Chapter 1 THE PROBLEM AND RELATED LITERATURE

Introduction

Internet media plays important role in the society nowadays. Anywhere in the globe the widespread of influence of the internet is observable. As they say, people of the twenty-first century are computer inclined generation. Internet media is used to be the tool and driveway as/for providing information and for communication. It gives numerous links where you could get varied and qualified information, it extents of usage could be applicable in different field of studies and specializations. And as it is used as communication tool, it may be presented as social networking; blogging and chatting as means of reaching out people in the other parts of the world. Social networking or the use of internet in making companionships through the cyber world is evident and viral. It is presented as viral in the sense that it can be widely spread in just one click. The scenario can be seen in the country, from the youngsters to adults and from simple people to professionals. They have different reasons why they are fascinated to utilize computer-mediated communications. Though it is for the communication, some of fad users of the technology use it for leisure and fun, and also to feel sense of belongingness to his or her community. Among the extensively used social site are facebook, twitter, blogspot, and yahoo mail.

Everywhere else in the city internet hubs or also known as internet cafs are present and they are really accessible to everyone. For instance, the fast-growing number of the business on the internet makes social networking available. In fact the scenario towards the young made people is a serious matter or issue with regards to their performance in the academe. However, the effect of the computer-mediated communication had beneficial and troublesome effect to the students depending on their exposure. The evident usage of the internet media is apparent to the students even at early stage of the education, to focus on the fifth grade of elementary. The evident use of facebook and other social networking site may have an effect on the academic status of the students in some academic subjects. Since that the students are highly affected on the effect of the internet media, this research would cater to answer the questions that occur on the academic performance of the students as it is paired with the computer-mediated communication. This study will further discuss the effect of the computer-mediated communication to the academic performance of the students.

Related Literature

Academic Performance As career competition grows even fiercer in the working world, the importance of students doing well in school has caught the attention of parents, legislators and

government education departments alike. The students success is measured by his or her academic performance or how well a student meets standards set out by local government and the institution itself. ( Bell ,n.d.). Hence, academic performance refers to how students deal with their studies and how they cope with or accomplish the different tasks given to them by the teachers. (Bagongon et.al ,2009) had added that the extent of students learning in academics may be determined by the grades a student earns for a period of learning has been done. It is believed that a grade is a primary indicator of such learning. Grades are the students score for their classes and overall tenure. If learner earns high grades it is concluded that they may also have learned a lot while low grades indicate lesser learning. It is found out that however, that there are several factors that would account for the grades.

Computer Mediated Communication and Academic Performance Internet exerts increasingly more influence on the everyday life. Internetbased activities expand their reach beyond the economic and social fields (A Study On The Effect Of Internet Use And Social Capital On The Academic Performance , 2006) . A growing number of Internet users spend their leisure time in the cyber community. Kushner et.al (2010) cited in Sharp (2010) believes that children have multitasking skills and that these skills negatively affects the processing of information. This is about children doing their homework while twittering, texting, watching YouTube, using facebook and surfing the web. Moreover, children live in social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, and Second Life gathering friends;

they text more than they talk on the phone; and they Twitter the night away often sleeping with their cell phones vibrating by their sides (Shock, 2010). Some even argue that computer- mediated communication (CMC) distances students from the teacher and erodes the social connections important to learning. Others argue that CMC reduces shared meaning, promotes misunderstanding, and diminishes overall academic performance (Sherblom, 2010). In contrast to the negative effects of computer-mediated communication, (Evans n.d. ) argues that CMC is an important tool in training and education. According to him, Computer-mediated communication has found a number of primary roles in training and education. In a computer mediated environment, schools and training organizations can place educational material online for delivery to students in any location with network connectivity. Depending on the organization, topic and course, training material like downloadable videos, streaming lecture videos, electronic books and even Power Point presentations can deliver the intended message to students through computer mediated communication. In some cases, a live instructor may deliver real-time training to connected students, though the system may also record and store the training session for later delivery. Many distance learning applications also support one or more online exams that test student knowledge and ensure students fully understand the course material. Furthermore, he presented the benefits of using CMC in the classroom (Evans,n.d ).

