Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature

2.1 Review of Related Literature

2.1.1 Technology and Types of Educational Technology

Technology has become a worldwide means of connecting through our environment and

surroundings, people nowadays use technology to improve certain works and abilities. However,

the use of technology in school facilities, are used to enhance and improve student engagement as

develop students learning skills, according to Isernhagen, 1999, it states that, technology had come

in different forms which helped the students and most of the people to support and achieve, one’s

goal of learning. One of the forms of technology includes “Assistive Technology” is any item,

equipment, a tool, or a product system that can that is functional in maintaining and improving

capabilities to support students with disabilities (Riley, Beard, and Strain, 2001). Based on Sivin

– Kachala, technology, had an impact on the student way of learning and achieving higher

education for both regular and special needs children. There are mainly four types of educational

technology according to Braincert, a.) Synchronous Learning which refers to the real time

interaction of the student and the teacher, examples of this technology are face to face discussion,

live teachers, and online classes, also b.) Asynchronous Learning refers to more writing interaction

of the student and the teacher that are composed of emails, e – books, hypertext documents, and

audio and video courses, c.) Linear Learning, or computer – based training refers to the self- paced

learning ability which are derived and mostly used through a computer or handheld devices, this

type of learning process is a stimulus beyond the traditional and manual classroom-based

instructions. And lastly, d.) Collaborative Learning refers to the collaboration of both students and

teachers which requires the students to collaborate with learning activities and tasks.

2.1.2 Student Engagement

 As technology and smartphone usage affect the daily lives of the students, this study also

includes the engagement of the students. Student engagement, generally considered as a good

predictors of learning abilities and self - development as well. The more students try and make

themselves involved in learning, the more they can be aware of the knowledge being attained,

moreover the more students, practice engagement, the more students will develop high learning

performance and academic excellence (Kuh, 2003). And according to Shulman, 2002, students

who are widely productive and engaged in attaining knowledge, are most likely develop good

personal development. Based on Fredericks, Blumenfeld, and Paris (2004), there are three

dimentions of engagement: a.) Behavioral Engagement where students are participating in

education generally, where it includes academic and social extracurricular activities of the school,

b.) Emotional Engagement is reffered to as the emotional response and reactions inside the

classroom this type of engagement includes the sense of belongingness or connectedness of the

students, c.) Cognitive Engagement is when students invest in school activities and process of

learning (motivation and self - regulation.

According to Terry Heick, 2018, there are five levels of student engagement:

o Authentic Engagement - is the highest level of student engagement where the students find

meaning in learning and productivity that creates an immediate value to them resulting for

the students to be immersed in work. This is often characterized by persistence, sustained

– inquiry, and unprompted transfer of understanding.

o Ritual Compliance – the work itself has a little meaning to the students but have an extrinsic

outcome creating value to make and keep them engaged. This is characterized by task

completion to meet standards for motivation, clear effort and creativity.

 o Passive Compliance – students merely find any immediate meaning in the assigned work,

and stay immersed in work to avoid any negative consequences. This is often characterized

by minimal effort to mitigate the consequence that are soon to experience, and a work of

no creativity.

o Retreatism – refers to students who do not engage in any form of work but avoid and does

not disrupt other student’s perception and engagement in learning. This is characterized by

lack of interest, no demonstrated inquiry, and little to no effort even exerted.

o Rebellion – this level of engagement is considered the lowest level where the students

refuse to do any kind of work, refuse to do assigned tasks and acts to be disruptive in both

of its classmates and teachers as well. This is characterized by the students no effort, no

reactive responses and motivations in school engagement.

