THE IMPACT OF GADGETS IN LEARNING

AMONG GRADE 11 STUDENTS

JOHANN CEASAR B. MENORCA

GIO ANGELO G. IDOS
RAFAEL JOHN M. MANANGAN
JERELYN A. PATACSIL

Urdaneta City National High School

Senior High School
Urdaneta City

November 2017
 THE IMPACT OF GADGETS IN LEARNING
AMONG GRADE 11 STUDENTS

A Research Paper Presented to the Faculty of Senior High School

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Strand
Urdaneta City National High School

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Subject

Research in Daily Life 2

Johann Ceasar B. Menorca

Gio Angelo G. Idos
Rafael John M. Manangan
Jerelyn A. Patacsil

November 2017
 APPROVAL SHEET

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the subject Research in Daily

Life 2, this research paper entitled “THE IMPACT OF GADGETS IN LEARNING
AMONG GRADE 11 STUDENTS” prepared and submitted by Johann Ceasar B.
Menorca, Gio Angelo G. Idos, Rafael John M. Manangan, and Jerelyn A.
Patacsil, is hereby approved and accepted.

MADONNA J. PALAGANAS LEAH L. OLUA, Ph.D.

Critic Reader Teacher

PANEL OF EXAMINERS

KATHY C. BENAVENTE
Chairman

KAREN C. CALIM BRUCE MARVIN M. RUARO

Member Member

Approved and accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

subject Research in Daily Life 2.

LEAH L. OLUA, Ph.D.

Subject Group Head, STEM
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The researchers would like to express their profound gratitude and

appreciation to the people who have extended their support, gave inspirations,

guidance and assistance for the completion of this study.

To their teacher, Dr. Leah L. Olua, for her guidance and technical support

and the golden opportunity to contribute to the society;

To the panel of examiners, Ma’am Kathy C. Benavente, Ma’am Karen C.

Calim, and Sir Bruce Marvin M. Ruaro, for their constructive criticisms and

suggestions that we need to further improve this research;

To their friends, for their kind gestures and moral support that played a

great role reminding the researchers to always have a positive mind;

To their families and relatives, for their financial support, love and

guidance that helped them in their desperate times; and

Above all, to the LORD ALMIGHTY, who’s there to always listen and give

support and love, and has given them strength to accomplish this project.

To all of them, this humble work is dedicated.

J.C.B.M.
G.A.G.I.
R.J.M.M.
J.A.P.
 ABSTRACT

Researchers: Johann Ceasar B. Menorca

Gio Angelo G. Idos

Rafael John M. Manangan

Jerelyn A. Patacsil

Institution: Urdaneta City National High School

Track: Academic Track

Strand: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

Adviser: Leah L. Olua, Ph.D.

Title of Study: THE IMPACT OF GADGETS IN LEARNING AMONG

GRADE 11 STUDENTS

The main objective of this study was to determine the impact of gadgets in

learning among Grade 11-STEM students at Urdaneta City National High School

during the school year 2017-2018. It looked into the frequency of use of the

gadgets in learning which are cellphones, computers, and tablets and the the

impact of gadgets in learning as perceived by the students. Further, it determined

the significant relationship between the frequency of use and the impact of

gadgets.

The study was conducted at Urdaneta City National High School,

Urdaneta City which included 70 Grade 11 student respondents who are enrolled

in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) strand during

the school year 2017-2018. This study made use of the quantitative research

design with the questionnaire as the main gathering tool.

The data were tabulated into a contingency table and treated with the

proper statistical measures.

For problem number 1 and 2, the Average Weighted Mean method was

used; a four-point scale and five-point scale Likert scale was used in the

analysis. The problem number 3 and the null hypothesis were tested for its

significance using the Pearson Product Correlation method.

Relative to the analyses and interpretation of data, it was deducted that

cellphones are always used by the students, computers are sometimes used by

the students and tablets are seldom used by the students in learning. This study

also deducted that the use of gadgets has a moderately positive impact in

learning but it also has a slightly negative impact. It was also deducted that there

was no significant correlation between the frequency of use and the impact of

gadgets.
 Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

This chapter serves as an introductory chapter. It contains the Background

of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Scope and Delimitation, Significance of

the Study and Definition of Terms.

Background of the Study

In today’s generation, technology has affected and changed the way

people live. Technology has made people’s lives more proficient and at ease.

There is hardly anyone who has not been changed by the advances in

technology and computers of today’s society. In today’s civilization,

transportation, communication, and education have been greatly developed from

new technological advancements. Many people have lesser stress in their lives

because there are new useful hi-tech inventions created each day to help them

do things quicker and easier. Some of these helpful technologies are cell phones,

computers, and the Internet.