With the help of CMC, large organizations that once sent students to sit in a physical

classroom can save significant amounts of money on travel and per diem expenses. Likewise, training organizations and schools don't require physical classrooms with overhead expenses such as electricity and water, so these organizations can pass on the savings in the form of lower tuition. Colleges and training organizations can also reach a considerably wider audience using computer-mediated communication, as students need not live close to the institution to receive the training services. Finally, students can benefit from using computer-mediated training, as some programs allow students to study and complete coursework at their own pace. Though computer mediated communication has many benefits, students must always keep in mind some considerations. Because many online training programs allow students to work at their own pace, some students find that these courses require significantly more devotion and self-motivation. In addition, some traditional educational institutions may face considerable expenses when first shifting to a computer-mediated environment, as these programs often require heavy

investments in servers, Internet connections and Web design (Evans,n.d.).

Related Study

FACEBOOKS EFFECTS ON SUBTLE EMOTION DECODING, ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE, AND IDENTITY PROTECTION Malynda Bjerregaard

Dr. Brian L. Heuett, Thesis Supervisor, et al, 2010 The study entitled Facebooks Effect on Subtle Emotion Decoding, Academic Performance, and Identity Protection seeks s to understand nonverbal

communication, privacy, and academic performance in regards to social networking sites like Facebook. It sought to answer the following questions: a. ) Does high use of Facebook correlate with poor academic performance in the college atmosphere? b.) Are Facebook patrons less able to distinguish subtle emotion nonverbal cues than non-users in a FTF context? c.) Are Facebook patrons less able to distinguish subtle emotional nonverbal cues when reading a dialogue as compared to what they are capable of in the FTF context? The method used for this study contains multiple assessment variables: questionnaire, face-to-face self-reporting, and written self-reporting. Subjects used in this study reside at a small, South Western community college and are enrolled in communication, social science, or biology courses. In total, 130 students were

surveyed. The results quantified from this research shed light on the on-going social network dilemma and its effects on subtle nonverbal decoding and academic performance. The survey results that required no analysis and just included subject data for demographic purposes yielded the following results: 1. Preference of Email vs. Facebook for Friends and Family The majority of participants preferred to talk to their friends and family on Facebook rather than Email. However, participants felt about equal about

communicating with their family on Facebook and Email. This was not the case in regards to communicating with friends on Facebook or Email. These results

indicate a difference between preferences for how to stay in contact with friends, with the high majority choosing Facebook. 2. Privacy and Identity Portrayal on Facebook vs. FTF Of particular interest, participants felt that other people are less open and honest than themselves online. Participants also felt they were more open and honest in their FTF interactions than online and could decode the emotional context of a message better in a FTF context than online. The PASW correlations test

conducted on the measure produces results showing a score of .924, which shows significance at the .01 levels for a 2-tailed test. Question 11 from the survey asked if their Facebook page adequately represents how they see themselves honestly. The mean result was 3.82 on the scale of 1-5 showing an answer of agree to strongly agree. In comparison, question 12 asked if the way they presented themselves in a FTF interaction represented how they viewed their identity, which showed a slightly higher mean result of 4.17. The results indicated an agree to strongly agree from the participants, but only with a difference level of .35. Question 14 asked if they thought other people are open and honest in what they say about their personal identity on Facebook, and this showed a mean result of 3.07, which is an answer of neutral on the provided scale. This is a difference of 1.09, showing a correlation that participants view themselves as being more honest than their counterparts.

