INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

A smartphone is a mobile phone that can perform many tasks and

computations like a personal computer. Unlike the older version of mobile phones,

smartphones have more features as it is equipped with a powerful operating system

(multi-tasking) along with various useful applications and high-speed data

communication capability. A smartphone is a powerful handheld computer with an

intrinsic connection mobile networks (Davies 2015; Rouse 2015; Anshari and Alas

2015). Smartphones are used by many to access information and knowledge from

the Internet. Some people gain knowledge about a topic or subject by using their

smartphones. Hence, smartphones can definitely be taken to enhance education

(Almunawar et al. 2015). Some functionalities of smartphones are discovering that

Apps for mobile devices most engaging ways to teach difficult subjects like math

and science. For example, the free NASA App offers videos, images, and

interactive displays that bring space to life in a way that a lecture never could (Katz

2012). Mobile phone technology is a necessity in a student's life and an important

technological device to them. Mobile technologies are playing an increasingly

important role in college students’ academic lives. Devices such as smartphones,

tablets, and e-book readers connect users to the world instantly, increasing

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accessibility to information and enabling users to interact with each other. With the

reality being thus, using mobile technology for teaching and learning has become a

rapidly evolving area of educational research (Collins, 1996; Dyson, Litchfield,

Lawrence, Raban, & Leijdekkers, 2009; Frohberg, Göth, & Schwabe, 2009;

Johnson, Means, & Khey, 2013; Vavoula, Pachler, & KukulskaHulme, 2009). For

this reason, mLearning may be considered as an avenue for content distribution

(Muyinda, Lubega, & Lynch, 2010), as a facilitator. They are basically used for

making and receiving calls, text, and picture messaging and accessing the internet.

Today's students are extremely competent in the use of mobile phones

(Haythornthwaite & Andrews, 2007). According to Ling (2004), mobile phones

have become an almost essential part of daily life since their rapid growth in

popularity in the late 1990s. According to Haruna et al (2016), mobile phones are

the most necessary medium of communication for adolescents. It has virtually

affected the society's accessibility, security, safety and coordination of business and

social activities and has hence become a part of a culture of the whole world. Ling

(2004), states that traditional agents of socialization are families and schools.

Nowadays, students can access information and knowledge easily from the Internet

and they can also have discussions in social networks and get quick answers from

peers, lecturers or even experts. According to Gerlich et al. (2010), he found that

many college students use smartphones to help them study. The trend of existing

mobile phone’s development is that they are getting smarter (hence the nickname

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― smartphone) and more user-friendly. In Defining the Smartphone, Litchfield

(2010) examined the top five most accepted definitions of smartphones and

concluded that there was no single, accepted definition. Nowadays, students can

access information and knowledge easily from the Internet and they can also have

discussions in social networks and get quick answers from peers, lecturers or even

experts. Gerlich et al. (2010) found that many college students use smartphones to

help them study. Mobile phones organize the purposes of the phone, camera, video,

media player and wireless computers into a single gadget. These functions could

supplement science teaching and learning which contains complicated content and

scientific processes that are otherwise difficult to teach (Taber, 2005). Students

normally bring their smartphones in classrooms and lectures. In fact, some students

capture the lecture notes or other notes written or given by their lecturers using their

smartphone cameras. Lecturers can even turn smartphones to become learning aids

in class (Anshari et al. 2016).

However, smartphones are considered not important because it can cause a

distraction to the student when in class or at home when doing homework at the

same time can also create a serious disturbance during lectures if students play with

their smartphones instead of paying attention to lectures (Anshari et al. 2015b).

According to the studies of (Biggs and Tang 2007). Williams and Pence (2011)

argued that smartphones have been seen more as distractions in the classroom rather