2.1.3 Levels of Productivity

Over the past twenty - five years a set of predominantly empirical studies conducted by

economists have attempted to establish the relationship between schooling resources and student

outcomes (Hanushek, 1986). In an often cited article, Hanushek stated that difference school

quality does not affect any measures and attributes regarding the student and teachers. According

to Riel and Polin 2004; Schwen and Hara, 2004, researchers see that technology will have a

potential in increasing the efficiency of productivity over student’s ways of engagement, however,

online technology can expand and support productivity through the participatory method rather

than delivery modes (Barb, Squire and Dueber, 2000; Barab and Thomas 2001). The use of

technology specifically smartphone usage as a tool for productivity has a much longer in history

and in education, it said to be that computers or smartphones can play an important role in

improving productivity and taking opportunity of the affordances of the tools to work effectively
and more efficiently (Athey and Stern 2002; Atkinson and McKay 2007; Brynjolfsson and Hitt

2000). According to Christen and Horn, 2008, online learning is often suggested, for student

engagement, educational outcomes, and allowing both the students and the teachers to be more

involved in technology, by this, it is stated smartphones can affect one’s level of productivity

(Olsen, 2010).

Common Six levels of productivity:

o Avoiding – students who does not engage with work, does not do any effort to be

productive. These students are more likely to be observed as procrastinators. These

students are the ones who does not try at least to be productive and disciplined enough for

themselves, the students who mostly avoid workload tend to procrastinate enough and

develop tardiniess.

o Distracted – these kinds of students are the ones who are often distracted by incoming

workloads, these student’s level of productivity have to double one’s effort to meet their

set satisfaction.

o Appropriate – these students are seen to be productive to mitigate any burden and loaded

works, in other words students who have appropriate level of productivity are the ones who

only see work as something they are required to do.

o Deliberate – students who are starting to be engaged in any work being done by simply

staying in disciplined manner and working ahead of time. They are the ones who

disciplined themselves for their own benefit not just for the benefit of their workload.

o Important – students who see works valuable and not just something they are ‘required’ to

do, are seen to have a higher level of productivity, they see work as having an effort in one

unit of input creating various units of outputs.

 o Inspired Work – is the highest level of productivity where in the student does not need to

discipline oneself to be creative and appreciate work as part of their life. This stage is often

considered to be the inspiration of the students for them to subconsciously be productive

and reactive in any manner, and this level of productivity makes the students to be

immersed in any way.

2.1.4 Positive and Negative Effects of Technology

According to James Kulik Study (1994), the researcher used a particular method called the meta

– analysis, this method is composed of computer based instructions that individualizes the

accommodation of needs, interest and learning technique of the students. Based on the result of

the researcher’s study, more than half of the participants are positively affected by the computer

based instructions given, it shows that the findings of students being involved with technology has

a good and positive effects on how students can cope up with their academic achievement.

In addition, technology’s involvement in school facilities access the students’ use of

smartphones, these devices are used in extension of its purpose, students tend to use their

smartphones in playing online games, and surfing the internet to release stress and escape from

their personal problems that they commonly face with their friends and school works (Kim, 2013).

On the other hand, smartphones as used in educational purposes, can allow the students to access

various learning resources and provide opportunities that will help the continuity of distance

learning (Sarwar, and Soomro, 2013). According to Woodcock et al., the use of smartphones can

help the students to gin learning knowledge which is accessible anywhere, anytime and anything,

and at any place.

 However, negative effects of smartphones include, less interaction with people and less

communication with the people around you causing relationship issues and interference of the

students’ performance (Kuss and Griffiths, 2011), and can affect the mental state of students

whereas, they might feel a high risk of anxiety, along with low self - esteem and low attainment

of happiness (Berger, 2013). And lastly can affect one’s mentality causing the overuse of

smartphones into an addiction and create any mental and physical effect to the students (Kibona

and Mgaya 2015; Abu – Shanab, 2015).

2.1.5 Smartphone Addiction

Smartphones, slowly becoming indispensable and slowly dominating the technological world,

and smartphone addiction can also be considered as technological addiction as well (Lin et

al.,2014). And according to Griffiths, 1996, these kind of addiction are commonly considered to

be a non – chemical addiction that involve a human – machine interaction. Other than gambling

disorders, internet gaming disorder is currently the only non – substance – related disorder which

is referred to as the least harmful addiction. Main types of technological addiction which are

considered for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual – Fifth Edition (DSM – V) are those who are

involving the use of internet, videogames and mobile phones that are used to as a form of

communication and entertainment. Smartphones can disrupt any form of work to a point where we

are unable to achieve and maintain one’s state of productivity (Montag and Walla, 2016). The