3. Academic Performance In an effort to give a more equal sample distribution of Facebook to nonFacebook users, and to show a more significant result, a third criteria of high Facebook users was established. In particular, non-Facebook users were

considered as spending less than 1.75 hours per week on Facebook or not having an account at all and Facebook users are considered as spending more than 2 hours per day on their account. With this new criterion, there were 22 non-Facebook users and 23 Facebook users. The average GPA for non-Facebook users is 3.77 and the average GPA for Facebook users is 3.30. On a grade scale, this would mean a GPA grade of B+ for Facebook 39Facebook users and a GPA of A- for nonFacebook users. Therefore, some significance is evident with regards to academic performance. See the graph below for a visual comparison of this number. 4. Academic Performance of Facebook vs. Non-Facebook Users

(According to criteria of low, medium and high Facebook users)

The data reported in the graph above shows how with the expansion of criteria to low, medium, and high, there is a significant difference in reported GPA of the participants. These results support Research Question number two, which asks if a high use of Facebook correlates with poor academic performance. According to the third criteria of high users, the answer would be supportive. Data also provided an answer to Hypothesis four, which proposed that non Facebook users will have a

higher GPA compared to medium or high Facebook users. The data indicates that there is a direct correlation between the two variables. 5. Nonverbal Decoding To test the nonverbal decoding, Group A, Group B, and Group C data needed to be analysed separately. Each group was asked the same questions and required to rate the emotions they witnessed on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree. As expected, the hardest emotions to decode were subtle emotions, such as sarcasm and positivity. Group A, who was allowed to view the dialogue, scored the most inaccurately on the four questions dealing with these emotions. Group As specific results

regarding the FTF dialogue can be found in (Appendix H). In order to compare to the actors self-reporting score, a paired samples test was computed, which showed a significance of .704. Since this is greater than the .05 limit of statistical

significance, no correlation can be drawn. For Group B, who was allowed to listen to the dialogue, but not see the facial expressions, the participants yielded similar results. As seen in Group A, the subtle nonverbal emotions such as sarcasm and positivity were the most inaccurate. Interestingly, the males use of sarcasm was judged significantly more accurately than the females judged use of sarcasm. Conversely, there was a larger difference in the score of the how scared the male was compared to Group As self - report. However, when compared to the actors self-reporting score using a paired samples

test, a significance of .575 was reported. significance can be reported.

Since this is over the .05 limit, no

For Group C, who were required to read through a script of the dialogue Group A and B viewed or heard, the participants reported a similar trend. The subtle nonverbal emotions such as sarcasm and positivity were still judged the most inaccurately. As seen in Group B, the males Facebook 41use of sarcasm was also judged significantly and more accurately than the females judged use of sarcasm for Group C. For Group Cs specific results regarding the FTF dialogue they viewed, (see Appendix J). However, when compared to the actors self-reporting score using a paired samples test, a significance of .842 was reported, meaning no significance was indicated. 6. Comparison of Groups A, B, C, and Nonverbal Decoding The results show that the most accurate group, scoring the closest to the actors in eight of the ten questions is Group B, who only heard the dialogue. The group who scored the least accurately of the three was Group C, who only scored closer in 3 questions. Research Question three ask if participants are less able to distinguish subtle emotional nonverbal cues when reading a dialogue as compared to what they are capable of in the FTF context. Results indicate of all three groups, no significance could be found, meaning there is no statistical difference between the nonverbal decoding ability of participants to distinguish the emotions that are present in a FTF, written, or auditory context.

10

Conclusions of the result: The present study was an eye-opener on different levels for the researchers involved. Hypotheses were proven incorrect and societal assumptions about the negative effects of reliance on CMC proven premature at best. What was learned, however, is that the debate on the benefits and costs surrounding CMC needs further clarification? More research is needed to substantiate any findings that

researchers in this early phase of data gathering are making. It is becoming harder to find subjects to test on who do not rely on CMC for social interaction. This makes polarizing the data near to impossible. Rather than taking the stance that CMC needs to be studied on a particular side of the divide as good or bad, user or nonuser, more complex criteria will need to be established. There is a divide in how technology is currently seen by society. Whether or not large changes will happen in regards to how we fundamentally communicate is yet to be seen. Hopefully the findings that are drawn along the way will be used as clarification points, and the future progress of understanding communication in a technologically driven world will continue to be forged. Facebook 54The social

network debate is far from over. The effects of CMC on academic performance and nonverbal decoding skills are just the tips of icebergs that have yet to be explored.

