to sleep until after midnight. That ratio was much lower, at 14.9 percent, for those who

don’t use mobile phones at all. The research also found that overusing mobile phones

affects the quality of students’ sleep. Asked if they find it hard to get up in the morning,

78.1 percent of junior high respondents who often watch or use electronic devices,

including TVs, game consoles, mobile phones and computers, immediately before

bedtime said they sometimes or frequently do have trouble the next morning. That

compared with 60.9 percent among those who don’t use gadgets at all. This lack of sleep

also affects school performance, said Junichi Sato, an education board official who led
the project, which was jointly carried out by the city of Sendai and Tohoku University.

The research, published in March, looked into the correlation between studying

enthusiasm and smartphone usage. It found that using a mobile phone for an extended

time even affects students who habitually study a lot. That implies a lack of sleep or

reduced study time as a result of mobile phone usage is not the only way these devices

affect performance at school. The study revealed that students who spent over two hours

every day both studying and using messaging apps, especially the popular Line, scored

worse on a math exam than those who spent less than 30 minutes a day but didn’t use

a smartphone at all. (Murai, 2008)

Also scientists have proved many ill-effects of the excessive use of gadgets, and

they cannot even imagine that it can make people retard. Yes, with the frequent use of

tech devices, it can disturb the normal functioning of a person’s brain. Uncontrolled use

of Google, Yahoo, Bing and other such search engines can destroy your creativity,

imagination power and also the ability to find out answers. (Wall, 2013)

Student’s brain develops at a rapid pace from the time they are born. A research

has shown that overexposure to gadgets can result in slow cognitive development,

attention deficit and even impaired hearing. So from the time they learn to utter their

first few words, the only person reading, singing songs and nursery rhymes and talking

to them should be you and not some fictitious character on the TV or that tablet. (Wom,

2007)

So with that, gadgets can make our work easier. If we use it in a constructive way

with limited usage then it is definitely a good thing to be appreciated. However, anything

that is used beyond its need and limits, it will definitely give us its adverse effects.

(Ahmed, 2010)