The use of electronic and mobile devices has several impacts on student engagement. The effect may be positive or negative, depending on how the mobile device is put in use. Mobile devices, which include PC's and mobile phones, have become of great importance to both in the indoor and outdoor learning activities among students. However, there has been a qualitative study on the effects of electronic devices on the level of engagement among students. Various researches have carried out a meta-analysis and several research syntheses on the impact of integrated electronic devices on teaching and students engagement. The outcomes of the study have indicated that electronic devices have negatively impacted student's participation in class work activities and outdoor engagement activities. The topic of the synthesis paper is the implications of electronic and mobile devices on student's engagement in various school activities. The questions to be addressed in the paper include
Should students be allowed to use their electronic devices during class teachings?
What are some of the advantages of electronic devices to the learning process of the student?
What are the disadvantages of the electronic devices to the learning process of the student?
Review of the Literature
The two peers reviewed studies that will be discussed in the synthesis paper include "computer-based technology and student engagement" by Schindler, Burkholder, Morad and Marsh and "relationship between electronic device use and students academic performance" by Foen, Syamimi, Mohammad and Malek. The two peer-reviewed articles have different perceptions of the implication of electronic devices on the level of student's engagement.
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Lower CGPA
Foen, Syamimi, Mohammad, and Malek in their article stipulate that electronic devices such as mobile phones increase student's engagement in university activities. From the research they conducted, they suggest that majority of the students who use their smartphones in university learning activities recorded a lower CGPA at the end of the semester (Foen et al., 2017). One finding in the research is that the use of electronic devices increases the student's engagement in university activities. That finding is in support of my big idea that there is a favorable implication of electronic devices on student's involvement in learning activities, which is indicated by the decreasing CGPA. The study is essential in helping me answer the question that students should be allowed to use mobile devices during class teaching only for learning purposes. One strength of the study is the use of compliment and refines quantitative data. One limitation of the study is that the results cannot be generalized to the entire population.
Behavior, Emotion, and Cognitive
From research conducted by Schindler, Burkholder, Morad, and Marsh, electronic devices impact student's engagement based on their behavior, emotions, and cognitive. They suggest that students behavioral are depicted by the time they spend engaging in various learning activities and interaction with their colleague students (Schindler et al., 2017). However, electronic devices such as mobile phones deter them from taking part in such activities as they spend most of their time in social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Therefore, there is a negative implication as their grades will decrease at the end of the semester due to poor student engagement in the learning activities. The finding in the research answers my question on what are the negative impacts of electronic devices on student engagement. They are essential as they show the connection between student's participation and electronic devices such as mobile devices. One strength of the study is that it uses a quantitative method that is easy to analyze. However, there is a limitation on understanding the context of the phenomenon.
Analysis
There are similarities in the participants used in the two peer-reviewed studies. One similarity is that they both use the same method of structured random sampling in the determination of their sample size. Also, the participants used are students at the university level in both pieces of research. The findings in the two studies differ from one another. The first study by Foen, Syamimi, Mohammad, and Malek speculates that electronic devices/mobile devices positively impact the engagement of students is used for the right purpose, which is education. That is evident from the outcomes of the research where there is a decrease in CGPA at the end of the academic year for students who use their electronic devices for learning activities. However, the second study by Burkholder, Morad, and Marsh states otherwise. The findings of the research suggest that electronic devices harm student's engagement. That is evident as the majority of students spend most of their time on social media platforms than in doing learning activities and their grades decrease at the end of the semester.
Conclusions
In conclusion, electronic devices have both positive and negative impacts on student's engagement based on how they are put in use. Two peer-reviewed studies suggest a different contribution of electronic devices such as phones on student's participation. From research conducted by Burkholder, Morad, and Marsh, electronic devices are disadvantageous on the level of student's engagement. Foen, Syamimi, Mohammad, and Malek, on the other hand, are of a different opinion as they finding stipulates a positive impact of electronic devices on students engagement if used for learning activities. Based on the discussion above, the student's engagement depends on the purposeful use of various electronic devices.
References
Foen, S., Syamimi, H., Mohammad N., Malek, A. et al. (2017). Relationship between Smartphone Use and Academic Performance: A Case of Students in a Malaysian Tertiary Institution. Online Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 5 , No 4. Pp. 58-70.
S chindler, L.A., Burkholder, G.J., Morad, O.A., et al. (2017). Computer-based technology and student engagement: a critical review of the literature. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, Vol. 14, No 25. Pp. 23-71.