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than learning aids, where students are normally asked to put them away or keep

them on silent mode or simply turn them off. This happens as many features of

these phones were designed for entertainment and pleasure purposes. Therefore,

teachers may think that smartphones may cause learning interference, rather than

learning support. Researcher Motiwalla (as cited in Wang, Wu, & Wang, 2009)

claims that learning on mobile smartphones never replace classroom or

conventional e-learning methods and learning with a mobile could only be

complementary to traditional learning and e-learning. Another reason is that

people’s resistance to adopting learning with mobile smartphones. When

investigating the factors that affect people’s behavior intention to adopt leaning

with smartphones. Wang, Wu, and Wang (2009) found following determinants –

performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, perceived

playfulness, and self-management of learning, are collectively significant. Among

these, performance expectancy, which refers to users’ perceived benefit of learning

with mobile for themselves, was the strongest determinant of behavioral intention

to use smartphones or learning. Effort expectancy means the degree of easiness

using smartphones or learning as perceived by users. Social influence refers to the

extent to which a person thinks other people believe that a person should adopt

learning with mobile. Perceived playfulness refers to how much playfulness a

person can get out of using mobile smartphone or learning. “Self-management of

learning is defined as the extent to which an individual feels he or she is self-

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disciplined and can engage in autonomous learning” (Wang, Wu, & Wang, 2009).

Smartphones can also affect the sleep quality of students. According to Cooper

(2015) in the study of 10,000 16 to 19-year-olds on marked impact on sleep quality,

those who spent more than four hours a day looking at screens had a 49% greater

risk of taking longer than an hour to fall asleep, and they were 3½ times more likely

to sleep for under five hours a night. In fact, the study indicated that the majority

of the students are accessing smartphone during schooling hours.

This study focuses on the level of importance of smartphones to the students

and the possibilities of smartphones in the educational platform. This paper may

contribute in portraying the recent adoption of smartphones for learning purposes.

The proper use of smartphones in class may enrich students with multichannel of

communications and interactions, promotes multimedia in delivering contents, and

may also perform multiple functions during a teaching time such as recording

explanations from teachings, finding additional information required from the

Internet and having discussions through a social network.

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1.2 Statement of the Problem

The objective of this study is to gain knowledge about the importance of

smartphones in terms of learning and the possibilities of smartphones have in the

education learning environment.

1.3 Research Questions

Based on the problem statement mentioned before, the following questions are

constructed:

1. What is the level of importance of smartphones?

2. How important are smartphones in terms of

2.1 Learning Material

2.2 Accessibility

2.3 Convenience

3. Why do students use smartphones as a learning material?

1.4 Significance of the Study

This study will be significant to students, readers, and future researchers.

This study is primarily important to students, for it will give them information about

the use of smartphones in terms of learning. For the readers, it will give them

knowledge about how important smartphones when used in learning. For future

researches, this paper can help to provide information and data about the said topic.

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1.5 Research Framework

Diffusion of Innovations is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at

what rate new ideas and technology spread. Everett Rogers, a professor of

communications studies, popularized the theory in his book Diffusion of

Innovations; the book was first published in 1962 and is now in the fifth edition

(2003). Rogers argues that diffusion is the process by which an innovation is

communicated over time among the participants in a social system. The origins of

the diffusion of innovations theory are varied and span multiple disciplines.

Adoption of a new idea, behavior, or product (“innovation”) does not happen

simultaneously in a social system; rather it is a process whereby some people are

more apt to adopt the innovation than others. Researchers have found that people

who adopt an innovation early have different characteristics than people who adopt

an innovation later. When promoting an innovation to a target population it is

important to understand the characteristics of the target population that will help or

hinder adoption of the innovation.

1.6 Hypothesis/Assumption

Based on the previous study from other researchers and review of existing

literature and information available the following hypotheses are formulated:

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Ho1. Students consider their smartphones are not important in terms of learning

and educational apps are not useful learning tools for the development of university

subjects as well as generic and specific competencies.

Ha. Students consider that their smartphones are important as a learning material

and educational apps are useful tools for academic learning and powerful

instruments whose use enables them to access curriculum content and to participate

both with teachers and other students.

1.7 Definition of Terms

Accessibility- able to be used or obtained

Application- is a software program that runs on a computer or mobile phone.

Attention- notice, interest, or awareness.

Books - a written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along

one side and bound in covers.

Communication- the way of sending information to people by using technology.

Distraction- something that makes it difficult to think or pay attention.

Ease - the absence of difficulty or effort.

Education- the act or process of imparting knowledge or skills to another.

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Entertainment- amusement or pleasure that comes from watching a performer or

playing a game.

Importance- the quality of being important: value or significance

Innovation- a new idea, device, or method.

Internet- a global wide area network that connects computer systems across the

world.

Learning- the activity or process of gaining knowledge or skill by studying,

practicing, being taught, or experiencing something.

