Table of Content
Abstract
Chapter One:
Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
1.2 Statement of the Problem
1.3 Purpose of Study
1.4 Research Questions
1.5 Hypothesis of Research
1.6 Significance / Justification of Study
1.7 Scope & Delimitation of the Study
1.8 Delimitation of the Study
1.9 Limitation of study
1.10 Operational definition of terms
1.11 Organisations of the Study
Chapter Two:
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Summary of Findings
2.3 Conclusion
2.4 recommendation
References
ABSTRACT
This research work investigated the effect of GSM on academic performance of tertiary
students in two tertiary institutions (Adekunle Ajasin University and Federal University of
Technology Akure) in Ondo state, Nigeria. It evaluated how GSM affects the student overall
performance and did a deep investigation on the access to GSM by students. The need and
importance for GSM in this age and other similar researches was broadly discussed in the
literature review. The highlighted problem which is the reason why this research was
conducted was the rate at which mobile devices are used among tertiary students in this part of
the world and whether this usage have a positive or negative impact on their academic
performances. With a well-constructed questionnaire, over 300 responses were gathered and
analyzed and it shows that though the usage of GSM is increasing rapidly, it doesn’t significantly
affect their academic performances. With this research work, I recommend that aide from the
poor user experience of GSM subscribers, the national education curriculum should pay
attention to how GSM can be productively used by tertiary students to positively impact their
academic performances as with the aid of internet, new ideas and concepts can be gotten
easily.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of study
The invention and development of telecommunication in the world began in the 1830s. The
first commercial electrical telegraphy was constructed by Sir Charles Wheatstone and Sir
William Forthergill Cooke and they both devise as “improvement to the existing
electromagnetic telegraphy” (Robert Laslett, 1999). Samuel Morse on the other side of the
Atlantic Ocean independently developed another version of electrical telegraphy that he
unsuccessfully demonstrated on 2nd September, 1837. Thereafter, Alfred Vail developed
another version of the technology and this was successfully demonstrated on 6th January, 1938
(Marshall 1964). The first transatlantic telegraphy label allowing transatlantic
telecommunication for the first time was viewed successfully completed on 27th July, 1866.
Alexander Bell invented the conventional telephone in 1876 and the first commercial telephone
services were set-up in 1878 and 1879 in both Haven and London (Acitelli 1992, Flecther &
Fincahm 1991).
However, Nigeria has not been left out of this race for rapid development of
telecommunication, although the journey to success in the milieu had been long and tortuous.
The development of telecommunications facilities in Nigeria began in 1886 when a cable
connection was established between Lagos and London by the colonial administration
(Omagbemi 2004). From the very beginning, it was clear that the introduction of telephone
services in the country was not induced by economic or commercial motives. It was not meant
to enhance economic growth, but it was originally developed as a tool for colonial subjugation
(Jager and Lokman, 1999, Jones, Zenois and Griffiths 2004 and Eynon 2006).
For this reason, by 1893, government offices in Lagos were provided with telephone service,
which were later extended to Ilorin and Jebba in the hinterland. A slow but steady process of
development in the years that followed led to the gradual formation of the nucleus of national
telecommunication networks. However, as the European mercantile activities gained foothold
in the country, the first commercial trunk telephone service was established to link Itu and
Calabar in 1923.
Between 1946 and 1952, a three channel line carrier system was commissioned between Lagos
and Ibadan and was later extended to Oshogbo, Kaduna, Kano, Benin and Enugu. Thus,
connecting the colonial office in London with the commercial centers in Nigeria. In those early
days, services were primitive and the coordinated pegboard switching system was used. This
later progressed to manual switchboards of different sizes, shapes, and capacities until stronger
exchanges were installed into the national network at Lagos Island, Ikeja, Ebute Meta, Apapa
and Port Harcourt between 1955 and 1960. The telegraphy service also witnessed a parallel
development, from telegraph delivery by way of manual coordinated pegboard switching to the
use of Morse code for telex switching. As at 1960, a manual telex exchange of sixty subscriber
lines were in service in Lagos. All the above efforts were essentially aimed at improving internal
administrative telephone services in Nigeria (Olatokun and Opesade 2008, Erinosho 2007,
Obanya 2006, Ojokoh and Asaolu 2005).
At independence in 1960, with a population of roughly 45 million people, the country only had
about 18,724 phone lines for use. This translated to a Tele-density of about 0.5 telephone lines
per 1000 people. The telephone network consisted of 121 exchanges of which 116 were of the
manual (magneto) type and only 5 were automatic. Between independence in 1960 and 1985,
telecoms services become commercialized in Nigeria. The old department of Post and
Telecommunications (P and T) under the Ministry of Communications became separated and
Nigeria External Telecommunications Limited (N.E.T) was created to take care of external
telecoms services while the old P and T handled internal network. By January 1985, the
erstwhile (P and T) Post and Telecommunications divisions merged with NET to form Nigeria
Telecommunication Limited (NITEL) a government owned Limited Liability Company ( Barry
2008 and World Bank 2001).