Impacts of Internet Usage on Students Academic Performance Awais, Bilal, M Usman, M Waqas, Sehrish, et al 2011

11

The purpose of this research is to explore the impact of internet usage on students academic performance so that universities will take effective measures and Exploratory studies method is adopted for the entire research. This research project is concerned with Field Study. Data were collected from six universities students from which five are top ranked specified university and one is general university with a questionnaire methodology. Correlation and regression techniques were used to find out the strength and direction of the relationship. Study of different disciplines was conducted to identify the intensity of internet usage by student who belongs to different disciples. The purpose of the study is to evaluate weather is there any relationship with the usage of internet and students academics performance. To better understand therelationship how the Internet affects university students learning, the following questions should be answered. 1.) What are the benefits of using the Internet as part of a university education? 2.) What are the main factors affecting such use? 3.) What is the impact of such use on student learning? What does it take to encourage positive attitudes in students toward Internet use? The findings are summarized as follows: 1. Table IV revealed that 37 per cent of total respondents were strongly feel comfort while using internet and 9.8 per cent are not feel comfort while using

12

internet. The survey showed that majority of students thought that the use of internet in education can increase the quality of study. 2. The survey disclosed in Table VI 57.6 per cent students ranked information is most important for purpose of internet usage. They ranked other purposes 2, 3,4 and 5 to school work, chatting, communication and other i.e. entertainment, gaming respectively. 3. Table VII suggests that out of 500 respondents, 51 per cent, 30.2 per cent, 4.2 per cent and 3.2 per cent students used to access internet daily from home, school/institute, office, public terminal and other places respectively. 53 per cent students were financially sported by parents accordingto TableX. Our study confirmed that majority of students use interne t on night and facedifficulty of speed/bandwidth mostly. Table XI shows majority of students spend 2-3 hours on internet. 4. Table XII 30.2 per cent students have 3-6 years experience of internet and 49 per cent students agreed their internet skills are high. 5. Table XIV showing that 18.2 per cent, 6.2 per cent, 23 per cent, 14 per cent,21.2 per cent and 17.4 per cent out of 500 respondents had CGPA lesser than2.5 or between 2.5-2.8, 2.8-3.1, 3.1-3.4, 3.4-3.7 and 3.7-4.0 Recommendations for further study Consider some limitations in this study which does not enable us to generalizeour results. The following suggestions and recommendations could be be neficial for further study.

13

1. Increase sample size that include more institutes and no. of students from other areas of Pakistan. 2. Conduct longitudinal study that could enhance results of study.
3. Use IT tools like selects students that use internet only from university

computer lab and create profile of their activities on internet. Observe the internet usage patterns over the period of time.

Theoretical Framework

This study is anchored on the Cognitive Constructivism of Jean Piaget, Social Constructivism John Dewey and Constructivist Theory of Lev Vygotsky. Cognitive constructivism (Piaget, 1980) is based on the idea that people learn by actively constructing new knowledge, not by having information poured into their heads. Moreover, constructivism asserts that people learn with particular effectiveness when they are engaged in constructing personally meaningful. The Computer technology can provide these interactions and authentic experiences. Also, Computer technology resources are set up in a user-friendly format with search capabilities to help students find specific information thus, making more efficient for highly motivated students (Cadiao-Alimen, 2011). Computer technology that supports human communication has been given the name Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC). CMC refers to computer applications that facilitate human-

14

to-human communication and includes electronic mail, asynchronous group conferencing systems (bulletin boards and listservs), and synchronous interactive chat systems (Berge & Collins, 1995). This is supported by social constructivism (Dewey,1922) that says: Learning is a social activity. It is intimately associated with our connection with other human beings. It recognizes the social aspect of learning and communication to be integral aspect of learning. The same with Constructivist Theory (Vygotsky,1978) is the principles that Learning and development is a social, collaborative activity, and suggests technology to be beneficial in the learning of the students. In contrary, a study conducted by Kubey, et al (2001) on Internet use and Academic performance found out that students who are keeping themselves awake at night with Internet (specifically with CMC) are academically impaired, which brings out the need to determine if Computer-Mediated Communication affects the academic achievement of the pupils.

