Introduction
In the 21st century, technology has become an essential element of our life. Cellphones now account for the vast majority of all internet services, with more than half of the world’s inhabitants having access to smartphones and the internet. Because of the ease with which we can communicate via cell phones, we have seen increased cellphones use. Students worldwide are increasingly using smartphones in tertiary education, which has necessitated the creation of efficient techniques for using technology in learning environments. Using smartphones for non-educational purposes, such as playing games, has been connected to poor educational achievements and dissatisfaction among university students. It is still debatable whether smartphones positively or negatively influence students’ academic performance and their ability to continue learning throughout their lives. Some individuals believe that cell phones may help pupils succeed academically, while others believe the opposite. The usage of cell phones in tertiary education has increased dramatically. Smartphone usage at universities and colleges should be prohibited since it has a detrimental influence on learners’ wellness, addictive behaviors, decreased creativity, and disruption of social connection, which undermine students’ achievement in these institutions.
The Impact of Smartphones on Higher Education Students
Smartphones have successfully captured users’ attention in today’s technologically saturated society, a phenomenon that is thought to have psychological effects on individuals. People’s social interactions have changed dramatically due to cell phones, with most users choosing to connect virtually rather than in person. According to Voinea et al. (2020), “Internet communication does not yet provide the same sensory modalities and perceptual richness as face-to-face communication.” An individual’s conduct has changed due to the distraction that smartphones bring into their lives. People have put a lot of money into smartphones because they are now seen as a tool that provides them almost unlimited power Darko-Adjei, 2019). It is possible to tailor a smartphone to meet a person’s specific requirements by programming it. Consequently, many believe that cell phones allow their users access to capabilities beyond the reach of the average human being.
According to the Becks Depression Inventory, those who often use their mobile phones have a detrimental influence on their mental health. Depression, anxiety, and sleep problems may be caused by using cell phones for extended periods. Smartphone usage is directly linked to shorter sleep lengths, which might hurt the well-being of mobile phone owners. When it comes to smartphone usage and mental health, most studies show that users are more prone to suffer from various mental health issues because of the power these devices wield in their daily lives (Ma’azer Al Fawareh & Jusoh, 2017). Depressive symptoms may be induced in students surfing social media platforms and seeing other pupils attending excellent schools who do better than they do. When students use social media sites, they are susceptible to direct comparisons and peer pressure from their peers (Darko-Adjei, 2019). Depression and anxiety are common side effects of this kind of social pressure, and they hurt a student’s happiness and academic success.
According to previous research, using a smartphone increases a person’s chance of developing addicted behaviors and a dependency on their gadget. According to previous research, students are more likely to be spotted playing games on their smartphones or perusing social media sites during class time than really utilizing them productively. Smartphone usage for educational purposes has not been widely adopted in many higher institutions throughout the globe because of concerns about its security. Increasingly, students are utilizing their smartphones in class for personal reasons rather than for instructional ones (Ma’azer Al Fawareh & Jusoh, 2017). It has been shown that the usage of smartphones has a detrimental effect on students’ GPA and academic performance. Addictive students tend to have worse GPAs than their peers who seldom use their cell phones. This shows that pupils’ ability to do well in school and be satisfied is jeopardized if they use their smartphones excessively.
Aside from their academic impact, smartphones have also been linked to various psychological repercussions that affect students’ well-being. Smartphone dependence has been linked to a rise in prosocial and antisocial conduct among its users, affecting their adherence to socially acceptable behavior. As a result of their usage of smartphones and the role models they are exposed to, students with addicted behaviors exhibit fewer prosocial and more antisocial tendencies (Darko-Adjei, 2019). An example of how smartphones affect students is when they cheat on tests. Despite the importance of academic integrity, some students take advantage of the fact that they have smartphones to cheat in school (Darko-Adjei, 2019). Smartphones and other gadgets have a powerful psychological effect on their users, encouraging them to engage in risky actions.