The objective of establishing NITEL was to harmonize the planning and coordination of the
internal and external communications services, rationalize investments in telecoms
development and provide accessible, efficient and affordable services. NITEL, the only national
monopoly operator in the sector, was synonymous with epileptic services and bad management
which made telephone usage then to be unreliable, congested, expensive and customer
unfriendly.
According to Ajayi (2007), the years 1992 to 1999 was tagged as the partial liberalization era,
when government embarked on market – oriented, partially liberalizing the Nigerian
telecommunication sector via Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) Decree 75 of 1992.
The reforms include separation of the policy – making body from industry regulator and
networks operators/service providers, and licensing of network operator service providers
which began in 1996. Despite the huge potentials offered by the Nigerian telecom market,
progress was slow due to political uncertainties and perceived policy inconsistencies as NITEL
still continued to retain monopoly of power over voice telephony in both national and long
distance international calls both argued that this period was dominated by chaotic, hopeless
and frustrating circumstances. The Network was bad, there was weak infrastructural base, huge
unmet demands, concentration of lines in selected urban centers, slow growth of subscriber
base as well as limited investment.
The Nigeria’s telecom sector witnessed a major revolution in 2001 with the granting of the
Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) license to providers. The target of National
Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) and the Nigerian Communication
Commission (NCC) for the telecommunication sector include; Attainment of Tele-density
(number of telephone lines in relation to population) of 1.25 by the year 2008. Prior to this,
Nigeria maintained an unenviable record as the world’s third lowest, after Mongolia and
Afghanistan, with a Tele-density of 0.73% before 1999. This essentially can be achieved with the
advent of mobile telecommunication (GSM) that has resulted in a dramatic increase in the total
number of lines from 866,782 in 1999, to over 60 million lines, in year 2008 out of which GSM
operators accounted for 57, 622, 901 lines, fixed line operators accounted for 2,537,504 code
division multiple access, CDMA, operators connected 780,938 lines [6]. This recent drive in
telecom reform policy initiatives has made noticeable impacts on Nigeria (Okonji 2007).
Statement of the Problem
The mobile-phone communication benefits education at several levels. Its effects on secondary
school students learning are both positive and negative. Operationally, it makes class
management, including attendance and administration, easier and more effective as this will
enable the teachers and the school head to communicate effectively with both students and
their parents. On the time-management level, it enhances coordination between teachers and
students. As Tracy (2003) wrote, history is full of records of reckless and daring exploits of
young man, some of which have resulted in great good and others in great evil. Some effects of
mobile phone on students’ performance at the Secondary School level also include:
a. contact with their parent while in school.
b. To trace easily the teachers, classmates for solutions to educational problems.
c. To use internet to search out the useful information.
d. To use the mobile as minicomputer.
e. To use dictionary and thesaurus.
f. To listen F.M radio for entertainment.
g. To find out the translation of verses of Holy Books, and
h. To make photos and movies though which usually negate the academic performances of
young mind.
On the other hand, mobile-communication activities in classrooms have negative aspects,
including cheating, harassment, delinquency distraction (lack of concentration), immorality and
time wasting. Additional problems emerging from use of GSM in schools include; damage to
attention span, critical-thinking skills, and respect for learning and teachers. Students who are
distracted lose the ability to concentrate, to plan, and to work with complex ideas and
sometimes seem to reflect a general decline in civility.
Purpose of the Study.
The general purpose of this study is to examine the effect of GSM usage on teaching and
learning of higher institution students in some selected institutions. Specifically, this research
work intends to examine:
1. The level and the source of their access to GSM usage.
2. The performance of students in the selected subjects.
Research Questions
The following research questions were raised for the study:
1. What is the level of student’s access to Mobile phone (GSM)?
2. What is the level of student’s academic performance in some selected courses?
Hypotheses of the Research
Only one hypothesis was tested.
Ho1. There is no significant relationship between access to GSM (mobile phone) and student’s
academic performance.
Significance/ Justification of the Study
The results of the study will be helpful to many entities, including school officials, teachers,
parents, and students. This study will aid the instructors of the school in determining the
influence that social media has on their students. As a result, they will be better equipped to
educate and raise awareness among their student concerning the potential impact that GSM
usage may have on their lives. The study is important to parents because it will inform them of
the potential consequences that their children’s use of GSM will have on them. This will allow
them to keep a closer eye on how their children use internet facilitated by GSM, which is an
important role that the study plays.
The findings of the study will also make it possible for students to become aware that, in
addiction to the social advantages of utilizing GSM with it feature, social networking sites,
excessive use of these sites can put users at risk for negative effects on their academic pursuit
and performance hence the need to adjust to moderate usage of the the device. In a purely
empirical sense, the study will contribute to the existing body of knowledge and serve as a
reference for teachers and students who are interested in performing more research on a
subject that is related to this one.