Conceptual Framework

Figure 1 shows the variables of the study. The independent variable is the exposure to Computer Mediated Communication and the dependent variable is the Academic Performance.

15

Exposure to CMC is the frequency of the use of the pupils to CMC in a week. On the other hand, Academic Performance will be their grades in the Academic subjects: (a) English; (b) Mathematics; and (c) Science. This diagram presents the concept of the study and the relationship of the variables which are included in the studies.

ComputerMediated Communication

Academic Performance a. English b. Mathematics c. Science

Figure 1. The conceptual framework showing the variables of the study.

Statement of the Problem

This study is conducted to determine the relationship of use of CMC between the spelling ability grade 3 pupils in Ford Academy of the Arts Davao City. Specifically, the study aims to answer the following questions: 1. 2. How often do the students use CMC? What are the grades of the grade 5 pupils in Ford Academy of Arts,

Davao City in the following subjects:

16

a. b. c. 3.

English Mathematics Science Is there a significant relationship between the use of CMC and

academic performance of grade 5 pupils in Ford Academy of the Arts Davao City?

Significance of the Study

This study is important for many reasons, some of which were as follows: 1. It will help pupils to become more responsible in using the computer-mediated communication and become conscious about their own academic performance. 2. It could provide basic data for the formulation of plans and programs in Ford Academy of the Arts that could help the uplift the academic performance of elementary pupils.

Hypotheses

Ho. There is no significant relationship between the use of Computer Mediated Computer Mediated Communication and Academic Performance.

Ha. There is a significant relationship between the use of Computer Mediated Computer Mediated Communication and Academic Performance.

17

Chapter 2 METHOD

In this chapter the researchers described the method and procedure used in the study. The following are the details: Research design, Research participants, Research Locale, Research Instrument, Data Gathering Procedure, and Data Analysis.

Research Design

The correlation research design was adopted in this study. It is a quantitative design which will measure the degree of association between the 2 and will use statistical procedure to analyze the data. This method will include the gathering of data to know the frequency of their CMC usage and their grades on the academic subject to determine the degree of relationship of CMC and academic performance of Grade five pupils.

Participants

The respondents of this study are all of the Grade Five pupils in Ford Academy of the Arts Inc, Davao City which is a private school. They were selected

18

because all of the students belong to middle class family and do have online computers at home.

Sampling Design

The subjects of this study were selected in convenience sampling. The researchers selected the whole grade five pupils in Ford Academy of the Arts which consists of 30 pupils The researchers selected Ford Academy of The Arts pupils because of the their economic status which can be a possible subject of the study. Aside from the availability of the respondents, the researchers were also permitted to conduct a research by the principal and can possibly gain consent from the pupils/respondents.

Research Instrument

The study will use survey questionnaire and the pupils recent grades in academic subjects (English, Mathematics, and Sciencre) The Survey questionnaire that will be used shall obtain information on how often the respondents use Computer Mediated Communication. The Academic Subject grades will be used to obtain information about how well the respondents perform in school.

19

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers asked permission from the principal of Ford Academy of the Arts Davao City, Inc through a letter, and it go was granted. The researchers will go to Ford Academy of the Arts Davao City, Inc to conduct. The survey questionnaires will be administered.

Data Analysis

Pearson Product Moment Correlation will be used to measure the degree of strength between the use of Computer Mediated Communication and Pupils Academic Performance.

20