Technology also has negative effects in the lives of the user, and in his/her

or her immediate friends and family members. It affects the individuals’ personal

health, family, social, financial, and academic life. Over using gadgets negatively
affects the mind of an individual. The individual loses focus as he/she only

concentrates on using gadgets or technology. He/she tends to forget other

aspect of life that is important, concentration reduces and the individual cannot

focus on other issues for long enough.

The use of technology in schools has opened up a new path of effective

learning. Technology plays a great role in developing everyone’s future and

professional career. Technology is becoming a major part of the world today. It

has developed and become more central to learning.

The researchers want to know the impact of gadgets in students’ learning.

It is along this rationale that this study will be conducted.

Statement of the Problem

This study determined the impact of gadgets in learning to Senior High

School students during the 1st semester, S.Y. 2017-2018.

Specifically, it answered the following sub-problems:

What is the students’ frequency of use on the following gadgets in learning?

cellphones;

computers; and

tablets.
What is the impact of the use of gadgets in learning as perceived by the

students?

Is there a significant relationship between the frequency of use and impact of

gadgets?

Hypothesis

There is no significant relationship between the frequency of use of gadgets and

the impact of gadgets.

Scope and Delimitation

This study mainly focused on the impact of gadgets in learning among

students in Grade 11 Science, Technology and Engineering, Mathematics

(STEM) of Urdaneta City National High School, S.Y. 2017-2018. It was delimited

to the two sections of the STEM classes namely Descartes and Tesla.

Significance of the Study

This study determined the impact of gadgets in students’ learning in

Urdaneta City National High School. This was significant to the following:

Students. They will know the benefits of using gadgets in learning and

help them study effectively.

 Teachers. This will give awareness to teachers to allow students to use

gadgets more freely and also to guide them in using the gadgets.

School Administrator. This study may be included in school policy. Re:

The use of technology in the classroom.

Future Researchers. This study may help future researchers on their

own research. They may widen the scope of their own study or improve this

research study.

Definition of Terms

To make the study easier to understand, the following terms are defined

operationally and/ or lexically:

Gadget. This refers to an often small mechanical or electronic device with

a practical use but often thought of as a novelty. In this study, gadgets refer to

cellphones, tablets and laptops which are used by the respondents in learning.

Impact. This refers to the effect of gadgets on the respondents in their

learning.

Frequency of use. This refers to the number of times or how often the

gadgets are used by the respondents in learning.

 Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter contains the literature and studies related to the impact of

gadgets in learning.

Related Literature

Gadgets

A gadget is a small tool or device with a specific useful purpose and

function. Gadgets tend to be more unusual or cleverly designed than normal

technology. In today’s life, tasks are maximized with the use of modern gadgets.

It is easier to accomplish daily tasks and people are also able to do work with

efficiency. One cannot even dare to imagine life without smart phones, cell

phones, laptops, tablets, iPods and so on (Tech Crates, 2012). Today’s gadgets

are one of the ways to make life more comfortable and easier. Shy (2010) says

that no one can deny the fact that gadgets have not only simplified the lives of

people but also made them more comfortable and luxurious. Indeed, these

gadgets really made a huge impact in people’s lives and became part of it.

Gadgets used in Learning

 According to Gammuac (2013), today’s classrooms are equipped with the

latest technology to enhance instruction. Smartphone use in the classroom is still

somewhat controversial, but the Calgary Board of Education actually encourages

it as a learning tool. In an interview with CTV, Queen’s University National

Scholar and Associate Professor Sidneyeve Matrix compared the situation to

when calculators were first used by students in the classroom. “We had a whole

new level of computational skill, and now we’re going to have a whole new level

of mobile digital skills when we turn to mobile learning on the handhelds.”

Technology users are moving towards being more mobile, and teachers

and students are a significant part of that trend. On 2013, Lenovo, the world’s top

PC vendor reported that they sold more smartphones and tablets than PCs for

the first time ever. Calgary-based SMART Technologies’ SMART Boards are

popular with both teachers and students. Teachers can project presentations

onto the SMART Boards and they can write, touch and interact with their content.

Document cameras are also a fun way for teachers to show students new and

interesting ways of looking at objects. Whether they are zooming in on the

smaller details of a 3D object, or observing science experiments, students can

share an equal view of the lesson – without crowding the teacher’s desk.

Whether a student is listening to his own music while studying, or a teacher is

playing an audio book to her students, mp3 players are an increasingly common

sight in schools. Both teachers and students can make full use of mp3 players in

their school activities (Gammuac, 2013).