Scope and Delimitation of the Study
The scope of this study is bordered on the use of GSM, and the academic performance of
secondary school students in Federal Polytechnic Ede. The study will further examine the
impact of GSM usage on students’ learning and classroom concentration, identify the impacts
of GSM usage on students’ academic performance, exams the relationship between GSM and
academic performance, and make recommendations on the usage of GSM at secondary school
level. The study is however delimited to Federal Polytechnic Edein Nigeria. And will cover the
period of 10years from 2010-2020.
Delimitation of the Study.
This research work is limited to selected tertiary institution, especially students that attends the
following institution;
Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo state.
Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo state.
Limitation of the Study
Like in every human endeavour, the researchers encountered slight constraints while carrying
out the study. The significant constraint was the scantiness of literature related to negative
impacts of the use of GSM on the academic performance of secondary school students. Thus
much time and organization was spent by the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials
related to the study. More so, the study is limited in scope focusing on teachers and student in
Government Technical secondary school in Nigeria. Therefore findings of this study cannot be
used for generalization for other secondary schools in other West African countries which
creates a research gap and give room for further studies on this topic.
Operational Definition of Terms.
GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications, originally Group Special Mobile, is a standard
developed by the European Telecommunication standard institutes (ETIS) to describe the
protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile phones first
deployed in Finland in July 1991. (EU seeks to end mandatory GSM for 900Mhz, 1992)
Teaching: The act, practice, occupation, or profession of a teacher.
Learning: Act of requiring new or modifying and reinforcing existing knowledge, behaviors,
skills, values or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information. The
ability to learn is possessed by human, animal, plants and some machines.
Organization of the Study
This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows.
Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study),
historical background, statement of problem, objectives of the study, research hypotheses,
significance of the study, scope and limitation of the study, definition of terms and historical
background of the study.
Chapter Two
Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations
2.1 Introduction
This chapter summarizes the findings on the effect of GSM on the academic performance
among the polytechnic students using federal polytechnic Ede as a case study. The chapter
consists of summary of the study, conclusions, recommendations and suggestions for further
studies.
2.2 Summary of the Findings
In this study, we examined the effect of GSM on the academic performance among the
polytechnic students using federal polytechnic Ede as a case study. The study specifically was
carried out to examine the impact of GSM usage on students’ learning and classroom
concentration, identify the impacts of GSM usage on students’ academic performance, exams
the relationship between GSM and academic performance, and make recommendations on the
usage of GSM at secondary school level.
This research is reported in five distinct yet interrelated chapters. In the chapter one we
describes the study objectives clearly by stating the motive behind this study. Research
hypotheses were developed for testing while the scope of this research was defined as well.
In the chapter two, a review of related and relevant literature were carried out. The concept
of , and smart phones, concept of android and GSM, academic performance, use of GSM in the
classroom learning etc.were reviewed from the perspective of Ifeanyi and Chukwuere (2018),
Imran and Abbas (2020),Darko-Adjei, (2019); Campbell (2016),Ebiye (2015), Gowthami and
VenkataKrishnaKumar (2016), Tikoria & Agariya, (2017) etc.
The study was anchored on technology acceptance model (TAM) by Fred Davis and Richard
Bagozzi (1989) and user and gratification theory byKatz, (1959)
Empirical works were also reviewed in the review. Notable works such as studies conducted by
Fawareh and Jusoh (2017), and Ahmed et al., 2020, were reviewed. Further studies carried out
by Nayak (2018) and Serdang Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia and Mothar, (2015) were also
recognized.
Adopting the survey research design, responses were obtained from secondary school students
in Government Technical SecondaryNigeria using the convenience sampling method selected
261 participants as the sample size participants. Responses received were analyzed using
frequency tables and Relative Importance Index. While the hypotheses were tested using the
ANOVA statistical tool SPSS v23.
2.3 Conclusion
Our findings from this study revealed that;
The use of GSM by students’ has hampered their learning and classroom concentration as it
distract them during learning in general and it makes them too often loss concentration in class
while teaching is going on.
There a significant relationship existing between GSM and academic performance.
The use of GSM usage has also affected students’ academic performance as it leads to loss of
concentration, loss of interest in class on a subject, makes them to do less school work, leads to
drop of students’ grade, sometimes make students not to do their school assignments, and
deprive them from getting enough sleep.
2.4 Recommendations.
In line with the findings of this study, the researcher proffer the following recommendations;
Academic institutions should also implement programmes that can restrict students from using
social network sites and applications while in the classroom.
The students should only be allowed to use their smartphones when the teacher tells or
recommends them to do so; for example, to access their academic materials or something of
the sort.
School representative council should give massive education to students on the advantages and
disadvantages of using s as well as how best to use it.
Teachers should communicate more with the students through this medium. This could be
achieved by creating chat groups that can help every one of the students and teachers to stay
connected in order to share information.
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