Perceived Effects of Smartphone Usage on Students’ Attitude Towards Learning in a Health Institution
Perceived Effects of Smartphone Usage on Students’ Attitude Towards Learning in a Health Institution
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Date
2019
Authors
Manu, Jacob
Dzamesi, J Y W
Akyina, K O
Danso, E
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Education and Practice
Abstract
Globally, the current advancement in technological gadgets has provided smartphones as a new tool for both
teachers and students to support classroom and off classroom learning. This has led to the call for its integration
into the educational system of health training schools in Ghana. The researchers studied health trainees’
perception on the effects smartphone usage has on their attitudes towards learning. This study was grounded on
the views of constructivist theory of learning. A descriptive cross sectional study design was adopted. Among
614 health trainees studying various medical and allied health courses at the College of Health-Yamfo of Ghana,
138 students were selected using both stratified and systematic sampling methods. Descriptive statistics was used
to analyse the data. The outcome of the study indicated that health trainees who use smartphones in their learning
activities develop positive attitude towards learning (76%). However, it was revealed that health trainees who do
not use smartphones in their learning activities had negative attitude towards learning (57%). They were also not
confident; did not complete assignments; depended on others during studies and did not have access to large
volume of information via the internet. Finally, chatting through WhatsApp and other social media applications
during lectures and small screen size were barriers to effective use of smartphone in learning activities. The
study recommends development of policy that would encompass the integration of smartphone usage into
teaching curriculum of health training schools in Ghana.
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Citation
Dzamesi, J. Y. W., Akyina, K. O., Manu, J., & Danso, E. (2019). Perceived Effects of Smartphone Usage on Students’ Attitude Towards Learning in a Health Institution. J. Educ. Pract, 10(2), 71-81.