Republic of the Philippines

Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao

Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education
Schools Division of Cotabato City
CANIZARES NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
School of Arts and Trades
Malagapas, RH 10, Cotabato City

School Based Action Research

Using Mobile Devices for Educational Purposes

to Improve Student’s Learning Achievements of
Grade 7 Students

FLORANTA R. ROMBINES
Researcher

February 2021
Introduction
Technology has affected and changed the way people live and it has made

people’s lives more proficient and at ease. There is hardly anyone who has not

been changed by the advances in technology and computers of today’s society.

Communication, transportation, and education have been greatly developed from

new technological advancements. Many people have lesser stress in their lives

because there are new useful hi-tech inventions created each day to help them do

things quicker and easier. Some of these helpful technologies are cell phones,

computers, laptops, tablets and the Internet.

The study deals on the impact of mobile cellphones in learning experience of

the grade seven students of Canizares National High School – School of Arts and

Trades during the 1st quarter of S.Y. 2020-2021.

Methodology

This study adopts a mixed-method approach in the data collection process.

Mixed-method research is the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods

and analyses in a single study. Creswell in Maree (2007:261) defines it as “a

procedure for collecting, analyzing and mixing both types of data at some stage of

the research process within a single study, to understand a research problem

more completely”. We administered a questionnaire to a randomly selected sample

of 246 learners. Data analysis in mixed-methods research consists of analyzing

separately the quantitative data using quantitative methods and the qualitative

data using qualitative methods. It also involves analyzing both sets of information
using techniques that mix the quantitative and qualitative data and results,

namely the mixed-method analysis (Creswell & Clark, 2011).

In this study, both data analysis procedures were used to understand the

collected data. Themes were generated from the sections of the questionnaire and

compared with the results obtained from the interviews with different respondents.

Results and Discussion

Corbeil, JR & Valdes-Corbeil (2007) state that the expansion of cellphones

during this time of pandemic has made it commonplace for students and teachers

to have them in the school setting. The first section of the questionnaire required

learners to identify important features that they look for when choosing a

cellphone. It also required learners to indicate whether or not they own cellphones

and what they mainly do with them. Sixty-five per cent of the learners regard

internet access as an important feature that they look for when given a chance to

choose a cellphone. This allows them to download music, have access to social

networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, Viber and Snap Chat.

Fifteen per cent of leaners just need a cellphone that does basic things such as

making a call and sending an SMS. Seventeen per cent of learners when choosing

a cellphone look for a cellphone with MMS, games, radio, pictures and video

features. Seventy-eight per cent of the learners who participated in the study own

cellphones but only 57% of them carry their cellphones to schools. Learners also

had to respond to the statements on the questionnaire as shown in table 1. In this

study, we used chi-square with a .01 level of significance.

Table 1: Responses from the learners on the questionnaire statements

yes no NR
1. I use my cellphone (s) to keep contact with my friends and 95% 5%
family
2. I use my cellphone (s) to keep contact with my classmates and 47% 53%
discuss work related to school
3. I use my cellphone (s) to access school-related information 59% 41%
from the internet
4. The use of cellphones in the classroom is too disruptive to the 87% 13%
learning process
5. I think cellphones could be used in high school as an 76% 24%
educational learning tool
6. My school does not allow the use of cellphones for any 57 43%
purpose during school hours %
7. My school has a policy regarding the use of cellphones within 55% 45%
the school premises
8. In my opinion the learners’ use of cellphones should be 70% 30%
banned in schools
9. My parents allow me to carry a cellphone to school for safety 57% 43%
reasons
10. Some learners use cellphones to send other materials to 12% 88%
fellow learners

Statement 1: I use my cellphone (s) to keep contact with my friends and

family. A significant number (95%) indicated that they use their cellphones to

communicate with their friends and family.

Statement 2: I use my cellphones (s) to be in contact with my classmates and

discuss work related to school. Only 47% of the participants use their cellphones

(s) to keep contact with their classmates to discuss work related to school.
Statement 3: I use my cellphones (s) to access school-related information from the

internet. Only 59% of the learners use their cellphones (s) to access school-related

information from the internet.

