MOBILE LEARNING AMIDST COVID-19 PANDEMIC AFFECTS ACADEMIC

PERPORMANCE OF THE FOURTH YEAR TRIMESTER BEED STUDENTS OF

ANDRESS SORIANO COLLEGES OF BISLIG

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

PROJECT CONTEXT

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a drastic shift in the global education

system, with institutions suspending face-to-face learning and shifting to mobile

learning. This abrupt shift has compelled the education sector to devise alternatives,

such as using mobile devices and online platforms as learning tools. The current study

aimed to determine how mobile learning affects academic performance of the students

amidst COVID-19 pandemic. The study utilized the descriptive research design, which

employed the self-made survey questionnaire that examined how mobile learning

affects academic performance of fourth year BEED students of Andres Soriano

Colleges of Bislig. The respondents of the study were 21 fourth year BEED students

with ages 20 to 30 years old. The findings of the study showed that academic

performance of the students was affected by the context of mobile learning positively.

This result was determined when the weighted mean of students' GWA before and

during pandemic were measured and compared. Accordingly, during pandemic,

students' GWA was higher with a mean of 1.60 compared to the GWA of students

before pandemic which only had a mean of 1.85. On the other hand, students were not

satisfied with the context of mobile learning and still prefer the traditional face to face

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learning which achieved a mean score of 2.37. Overall, this study finds out that there

was a significant relationship between mobile learning and academic performance.

PURPOSE AND DESCRIPTION

There is no doubt that mobile devices have completely changed our lives, to the

way how we work like how we communicate, and finally how we learn (Zoe, 2019),

Today. Mobile learning has come into a time of learning style preference over traditional

learning due to the fact the world has faced into a crisis (Nadeak. 2020). A crisis that

paralyzed different aspect of world activities.

Corona virus, commonly known as Covid-19, is a fatal and contagious illness that

has had a significant impact on the world activities. The Philippines has been severely

affected by the COVID-19 (Fidel iz P., 2021 ), be it on the aspect of economic, societal.

Social, and spiritual, this tragedy has also jolted the education industry and this anxiety

is also likely to reverberate throughout the world,

Education nowadays has been into a challenge due to the fact that face-to-face

interaction between educators and learners were not permitted. This challenge

highlights the alternative way and application of mobile and distance learning (Coman,

et. al 2020). Recently Mobile technology is considered an effective way to improve

students' skills such as positive thinking, collaborative, communicative, as well as it is

considered the main part of major innovation in many e-learning areas Nahla E. &

Hosam E. (2020).

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 Meanwhile, after the "no vaccine, no face to face classes" declaration by

President Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, the Commission on Higher Education

(CllEd) issued directives to universities to start preparing for distance learning. As a

matter of fact, here in the Philippines, public and private universities and colleges

utilizes the usability of mobile learning apps in conducting classes amid the pandemic.

Locally, Surigao del Sur State University (SDSSU), a public university, utilizes Google

Meet and

Google Classroom with high usage percentage in delivering classroom

instruction, submission of students' output, and conduct of classes. Furthermore,

Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU), a private university, uses CANVAS for their online

LMS and Moodle for asynchronous learning activities. They also use Zoom for

synchronous class sessions (AsoG, 2020).

Even though mobile learning is perceived to have negative impact on academic

performance, but according to UNESCO (2011) mobile learning is viewed positively by

students in terms of accessing information quickly, communicating and collaborating,

introducing a variety of ways to learn, and situated learning like game-based learning.

SCOPE AND LIMITATION

This study seeks to find out how mobile online learning application affects

academic performance of the fourth year BEED students of Andres Soriano Colleges of

Bislig. The researchers use the whole population of the fourth year trimester of College

of Arts, Sciences, and Teacher Education (CASTE) students from Bachelor of

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Elementary Education of the Academic Year 2020-2021. Gathering of data will be done

personally by using survey questionnaire as research instrument.

OBJECTIVES

General Objectives

This study aims to investigate and find out the effectiveness of the context of mobile

online learning in the teaching-learning process and explain how does the academic

performance of the students being affected by such learning style in the new normal.

Specific Objectives

The study will be of great significance to the following individuals or groups to wit:

- help the teachers find out the difficulties the learners are experiencing in the

mode of mobile learning, thus, they are able to make a creative stratagem to

motivate learners and to improve academic performance. Strategies such as:

promote social or collaborative learning; and provide flexibility to learners to learn

anytime, anywhere and when required.

- aid parents and guardians in evaluating their children's needs, such as providing

mobile phones and secure internet connection, which required for online

learning.

- provide suggestions to school administration in improving the internet

connectivity of the campus for better delivery of online lessons and instructions.

- will help the students be more active and responsible. This will encourage them

to work hard and adjust with the new normal in education.

- will serve as reference for future research studies about mobile learning.

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 CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The current situation the world is facing today has caused substantial negative

impact on the lives of the people. Economies have declined, many businesses have

been closed, unemployment rate have increased, access to services were limited, and

peoples' health and lives is definitely at risk. These challenges have created questions

and doubts about life that lies ahead and how would people deal with the new normal.

