Advisers

Dr. Marilou B. Diesta

Discipline

Education

Abstract

Gadgets such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops are now essential for students, making learning more flexible and accessible. How students use these devices, including their purpose, frequency, and duration of use, matters more than just having them. Academic use tends to boost learning, while recreational use can cause distractions, but research findings are not consistent, and total screen time does not reliably predict grades. There is little research on how academic and non-academic gadget use patterns, particularly frequency and duration, affect the academic performance of senior high school students in the Philippines. This study fills that gap by exploring the link between gadget use patterns, namely purpose, frequency, and duration, and the academic performance of Grade 11 and 12 students in the Philippines. It aims to provide local data to help educators develop balanced, context-appropriate ways to use technology in secondary schools. This study utilizes a descriptive-correlational research design, which combines descriptive analysis of existing conditions with correlational methods to examine the relationship between variables. Results showed that students used gadgets moderately for academic tasks, mostly for accessing materials, solving problems, and searching for information, with less focus on educational games or academic discussions. Both academic and non-academic use were frequent: many used gadgets for five or more days a week, and many spent several hours daily, especially on non-academic activities. Most students had moderate to high academic performance based on First Semester GWA. Statistical analysis found that the purpose of use, plus the frequency and duration of academic gadget use, had significant positive links to academic performance. In contrast, the frequency and duration of non-academic use had weak, non-significant relationships. These findings showed that gadgets were a regular part of students' lives, and their connection to grades depended on how they were used, with academic use having a stronger positive effect. The null hypothesis was partially rejected. The study recommended that students focus more on academic gadget use, teachers integrate structured gadget-related activities, schools create guidelines for responsible academic use, parents monitor home gadget use, and future researchers use better tools to study all aspects of gadget use.

Keywords

academic performance, gadget use, gadget use and academic performance