DSM – V considered five main criteria for smartphone dependence or addiction and excessive

usage: a.) excessive use of smartphones, high manifestation in economic cost, and involvement of

numerous calls and messages, b.) problems with real time communication, parent – child

interactions, and social problems created by smartphone usage, c.) interference in school

engagement and personal activities, lack of productivity in terms of learning capabilities and
disturbance in a student’s mental well - being, d.) gradual increase in use to obtain the same level

of satisfaction, as well as the need to change of new smartphone models, e.) the addictive mentality

of the sudden need to call or to send messaged when time has elapsed. Because of this, Smartphone

use has, arguably, the potential to develop into an addictive behavior, similar to gambling, which

can interfere with our everyday life. Though not an official diagnosis, several researchers have

demonstrated how classic addiction symptomology may be applicable in the context of smartphone

overuse, including loss of control (e.g. distortion of time spent on the phone), preoccupation with

the smartphone, withdrawal symptoms and negative effects on our social and work lives (Kwon et

al., 2013; Lanaj, Johnson, & Barnes, 2014; Lin et al., 2015).

According to De Sola Guitierrez, De Fonseca, and Rubio, 2016, Smartphone addiction can be

a specific sub type of behavioral addiction, but on the other hand, Oulasvirta et al., 2012, works

regarding the absolute existence of a specific smartphone addiction can, highlights the role of

problematic behavior. In addition, on an individual level, the vast formation of problematic way

of living is one of the reason for the habit forming nature of smartphone use whereas this situation

correlates to the roots of smart phone addiction (Oulasvirta, Rattenbury, Ma, and Raita, 2012).

2.1.6 Signs of Smartphone Addiction

When smartphone use becomes an addiction, the behavior becomes stressful as stated by

Salvatore Insiga, however, according to Cha and Seo, 2018, considered that nonetheless, there was

no evident, and solid proof between the relation of smartphone usage radiation to any physical

illness but the possibility still exists. And therefore, students who mostly kept on engaging with

abnormal smartphone usage can result and have a high risk of being a smartphone addicts. It is

said to be that when a person is engaged too much in using smartphones or at least most of the

time, being unable to cut back in using technology, and using smartphones as solution to any
mental instability like anxiety and boredom, and result to any depend action towards the

smartphone and losing relationships, are the main signs and symptoms of smartphone addiction a

person can widely notice according to Northwell Health’s Neuroscience Institute in Manhasset.

With accordance to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders the following are

the signs and symptoms of excessive use of smartphones or smartphone addiction:

o A need to use the cell phone more and more often in order to achieve the same desired

effect.

o Persistent failed attempts to use cell phone less often.

o Preoccupation with smartphone use.

o Turns to cell phone when experiencing unwanted feelings such as anxiety or depression.

o Excessive use characterized by loss of sense of time.

o Has put a relationship or job at risk due to excessive cell phone use.

o Tolerance, need for newest cell phone, more applications, or increased use.

o Withdrawal, when cell phone or network is unreachable, a person might attain emotions

such as anger, tension, depression, irritability, and restlessness

2.1.6 Physical and Psychological Effects

Excessive use of smartphones will most likely to be evident in both physical and psychological

aspect of the students, the official name for smartphone addiction is Nomophobia which is defined

as having a fear of not being with your phone. Cell phones have been around for years though, so

why the sudden increase in personal dependence? It is being defined by the nature of the content

on the device, we’re talking internet, social networks, apps, video, music and so on. There are four

popular impulses that trigger a students’ smartphone habits leading to smartphone addiction:
Social media networks and relationship driven content. overexposure to information and data such

as games, surfing, apps, internet pornography, cybersex and dating apps, shopping, gambling,

stock trading, and auctions. According to, smartphone dependence of students can lead to the

following psychological effects: a,) Anxiety – by having the smartphone beside an individual will

make them less productive resulting the decrease of concentration towards work, b.) Stress – any

work that have correlation to technology increases a person’s stress level, c.) Narcissism – because

of internet preference and advancement of technology, being too much immersed with social

media can affect the mental well - being of the students resulting a bad self - esteem and low

confidence level, d.) Depression and Loneliness – one of the possible risks a student might attain

form smartphone addiction, this side effect can result due to social preferences, and e.) Sleep

Deprivation – prior to any workload of student engagement, sleep deprivation can also be attained

trough smartphone addiction where most of the children prioritize the use of cellphones.