Statement 4: The use of cellphones in the classroom is too disruptive to the

learning process. A significant number (87%) of learners agree that the use of

cellphones in the classroom is too disruptive to the learning process.

Statement 5: I think cellphones could be used in high school as an educational

learning tool. Only 76% of learners think that cellphones could be used in high

school as an educational learning tool.

Statement 6: My school does not allow the use of cellphones for any purpose

during school hours. Only 57% of the learners indicated that their schools do not

allow them to use cellphones for any purpose during school hours.

Statement 7: My school has a policy regarding the use of cellphones within the

school premises. Only 55% of the learners indicated that their schools have

policies regarding the use of cellphones within the school premises.

Statement 8: In my opinion the learners’ use of cellphones should be banned in

schools. The majority (70%) of learners feel that the learners’ use of cell phones

should be banned in schools.

Statement 9: My parents allow me to carry a cellphone to school for safety

reasons. The parents of 57% of learners allow them to carry cellphones to school

for safety reasons.

Statement 10: Some learners use cellphones to send pornographic materials to

fellow learners. Only 12% of the learners indicated that some learners use

cellphones to send pornographic materials to fellow learners.

Although learners acknowledge that cellphones can be a distraction during

the teaching and learning process, they also point out numerous benefits that they

enjoy by using their cellphones, which are mainly educational. Owning a cellphone

allows learners to conduct school-related research on the internet, call for help in

case of emergencies, calculate mathematical problems, take pictures for their

school projects, and record the lesson to replay at a later stage.

Summary and Conclusion

Learning continues to be a feature beyond education, but face-to-face

learning can be difficult for many companies to implement. E-Learning, which fits

into employee schedules and can be accessed from wherever their job takes them,

is gaining in popularity. Anytime, anywhere access to learning content is made

possible not only by the ubiquity of mobile, but also the growing demand from

today’s younger generation.

  Mobile technology has already begun to influence when, where and how

learning takes place. In today’s hyper-connected world its influence will continue

to grow with mobile devices occupying an ever more significant role in the

classroom. The integration of mobile technologies into the learning experience

supports new and exciting ways of delivering engaging content; it also helps build

the digital skills young people need beyond education. 

 This study concludes that the benefits of the learners’ cellphone use

outweigh the disadvantages if properly managed. Technology and cellphones are

invaluable in our daily lives today, despite the fact that cellphones can be very

disruptive.to the teaching and learning process in schools. Most of the schools do

not have enough resources such as computers to support the teaching and

learning process. Therefore, cellphone use can mitigate for the shortage of

resources in schools. Schools need to embrace cellphones as an educational tool,

but they should put watertight cellphone policies in place to ensure that

technology benefits the education of the learners in the 21st century and beyond.

Recommendation

The gadgets are very useful, they help us connect to each other, they make

us learn new things and discover new things. The reason why computer

technologies are invented is to help make people’s life easier and to improve their

way of life, especially the students. Modern computer technologies make studying

easier and fun to the students. As long as students don’t become fanatics when it

comes to gadgets, we don’t think that they could have a bad influence or a bad

effect on students. The gadgets make our life better in many ways. Let’s take for

example the cell phone, many of you are “lost” without it and when it comes to

students this device is more than just a cell phone, is a chat opportunity, an

Internet connection, a camera and more. Because mobile phones have today a lot

of features and they are not just devices made for communication between people.
References

Corbeil, JR & Valdes-Corbeil, ME. 2007. Are you ready for mobile learning? Educause
Quarterly, Vol. 2. Accessed at http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/are-you-ready-mobile-
learning on 03 December 2013.

Creswell, JW. 2003. Research design: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods
approaches. 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks, Ca: Sage.

Creswell, JW. 2009a. Educational research: planning, conducting, and evaluating

quantitative and qualitative research. USA: Sage.

Creswell, JW. 2009b. Research design: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods
approach.3rd edition. Thousand Oaks, Ca: Sage.