Impact of Handheld Devices on Post-Graduate Students in Nigeria
Chapter One
Objectives of the Study
The general objective of this study is to assess the impact of handheld devices on post-graduate student performance.
The specific objectives are to:
- Ascertain the extent to which handheld devices are being utilized among postgraduate students.
- Find out the extent to which the use of handheld devices will affect students’ performance in post-graduate studies.
- Comparison of undergraduate and postgraduate students using handheld devices.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
This study reviewed related literature from books, journals, and internet; organized under the following sub-headings:
LITERATURE REVIEW
Many researches on m-learning have ascertained the acceptability and the potentials of using hand held devices in education, and the benefits of incorporating them in the classroom for collaborative learning and active student‟ participation. There are many studies that also discuss the effectiveness and integration of m-learning with classroom and e-learning. Reference state that mobile learning is one of the developing areas in teaching and learning, and it is getting more accepted with the improved accessibility and major enhancement in the capabilities of handheld devices in terms of processing speed, screen sizes, memory capacity, storage volume and network connectivity. The authors state that the use of these modern mobile devices falls in line with planned educational goals to improve students’‟ study retention and achievement, support segregation of learning needs, and reach out to students who would not have use their hand held devices to participate in learning. Reference observes that mobile technologies offer new opportunities for students’ educational activities in that they can be used across different locations and times. Therefore, learners who use mobile technologies for learning are not only far away from their lecturers and tutors, but they are also in full control by having access to information on their hand held devices, thereby giving them a certain amount of liberty, freedom and independence in their course of learning.
Reference points out that the learning activity experienced by mobile owners is unique because knowledge is received and processed within the context in which the learner is located. The context is completely individual and totally different from the rigid outlay of the conventional lecture room, and science laboratories. Reference show that mobile learning is most commonly used by university and higher education learners, followed by primary school students, and then adult or lifelong learners and lastly secondary school students. Their research further indicate that m-learning is mainly used by students studying in applied sciences, followed by the humanities, and then formal and social sciences and lastly natural sciences.
Many recent research projects have been focussed on the effectiveness of mobile learning and majority of them have showed positive effectiveness. An observation study by author in on the effectiveness of m-learning in a university showed that students prefer podcasts to their textbooks as a learning aid. Reference also found that m-learning improves retention among university students. A similar study work carried out by, cited by showed that students who use mobile technology devices had more motivation for learning than those who do not. Furthermore, web 2.0 also has a positive effect on m-learning as state: “By its very nature, not only can Web 2.0 support education but mobile Web 2.0 in particular also has the potential to blur the boundaries between formal (planned, scheduled, structured, facilitated and class based) and informal learning environments (opportunistic, non-facilitated, non-class based and entirely learner driven) and become an integral part of the process of learning and teaching.”
The effectiveness of m-learning, however, faces some constraints. Reference listed the constraints in three dimensions which are the human dimensions (students and instructors), the design dimension (content and technologies), and the institutional dimension (universities, colleges and schools). The human dimensions include distractions, noise, differing comfort levels, and differing visibility levels. The design dimensions include small screen size, inadequate memory, short battery life, inadequate built-in functions and the complexity of adding applications. The institutional dimensions include network speed and connectivity, content and software application limitations. Some scholars pointed out that m-learning can neither replace nor displace classroom or other learning approaches, but only complement and add value to the existing learning methods, therefore, efforts should be directed at integrating m-learning with other learning methods.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter described the research design, area of the study, population and Samples, instrument for data collection, validation and reliability of research instrument, administration of instrument, data collection method and data analysis technique.
Research Design
This research work adopted the descriptive survey research design to find out the impact of hand held devices post graduate students perfomance.
Area of the Study
This study was carried out at Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto. It has an area of 172km 2 and a population of 188,087 (National Populations’ Commission Census NPC, 2006).
Population and Samples
The population of the study is a set of post graduate students of Usman Danfodio University, State of Sokoto. However, Two Hundred (200) students in the two Schools as samples.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Interpretation of Results
Discussions of the Findings:
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Summary of the Principal Findings
This study focused on the impact of hand held devices on the performance of post graduate students in Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto, Nigeria. However, the following findings were made from the study:
- Ninety Seven 97 (%) of post graduate students have access to hand held devices either through their parents, friends or personal.
- The performance of post graduate students.is not significantly affected by their access to hand held devices.
- There was no significant difference in the performance of both under graduate and post graduate students
Conclusion
In conclusion, hand held devices which are in different types/models each for specific tasks/functions are essential gadgets possessed by an average school student. This concluded research has strongly showed there was no vast influence on post graduate students’ academic performance.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of this work, the following recommendations were formulated:
- post graduate students.need to be re-orientated on the need to set their priorities right. This drive towards reorientation must be championed by the school management in conjunction with the parents/guardians of the students. While the usage of hand held devicesby students cannot be outlawed drastically, they need to be continuously informed on the positive and negative impacts of their usage and of the problems deriving from the over-dependency and unregulated use of their mobile phones.
- Similarly, the school management must be more alive to their responsibilities by ensuring conformity to the school laid down rules and regulations on student’s use of mobile phone device during class session.
REFERENCES
- Ashok A., (2008). “The use of Mobile Phones in enhancing Academic performance in Distance Education: An African Perspective” American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Elsevier Inc. pp. 47-51.
- BBC World Service. (2006). “La adicción al teléfonomóvil.”
- Best, S.G. (2006). “Conflict Analysis” in S.G(ed). Introduction to peace and conflict studies in West Africa, Ibadan: Spectrum Books. Ltd. Pp. 62-66.
- Caird, J.K., Willness, C, R., Steel, P., and Scialfa, C. (2008). “A meta-analysis of the impacts of cell phones on driver performance”. Accident analysis and prevention, 40, 1282-1293.
- Campbell, S.W., and Park, Y.J. (2008). “Social implications of mobile telephony”: The rise of personal communication society. Sociology Compass, 2, 371-387.