However, physical effects are also considered as part of its negative impact to the students, this
may count numerous of physical impact in smartphone addiction whereas it can be considered
connected to the psychological effects of smartphones, these includes a.) Digital Eye Strain –
physical effect that targets the eyes of the people because of too much radiation, eye strain results
to the overuse of smartphone without any presence of time intervals or resting periods, b.) Neck
Problems – also known as “test neck” where in this physical effect is due to irrational stiffness of
the neck, it refers to a neck pain resulting from looking down too much on the smartphone or any
type of technological gadgets, c.) Increased Illness – because of lack of exercise and lack of and
sedentary living, the body might acquire any physical illness that is also due too over use of
smartphone devices, d.) Car Accidents – whereas the people who do not pay attention with their
own activities and still over use smartphone devices, most likely to be involved in any kind of
accidents, e.) Male Infertility – since smartphone radiation always have an impact to a person’s
body this is one of the common effects male people might also encounter.
2.2 Review of Related Studies

The research of Ng, Hassan, Nor and Malek (2017) mainly focused on showing the

relationship of phone usage and a student’s academic performance. The study was conducted in a

Malaysian Tertiary Institution wherein for seven consecutive days the researchers used 176

students from three academic programs to record their daily smartphone use for learning. It was

mentioned in the research that there were significant differences in results that were found for each

academic program. The researchers gathered the needed data through a survey that they had

conducted. Apparently it was found out that phone usage, actually has a connection to academic

performance since students who more frequently use their phones for their learning activities

resulted in a lower CGPA or Cumulative Grade Point Average. The outcome of the study suggests

that there should be an evaluation and inform the tertiary students in the instructional uses of

smartphones.

Another research like this was conducted by another research team from Salalah, Oman,

but now instead of using students they made use of department government employees for their

study. The research resulted in a very noticeable conclusion compared to the first one. This similar

study was conducted by Hussain (2017), which focused on showing the impact of smartphone

usage on the productivity of any organizations. The study was conducted in a government

department which was situated in Salalah, Oman. In this government department the researchers

found many employees of different nationalities and experiences, wherein they made use 120

people to participate in this research. The researchers distributed questionnaires to the participants

to gather data. The researchers also conducted an in-depth interview to six selected employees to

gather additional data needed. The research concluded that the level of the employee’s productivity

in the workplace had a medium level of importance at GDept, Salalah. Although it was mentioned
that there were restrictions in the usage of smartphones in their workplace so employees mostly

use it on their breaks. The researchers found out the impact of smartphones in the workplace also

results benefits and positive impacts as long as these devices were appropriately used.

Another similar study by Donya and Kumah (2011) also used employees as their

participants for their research but shows different results, the purpose of the research is to assess

the impact of mobile phone usage on productivity by the workforce of the company, investigate

the extent of mobile phone usage in Omega, establish the factors contributing to using mobile

phones at the work place and suggest measures to control the unproductive use of mobile phones

at work places. The study was done by gathering data through structured questionnaire with closed

and opened ended question. Although the sampling was aimed at 75 percent of the total workforce

of 40 people which was a lower number of participants compared to the already mentioned

researches. The questionnaire was administered to 30 employees of the company that were

available during the time of survey. Unfortunately, with the gathered data it can be concluded that

since the unproductive use of cell phones outweigh productive use, the use of mobile phones may

not contribute positively to productivity gains.

The study conducted by Duke and Montag (2017) is also very similar to all the researches

that were already mentioned, although the data gathered from the participants were self-reported.

This study aims to address the question regarding the link between smartphone overuse and loss

of productivity the research was conducted by collecting self-report data from N = 262 participants,

assessing private and work-related smartphone use, smartphone addiction and self-rated

productivity. The results indicated a moderate relationship between smartphone addiction and a

self-reported decrease in productivity due to spending time on the smartphone during work, as well

as with the number of work hours lost to smartphone use. Smartphone addiction was also related
to a greater amount of leisure time spent on the smartphone and was strongly related to a negative

impact of smartphone use on daily non-work related activities.