Related Studies
 New media technologies and a number of important studies were

conducted in the 2000’s on the impact of children’s intellectual development, and

various aspects of using such technologies. Many researches were conducted

aimed to organize understanding the change that took place by using these

technologies, and to explore the conversion in children’s behavior and focused to

discover-what extent children feel aggression, and how they react by using these

modern technologies e.g. video games, mobile phones with various applications

embedded using via Internet with Wi-Fi connections video games consoles and

internet.

Providing computers to schools increases the technology skills of teachers

and students in both the developed and the developing world. Laptop programs

increase students' engagement with academic work and school, improve

technology skills, and have positive effects on students' writing. Research in

many nations suggests that laptop programs will be most successful as part of

comprehensive initiatives that also address changes in education goals,

curricula, teacher training, and assessment (Zucker & Light 2009).

An analysis of effective technology use for at-risk students found that

simply replacing teachers with computer-based instruction typically yields no

learning benefits. Rather, blending leads to higher engagement and learning

gains (Darling-Hammond et al., 2014).

Gross (2009) described in his article that people are very frequent in use

of media and modern technologies in communication at home or at work and feel

hard to survive in the absence of modern means of communications. With the

advent rapid new technologies; digital societies are shaping all across and

people are relying mainly on these resources from information, education, and

entertainment to social interaction.

The same are shaping social attitude in dealing with each other. The

reformed digital cultures and multi resources of communications have severe

effects on human beings especially on children; who have the immediate

capacity of learning. Technologies usability among youngsters and adolescent

such as TV, Internet, mobile phones are common particularly in developed

countries (Gross, 2009).

Technology enhanced learning (TEL) aims to design, develop and test

socio-technical innovations that will support and enhance learning practices of

both individuals and organizations. It is therefore an application domain that

generally covers technologies that support all forms of teaching and learning

activities. Since information retrieval (in terms of searching for relevant learning

resources to support teachers or learners) is a pivotal activity in TEL, the

deployment of recommender systems has attracted increased interest. This

chapter attempts to provide an introduction to recommender systems for TEL

settings, as well as to highlight their particularities compared to recommender

systems for other application domains (Koper et al., 2010).

One study that was conducted to determine whether Wiki technology

would improve students’ writing skills in a college English as a foreign language

writing class showed benefits to using Wiki technology. Students were invited to

join a Wiki page where they would write and 5 post passages and then read and

respond to the passages of their fellow classmates. Students participating in the

study reported that their receiving immediate feedback from the instructor was a

benefit of using this form of technology. Students in the study also reported

learning vocabulary, spelling, and sentence structure by reading the work of their

classmates (Lin & Yang, 2011).

Another study found that integrating technology and peer-led discussions

of literature can produce increased student engagement and motivation.

Technology used in these small group discussions of literature includes wikis,

online literature circles, and online book clubs. With these technologies, students

were able to connect with readers from other schools, states, and even other

countries. This type of technology is an assessable and motivational way to

expose students to other ideas and cultures. These online literature discussions

have the ability to create a sense of community and foster positive social

interaction (Coffey, 2012).

The use of technology in education has significantly aided students in

performing their school-related tasks. Clegg and Bailey (2008) assert that with

the utilization of mobile devices such as laptops and tablet computers, the

learning process for the students become more fun and conducive due to the

user-interactivity and appealing visuals present in these learning tools.

Additionally, a vast collection of learning games and applications exist for these

mobile devices, and as a matter of fact, there are about 96,000 educational
applications available (App Store Metrics, 2013). The data collected by Apps in

Education (2012) confirmed that the subject areas covered by these applications

include Mathematics, Sciences, Grammar and Spelling and Arts and Humanities

(Clegg & Bailey, 2008).

In the Philippines, President Benigno Aquino announced during the launch

of the country’s K-12 curriculum that the government eyes the use of tablet

computers in public schools in lieu of traditional textbooks (Enterprise Innovation,

2012). Furthermore, there exist various programs by the government, non-

government organizations and private corporations in the Philippines that aim to

provide one laptop computer per child. With the presence of laptops in the

classrooms, students become more engaged and involved in school-related

activities (Oquias, 2011).

Theoretical Framework

This study is anchored on the Distributed Cognition Theory. In Distributed

Cognition Theory, the student is afforded more power. In other words it is a

student-centered approach to learning where the learners participate in a

systematically designed learning environment that supports interaction amongst

its participants (Bell & Winn, 2000). This theory promotes learning in a

community of learners or a system where interaction takes place. It is through

this interaction where cognition occurs. Distributed Cognition requires sharing of

cognitive activity among the parts and participants of this system, which can be
other people or tools such as devices, technologies or media. These participants

distribute their cognition among other learners and physical or digital tools by

externally representing their knowledge. At times, by using these tools, a little bit

of the information might stick with the user, this is known as cognitive residue. It

is through interaction with other members and tools that progresses learning.