As a result of the widespread use of smartphones, students are increasingly engaging in their academic work only via the medium of social media and other electronic means. This problem extends well beyond the realm of students, as it impacts the whole community. “A lack of face-to-face contact is becoming more difficult as individuals spend more time on their phones than conversing” (Shakoor, Fakhar & Abbas, 2021). Face-to-face communication is difficult to do on Internet-connected gadgets. Using smartphones too often might have a detrimental impact on relationships and social interactions in today’s digital society. Students, for example, prefer to communicate with one another using digital platforms like WhatsApp groups, which they claim facilitate better communication. However, traditional customs and traditions prioritized social contacts, which reveals a divergence from this. As a result, face-to-face meetings between students and teachers have decreased (Ifeanyi & Chukwuere, 2018). As a result, effective communication skills have deteriorated, such as participating in group conversations.
Most students use their smartphones and the internet for non-school-related activities such as social media and gaming, contrary to certain academics who claim that ICT may affect students’ creativity when utilized in the right way. Educators who advocate for using smartphones in the classroom claim that they may affect students’ creativity levels using technology (Shakoor, Fakhar & Abbas, 2021). However, instead of students utilizing the internet and other smart gadgets as sources of knowledge and study, they have utilized them to finish their work, significantly decreasing their creativity.
Skimming is common behavior on the web, with users often switching between different sources and seldom returning to the ones they have previously viewed. Human beings’ innate abilities have been lost due to the negative effects of such actions. In rich informational situations, humans have a decreased capacity to comprehend all the information (Ma’azer Al Fawareh & Jusoh, 2017). Today’s smartphones, for example, have Google Maps and GPS tracking to make it easier for users to go where they want to go. On the other hand, this trait has restricted people’s ability to devise innovative travel routes and modes of transportation. As a result, consumers nowadays just input their destination location and depend on the system to provide instructions.
Because technology and the internet have reduced the natural capabilities formerly employed to execute chores and other activities, human creativity has been eroded due to this dependence. It is now a common belief amongst students that they can get all of their study-related solutions and issues on the internet. Consequently, students cannot perform thorough research to support their claims instead of relying on the material they may readily find on the internet. According to this argument, more information is preferable since it leads to greater understanding (Shakoor, Fakhar & Abbas, 2021). Their ability to think critically and creatively, both of which are essential in daily life, has been severely hampered. In addition, the introduction and widespread use of technology in education has had ramifications on student learning. Nowadays, “teachers and educators are seen as facilitators rather than guardians of information in the classroom, as they were in the past” (Ifeanyi & Chukwuere, 2018). Traditional classroom setups have seen a dramatic transformation, resulting in changes in how information is passed from custodian to user.
Refutation
Smartphone usage has a beneficial effect on college students’ academic performance. For example, integrating smartphones into the classroom will boost students’ academic success. According to Voinea et al. (2020), when the internet is seen as a cognitive enhancer, it is interpreted as assisting people in augmenting their present cognitive skills. Mobile learning devices are regarded as beneficial for learning because they boost students’ efficiency in terms of time spent on tasks and make instructional content and information readily available (Shakoor, Fakhar & Abbas, 2021). Certain pupils use their cell phones to capture abstract data that they may subsequently synthesize into tangible and meaningful concepts. This might be seen as a beneficial contribution of cell phones to pupils’ academic progress (Ifeanyi & Chukwuere, 2018). Additionally, several academics defended cell phones’ beneficial effect on learning, arguing that they provide students access to online lectures and e-books, which may considerably boost their productivity and learning.
Conversely, technology (smartphones and other smart devices) has significantly increased learning efficiency via the advent of distant learning (e-learning), which has attracted significant attention in recent years. Students may now access various materials from their institutions through their cell phones from the comfort of their homes or any place as long as they are connected to the internet, simplifying knowledge acquisition for university students. This is seen as a good effect of cell phones on education since it enables students to readily acquire information without exerting undue effort (Ma’azer Al Fawareh & Jusoh, 2017). Most academics have used this reasoning to support their assumptions about the beneficial effects of smartphones and smart gadgets on students’ academic attainment and performance, particularly those in higher education (Ifeanyi & Chukwuere, 2018). The evolving digital environment necessitates more current techniques for resolving issues students confront while attempting to obtain information from their institutions.