Literally, the problem just not ends here. The pandemic is a huge challenge to

education systems. The traditional way of teaching-learning process is way inapplicable

for today. Many governments have ordered institutions to cease face-to-face

instructions for most of their students, prompting them to turn to online teaching and

interactive education. This brief note provides students, institutional leaders, and state

policymakers with pragmatic guidelines to address the educational implications of this

crisis.

Local Studies

The coronavirus disease pandemic year 2019 has radically altered the Philippines'

higher education system, with a clear shift toward online instruction as a means of

limiting virus transmission. The shift to online learning contingency plan to secure the

continuation of the courses offered and enables students to continue with their studies.

However, developing countries, like the Philippines, have areas that do not have a

reliable or existent internet connection which posed a great and major challenge to the

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shift to full online instruction. The advent of information technology has ushered in a

great era where information is made available almost to anyone for a variety of

purposes such as research and education. Information availability was due to the

proliferation of a multitude of applications available on the latest gadgets such as smart

phones catering to so many fields of endeavor. A testament to this is the availability of

mobile learning implements beneficial to a lot of interested learners (Roxas and Urano,

2012). Mobile devices are becoming more prevalent and integrated into our daily lives,

especially among university students. From these devices developed in tandem with

face-to-face class interaction it has opened new possibilities for ubiquitous learning

Herras I. Y., Abanes D. R. N., et.al. (2019).

According to Patricia Arinto (2016), Rapid advances information and

communications technology in the digital age have brought about significant changes in

the practice of distance education (DE) worldwide. Most educational systems across the

world have migrated to remote learning modality as a measure against the spread of

coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 2019) Rotas R. E. & Cahapay M. B. (2020). The

virus, which first emerged in December 2019, became a pandemic leading to school

closures and eventually, migration to remote learning by all levels of educational

institutions in the new normal education. In a knowledge-driven enterprise, mobile

learning introduces new ways for students to learn and educators to teach and to

respond to the challenge of innovating educational delivery mechanisms in higher

education, colleges and universities across the globe ventured into different practices

such as distance education, online teaching, remote learning, blended learning, and

mobile learning. (Marcial Dave (2020), Rotas R. E., & Cahapay M. B. (2020))

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 At the University of the Philippines — Open University (UPOU), a single-mode

distance education (DE) institution in the Philippines, the term "open and distance e-

learning" (ODeL) has been coined to refer to the new mode of online or Web-based DE.

More specifically, ODeL refers to "forms of education provision that use contemporary

technologies to enable varied combinations of synchronous and asynchronous

communication among learners and educators who are physically separated from one

another for part or all of the educational experience" (Alfonso, 2012, n.p.). "Most of the

terms (online learning, open learning, web-based learning, computer-mediated learning,

blended learning, m-learning, for ex.) have in common the ability to use a computer

connected to a network, that offers the possibility to learn from anywhere, anytime, in

any rhythm, with any means" (Cojocariu et al., 2014). According to Bombaes (2018)

mobile learning is the future modern way of learning this idea suggests that it is

important for the students to keep pace with changing technology and time. Mobile

learning has a key position in the development of new teaching methodologies for

higher education students. Learning through mobile technology is free of limitation; the

student can access the knowledge and information at any time and any place

(Bombaes, 2018).

The context of mobile learning is not new here in the Philippines anymore. It is

not just the preferred learning style because we are used to face-to-face instruction. The

study conducted by Cacayan, et.al. (2017) cited that the respondents have considerable

awareness on mobile technologies and applications of such, it is of big help for the

teachers to make the instruction anywhere and everywhere especially for the students

who are not active in classroom interaction.

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 In the study of Roxas and Urano (2012), they cited that mobile phone utilization

presents a positive impact not only on the purpose of sending and receiving of

messages but also on its use as a means to receive vital information related to the

students' studies; on the other hand, students have positive reaction on understanding

and learning the topics through the use of the medium, and; furthermore, mobile

devices can be effective tools for learning delivery. Wherein, teachers may be reach by

the learners via text messages/telephone, cellular phone, messenger, Facebook, and e-

email Fidel iz P. (2021).

Meanwhile, the integration of mobile learning on the teaching-learning process

have a positive impact on the academic performance of the students (Magalong and

Palomar, 2019; Etcuban and Pantinople, 2018).

Foreign Studies

The number of mobile cellular network subscribers is expected to be seven billion

in 2016. Also, the number of Internet users is known to reach 3.2 billion (ICT Facts and

Figures, 2015). Mobile technologies transform our daily lives in ways such as

connectivity, communication and cooperation (McQuiggan, McQuiggan, Sabourin &

Kosturko, 2015). Mobile devices (specifically smartphones and tablet computers) aim to

change the way of learning and teaching methods innovatively (Kuzu, 2014; Middleton,

2015). However, it is indicated that mobile learning cannot replace with formal education

but offers methods to support learning outside of the classroom and brings advantages

for different interactions (Sharples, Taylor & Vavoula, 2010).

In conjunction with the use of mobile devices in learning and teaching activities,

the term "Mobile learning" has emerged. There are different definitions of mobile

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learning in the literature (Crompton, 2013). According the Quinn (2000), mobile learning

is e-learning which is performed through mobile devices. The definition of mobile

learning varies over time and affected by emerging technologies.