Therefore communication among all participants is paramount in importance (Bell

& Winn, 2000).

The role of technology within this theory is an invaluable part of the system

in which the learners are interacting. This interaction can either help to distribute

their knowledge, off-load certain amounts of cognitive work making the cognitive

load less and or help to scaffold new capabilities (Bell & Winn, 2000). For

example, using camera to take a photo allows more time to learn instead of

writing it on a notebook. Also, in this theory, technology (gadgets) can be used to

help extend human capabilities. For example, calculator can be used to solve

math problem quickly instead of solving it manually. These gadgets help students

to make their learning more efficient. Another example of this is taken from a

case study that was conducted using robotics to produce solving problem skills.

In this case study, students were placed into small collaborative groups and were

asked to construct a robot, using Lego Mindstorm for schools kits, which would

perform various tasks. The groups were introduced to a tool known as a

flowchart. They used these flowcharts to map the programming instructions they

would give the robot to complete the given task. This allowed them to off-load
some of the cognitive work to the flowchart and then through its use, they were

able to solve harder problems (Chambers et al., 2007).

This learning theory supports the very skills needed by the 21st century.

Learners who are placed into a learning environment based on this theory would

be using their “knowledge and skills—by thinking critically, applying knowledge to

new situations, analyzing information, comprehending new ideas,

communicating, collaborating, solving problems, making decisions” (Honey et al.,

2003).

Conceptual Framework

The researchers used Independent Variable- Dependent Variable

paradigm format, wherein the frequency of use of gadgets is the independent

variable because it will affect the corresponding dependent variable which is the

impact of gadgets.

Research Paradigm

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

 Chapter 3

METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research methodology which includes the

research design used in conducting the study. It also includes the sources of

data, locale of the study, population/sampling, and the instrumentation and data

collection.

Research Design

This study used the quantitative research design. Quantitative research

design was used to collect and gather information about the impact of gadgets in

learning. Quantitative research design was used to describe and to test

relationships between objects. It was also presented in numerical form, and

analyzed through the use of statistics. It focused on gathering numerical data and

generalizing it across groups of people or to explain a particular phenomenon.

This research design was used by giving questionnaires to the respondents of

this study.

Sources of Data
 The data were gathered from eighty-nine (89) students of the Science,

Technology & Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) strand of the Urdaneta City

National High School.

Locale of the Study

The locale of the study was in the Senior High School of Urdaneta City National

High School (UCNHS).

Population/ Sampling

The study was conducted on the total population of Science, Technology,

Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students who were enrolled in the S.Y. 2017-

2018 which is equivalent to eighty-nine (89).

Table 1: Distribution of Respondents

Sections of STEM Number of Actual Number of

Strand Students Respondents

Descartes 45 45

Tesla 44 44

Total 89 89

Instrumentation and Data Collection

The instrument used in gathering the data was a questionnaire. The

questionnaire was prepared by the researchers. Quantitative research questionnaire

was used to gather the data and information about the impact of gadgets in learning.
Statistical Tool

Different statistical tools were used to determine the impact of gadgets in

learning. The frequency of use of gadgets and the impact of gadgets in learning were

determined using the Average Weighted Mean method (AWM). In interpreting the

computed AWM point obtained, the formula is as follows,

AWM = FX / N

where AWM = Average Weighted Mean

F = Frequency

X = Weighted Value

N = total number of respondents’

For the Frequency of Use of Gadgets, this was the scale:

Scale Average Weighted Mean Descriptive Interpretation

5 4.21- 5.00 Always

4 3.41- 4.20 Very Often

3 2.61- 3.40 Sometimes

2 1.81- 2.60 Seldom

1 1.00- 1.80 Never

For the Impact of Gadgets in Students’ Learning, this was the scale:

Scale Average Weighted Mean Descriptive Interpretation

4 3.26- 4.00 High Impact

3 2.51- 3.25 Moderate Impact

2 1.76- 2.50 Slight Impact

 Scale Average Weighted Mean Descriptive Interpretation

1 1.00- 1.75 Low Impact

For the relationship between the frequency of use and impact of gadgets in

learning, Pearson Correlation Coefficient was used. The computed value was

interpreted using the scale below.

Value Descriptive Value

Interpretation

-0.80 to -1.00 Strong Correlation 0.80 to 1.00

-0.50 to -0.79 Moderate Correlation 0.50 to 0.79

-0.20 to -0.49 Weak Correlation 0.20 to 0.49

0 to -0.19 No Correlation 0 to 0.19