The Impact of Android-Based Learning on Students

The Impact of Android-Based Learning on Students

By: Octaviar Ikhsal Pinutur

Chemistry Education Student

Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training

UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta

 Mobile phones bring students many benefits, and it cannot be denied that in this modern and sophisticated era, mobile phones can help children learn. It is not uncommon nowadays for teenagers, and even elementary school children, to be able to operate a mobile phone. Often, school assignments make them, willingly or not, access the internet on their phones because the information they are looking for is not in their textbooks. 

However, there are also quite a few negative effects of mobile phone use on those who seek knowledge. This is what has given rise to pros and cons between the benefits and the drawbacks of using mobile phones in the world of education.

The positive effects of mobile phones in the world of education include the following. First, they make communication easier. Communication between teachers, students and parents can be carried out en masse through groups available in communication apps, such as WhatsApp, Line, Telegram, and others.

Second, they increase knowledge. Mobile phones are equipped with various applications, including educational applications. In addition, with the help of search engines such as Google, students can access a wide range of information and check the accuracy of the information they have gathered. This greatly helps them in doing their assignments and can increase their knowledge.

Third, they increase comfort in learning. Many students or teachers feel more comfortable using a mobile phone when learning than spending a lot of their time going to the library to look for the sources of information they need. Mobile phones help them save a lot of time and let them use that time to study or to communicate with friends, family or teachers at the same time.

Besides having positive effects, mobile phones also have several negative effects in the world of education, including the following. First, lack of focus when studying. Mobile phones can distract students' attention during the teaching and learning process. Sometimes their attention is diverted by checking text messages, playing games, or simply checking social media.

Second, they can cause addiction.  They can make students addicted and unable to part from their mobile phones, from the moment they wake up until they go back to sleep. The mobile phone becomes the first thing they look for, and this creates a new trend, nomophobia, which is the fear that arises because a person has to be separated from their mobile phone. These fears arise because of the addictive nature felt by the students. Anxiety also arises if they lose their phone, run out of battery or have no signal, which affects their learning process. One study states that 58% of men and 47% of women suffer from nomophobia and 9% of them feel distressed if their smartphone is switched off.

Third, they harm health and are prone to misuse. Excessive use of mobile phones can harm the health of the user, for example by disturbing their eye health or reducing their sleep because they use a smartphone until late at night. This affects students' level of concentration in learning and can cause their academic achievement to decline. And the ease of accessing the internet via smartphones is, if misused, a way to access sites that students should not access, for example pornography, and there are quite a few cases of students committing indecent acts as a result of addiction to pornography that can be easily accessed through their mobile phones.

It is better for mobile phone users, especially students, to be wiser in their use so that the negative effects of smartphone use can be minimised.

https://matabanua.co.id/2023/05/30/dampak-pembelajaran-berbasis-android-bagi-siswa/