However, another research used a different approach in gathering the data needed. These

researchers made use of an application they themselves had developed. Lee, Ahn, S. Choi (2013)

and W. Choi (2013) conducted the research with aims of treating the condition of cellphone

addiction by conducting a study on the etiology and the treatment of the condition. They also

created a comprehensive information and communication technology (ICT) system called SAMS

(Smartphone Addiction Management System) which is created to cope up with the limitations in

treating the condition in a clinical approach, to gather data the SAMS system consists of an android

smartphone application and a web application server which is capable of monitoring the user’s

application usage together with GPS location and Internet access location, based on the data, a

comprehensive ICT system for objective assessment-based diagnosis and intervention for

smartphone addiction like SAMS helps treatment of patients in the domain of long-term treatment

for disorders such as addictions, diabetes, and obesity Thus, an ICT system will be very useful in

treating smartphone addiction since the smartphone itself is the very target of monitoring and

controlling.
2.3 Theoretical Framework

This study adapts the uses and gratification theory (UGT) of Blumler and Katz (1974). This

theory states that people consume media to satisfy or gratify their own personal wants and needs.

There are two principles by which this theory is grounded on. First, media users actively select the

media they consume. This means that people are not passive when it comes to consuming media

as they are engaged and motivated with their media selections. While the second principle states

that people are fully aware of the reasons on why they consume media. With this principle, people

already have the knowledge of their motivations on how they can gratify their wants and needs

through the use of their selected media. In short, the UGT emphasizes the power of individual over

the power of media.

In this research, the role of media was replaced by smartphones to fit the context of the

study. The uses and gratification theory is utilized in this study in such a way that the smartphone

application, YourHour, only serves as a tracker and does not control or limit the usage of

smartphones. Thus, the results rely on the participants’ decision on whether or not they will limit

their smartphone usage as they are notified by the YourHour application of the total time they have

spent on using their smartphones within the day.

2.4 Conceptual Framework

YourHour
application as
an Level of
Smartphone
intervention productivity
habits of SHS
for the of SHS
students
excessive use students
of
smartphones

The independent variable of the study is the YourHour application that serves as an

intervention for the excessive use of smartphones. On the other hand, the dependent variables of

the study are the smartphone habits and the level of productivity of the selected students from the

Senior High School Department of Colegio de Sta. Monica de Angat. With the use of the YourHour

application, it is expected that it will have an impact on the smartphone habits of the participants.

Consequently, these smartphone habits will affect the level of productivity of the said students. By

using this framework, the study aims to determine if YourHour is effective on improving the

smartphone habits and level of productivity of chosen participants.

2.5 Hypothesis and Assumptions of the Study

Hypothesis

a) The student’s excessive use of smartphones decreases their productivity.

b) The utilization of YourHour application escalates the students’ efficiency due to its

notifying functions.

c) The students’ smartphone habits are associated with their health.

Assumptions

The following statements are enumerated by the researchers:

1. The YourHour application minimizes the students’ excessive usage of smartphones and

helps them manage their time.

2. Students who use the YourHour application have more time in finishing their tasks.

3. The alerting feature of YourHour application makes the students conscious with the

amount of time they consume using their smartphones.

4. Most of the participants’ motive for using their smartphones is for their studies.

5. Students who use their smartphones more frequently are less likely to engage in prolific

activities than those who use it occasionally.

2.6 Definition of Terms

In this study, multiple terminologies which are conceptually and operationally defined

were used. These are the said terminologies:

Application.It is also referred to as an application program or application software, is a

computer software package that performs a specific function directly for an end user or, in some

cases, for another application.

Productivity. It is the rate at which a person, company, or country does useful work.

Smartphone. It refers to a mobile phone with highly advanced features. A typical

smartphone has a high-resolution touch screen display, WiFi connectivity, Web browsing

capabilities, and the ability to accept sophisticated applications.

Smartphone Habits. These refer to the common tendencies when using smartphones that

someone has settled into. The usual time spent and how often someone uses their smartphone is

also included.