The beneficial effect of cell phones on student performance begins with their perspective of the role of technology in their academics. According to some academics, cell phones might boost students’ enthusiasm for competitive activities by enabling their pursuit of ideas and information that would aid them in completing their projects. At their finest, today’s digital technologies enable us to see more, remember more information, and communicate more effectively (Shakoor, Fakhar & Abbas, 2021). If students understand that cell phones may assist them in doing their duties more effectively, they will be encouraged to maximize their use of the resource to obtain happiness.
Technology has altered the way educators teach and students learn since it can improve students’ learning experiences. Despite these benefits, students must exercise extraordinary self-control to maximize their usage of cell phones. Students’ increasing social media usage in higher education demands educators and management at colleges and universities pay more attention. When the internet is utilized to generate knowledge rather than complete assignments, it may benefit students’ performance and academic attainment (Ifeanyi & Chukwuere, 2018). These exclusions have been utilized to facilitate the incorporation of cell phones and technology into higher education.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the introduction of technology and the internet age has had a favorable influence on higher education, even though the negative implications of the changes have had a considerable impact on student performance and academic attainment. One of smartphones’ most often mentioned effects on students is decreased mental well-being. Previous research has shown that smartphone usage is connected with depression symptoms, anxiety, and sleeping issues. Furthermore, excessive smartphone usage exposes people to addictive behaviors that affect their performance in doing everyday activities. Students’ GPAs and academic success suffer as a result of such characteristics. Furthermore, experts have suggested that students’ reliance on smartphones has resulted in less prosocial activities and the growth of antisocial tendencies. However, rather than utilizing the internet to do research, students use it to get solutions to their homework. This has hampered students’ creative abilities, resulting in a drop in academic satisfaction. Nonetheless, advocates of smartphone integration in education argue that it may enhance e-learning and boost student motivation if students view the internet as a “source of knowledge” that will assist them in completing their assignments.
Given the influence that smartphones pose on learners, it is perfect for legislators and other participants to work together to develop good solutions for reducing the harmful effects of technology on higher education students. First, higher education administrators may develop regulations prohibiting the utilization of smartphones in class for reasons other than instructional goals. Nevertheless, school administrators will need to establish means for ensuring that this goal is realized. On the other hand, policymakers may adopt severe regulations that control the use of smartphones in school since they serve as a source of distraction for children. This would guarantee that higher schools implant suitable knowledge on students rather than relying on the internet, which may sometimes provide incorrect information.
Furthermore, community education and public awareness programs should be standardized to educate pupils about the harmful influence that smartphones might have on their educational achievement and accomplishment. Such initiatives will ensure that students are aware of the negative effect that technology may have on their education, which can affect future professions. High education institutions should make every effort to limit smartphones and the internet among the institutions.
References
Darko-Adjei, N. (2019). The use and effect of smartphones in students’ learning activities: Evidence from the University of Ghana, Legon.
Ifeanyi, I. P., & Chukwuere, J. E. (2018). The Impact of Using Smartphones on the Academic Performance of Undergraduate Students. Knowledge Management & E-Learning, 10(3), 290-308.
Ma’azer Al Fawareh, H., & Jusoh, S. (2017). The use and effects of smartphones in higher education. Jim, 11, 103. Web.
Shakoor, F., Fakhar, A., & Abbas, J. (2021). Impact of smartphones usage on the learning behaviour and academic performance of students: empirical evidence from Pakistan. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(2), 862-881. Web.
Voinea, C., Vică, C., Mihailov, E., & Savulescu, J. (2020). The internet as cognitive enhancement. Science and Engineering Ethics, 26(4), 2345-2362. Web.