Material- something used in doing a particular activity.

mLearning - short for mobile learning, education or training conducted by means

of portable computing devices such as smartphones or tablet computers

Smartphone - a mobile phone that performs many of the functions of a computer,

typically having a touchscreen interface, Internet access, and an operating system

capable of running downloaded applications.

Social- likely to seek or enjoy the company of others.

Student - a person who is studying at a school or college.

Study-the activity or process of learning about something by reading, memorizing

facts, and attending school.

Teacher- a person whose job is to teach students about certain subjects.

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 Methodology

There are a lot of students who own a smartphone. The purpose of this study

is to gain knowledge on the level of importance of smartphones as a learning

material. This chapter is divided into several section addressing the research design,

population and sampling, research instrument, data analysis, data presentations and

interpretations, and ethical issues.

2.1 Research Design

A survey research design was selected to achieve the objectives of this

study, survey design is a quantitative research design. Survey research is a

quantitative approach that features the use of self-report measures on carefully

selected samples. It is a flexible approach that can be used to study a wide variety

of basic and applied research questions. According to Owens (2002), survey

research design has the advantage of uniqueness since information gathered is not

available from other sources, having unbiased representation of population of

interest and standardization of measurement as same information is collected from

every respondent.

2.2 Population and Sampling

In this study, simple random sampling is selected to get the samples of the

study. David (2005) refers it as a “process of selecting sample cases of subset of

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sample cases from a population giving all the sampling units equal chances of being

included as sample. General Flaviano Yengko Senior High School is the locale

chosen by the researcher for the study. The researcher randomly picked a sample

of 30 grade 11 students. Simple random sampling may be done by drawing of lots

or with the use of table of random digits (p. 98). David (2005) and Mercado (2006),

sampling essentially involves a system of selecting a population representation

from the general population depending on the objective of the study, availability of

money, time and effort in gathering research data.

2.3 Research Instrument

The research instrument that is employed in this study was the

questionnaire. The researcher prepared a set of questions to be given to the selected

sample of students. According to Kothari (2004), use of questionnaire is one of the

most common data collection tools employed in research works. Questionnaires are

used extensively to gather data on current conditions, practices, opinions and

attitudes quickly and in a precise way (Orodho, 2008). Questionnaires as argued by

Mugenda & Mugenda (2003) provide a relatively cheap way of obtaining

information. The questionnaires is structured based on the objectives of the study.

The questionnaire contained closed questions. A semantic differential scale is used

in the survey. The semantic differential scale is usually used for psychological

measures to assess attitudes and beliefs.13 The researcher develops a series of rating

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scales in which the respondent is asked to give a judgment about something along

an ordered dimension, usually of seven points.

2.4 Data Analysis

Data analysis is a very important segment in the research. Drew et al (2008)

believed that in the qualitative research data analysis probably carries more

negative connotations than any other single part of the research process. The

descriptive statistic is selected to analyze the data that will be collected. Descriptive

statistics are used to describe the basic features of the data in a study. They provide

simple summaries about the sample and the measures. Together with simple

graphics analysis, they form the basis of virtually every quantitative analysis of

data. Donald et al (2006) explained that data analysis is the process that most

differentiates quantitative from qualitative research. Data analysis is a process

whereby researchers make search and arrange it in order to enhance their

knowledge of the data and to present what they learned to others.

2.5 Data Presentations and Interpretations

Data analysis helps in the interpretation of data and take a decision or

answer the research question. A bar graph is selected to present the gathered data.

A bar graph is a chart that uses bars to show comparisons between categories of

data. According to Kirk, Eggen and Kauchak (cited in Curcio, 1987) the maximum

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potential of a graph is actualized when the reader is capable of interpreting and

generalizing from the data presented.

2.6 Ethical Issue

The current study was subject to certain ethical issues. Participants reports

their written acceptance regarding their participation in the research, through a

signed Consent and Briefing Letter. At the same time, sample members will be

asked to sign a Debriefing and Withdrawal Letter. The aim of both letters was to

reassure participants that their participation in the research is voluntary and that

they were free to withdraw from it at any point and for any reason. The

participants is informed and reassured that the answer that will be collected is

treated as confidential and used in academic purposes only. In contrast, the

researcher attempted to create and maintain a climate of comfort.

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