Abstract

The study seeks to investigate the influence of mobile phone usage on conventional tools by undergraduate students of Delta State University Abraka. The study adopted Technology Acceptance Model as theory. The survey design was used to carry out the research and 120 questionnaires were administered to students. Undergraduate students always use mobile phone for more than two activities that have proportion to general activities which include school related activities and religious related activities. Undergraduate students spent more than two hours operating their mobile phone. Usage purpose of mobile phone by undergraduate student of Delta State University Abraka is school works. It is obvious that mobile phone solve the daily conventional issues with mobile applications. The result highlighted that undergraduate student experience complication while using their mobile phone. The study recommended that, students should find a way possible to balance the use of mobile for school related activities and general activities, applications with learning assistance should be use often as far as they have impact to their studies, students should not superimpose the short hand used often with mobile phone during any school activities and the usage of mobile phone during lecture time except.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

Conventional tools have been known to be effective in learning among university student before the advent of ICTs. Conventional tools are the implements use by students in learning. These tools are handy and bulk. They are most hardware. Students make use of these tools in their daily activities both in learning and social and conventional life. They include hard copy bible, dictionary, calculator, note books, camera, radio set, torch light, calendar, jolter, wrist watch, tape recorder among others. These conventional tools were highly regarded as basic tools for learning and other activities related to education and social life. They provide some basic tasks which made them to be relevant tools for students, (Chatterjee, 2014).

According to Parker (2005), students face challenges in moving them around with them because of the bulky nature of these tools. Imagine moving dictionary from one place to another or radio set. Since the advent of mobile phone some of the conventional tools were imputed in the mobile phone. Example of such is torch light, calendar, bible e.t.c. As mobile phone applications improve to smart phone, the usefulness of mobile phone became glaring. Smart mobile phone is now a tool for multipurpose.

In this Era, mobile phone has become fashionable to everybody since it is very handy, with a mobile phone in our hand we can solve many issues and keep most of information around the world, (Chalterjce 2014).This emphasize that mobile phones carry application that allow and enable human activities move well. Mobile phone resulted in the simplicity and efficiency of human recurrent and daily activities. According to sunny and Gorge (2015), mobile phones or smart phones are rapidly becoming the central computer and communication device in people’s lives.

A mobile phone is a phone that can make and receive telephones calls over a radio link moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile phone operator allowing access to the public telephones network. In addition to telephones modern, mobile phones also support a wide variety of other services such as text message SMS, email, internet access, short range wireless communications (Infrared, Bluetooth) business application gaming and photocopy. Mobile phones that offer these and more general computing capabilities are referred to as smart phones, (Cavanagh, 2007). Mobile phones bring the world of relationship closer to the people by introducing scientific applications in solving human socialization related issues. According to Chatterjee (2015), it can be said that the cultural meaning of the mobile phone has moved beyond that of a simple tool or appliance. It is becoming a commodity. Since virtually everyone owns a mobile phone and wears it openly, its value has moved beyond utility and unto the real of meaning.

According to Lyon (2001), the usage and useful of mobile phones cover all aspect of human usefulness of mobile cover all aspect of human activities  business, agriculture, education finance, craftsmanship, engineering etc. Mobile phone also is enhancing activities of formal and informal professions in a way of providing abundant knowledge, skill and technical measures in doing business.

According to sunny and George (2015), although smart phones devices are powerful tools, they are still passive communication enables rather than active assistive device from the users point of view. The next step is to introduce intelligence into those platforms to allow them to proactively assist users in their every activity. One method of accomplishing this is by integrating situational awareness and context recognition into these devices. Smart phones represent an attractive platform for actively recognition, providing built in sensor and powerful processing units. They are capable of detecting complex everyday activities of the users and they are able to exchange information with other devices and systems using a large variety of data communication channels. Chatterjee (2014) Stated that mobile phones support coordination with others. According to Leysia, Mailyn and Ed (2000) mobile telephones is rapidly becoming a feature of our culture yet we do not understand its effects on communication practice and behavior, especially with respect to the interaction and co-evolution of the technology and human activity. As wireless communications proliferate practitioners alike.

According to Sife et al (2007), ICT have capabilities of improving information accessibility facility communication electronics facilities enhancing synchronous learning and increasing, cooperation and collaboration. This is as a result of the emergency of ICTS. Mtega, Bernard, Msungu & Sanare (2012), the emergency and advancements of information and communication technologies (ICTS) have change the way teaching and learning processes are being conducted. This is one of the benefits of ICTs. In all, ICTS have revolutionaries the system and process of going virtually everything. New information communication technologies are still changing human activities. One of the recent technological shifts is the mobile phone.

Mobile phones or smart phones are rapidly becoming the central computer and communication devices in people’s lives. Smart phones equipped with a rich set of sensors are explored as an alternative platform for human activity recognition in the ubiquitous computing domain. Today smart phones not only serve as key computing and communication mobile device of choice, but it also comes with a rich set of embedded sensor, (Ye et al 2012). Sunny et al (2015) added that smart phones house an accelerometer, digital compass, gyroscope, GPS, microphone and camera. Collectively these sensors are enabling new applications across a wide variety of domains, such as health care, social networks, safety, environmental monitoring and transportation and give rise to a new area of research called mobile phone sensing. Human activity recognition systems using different sensing, modalities, such as camera or wearable inertial sensor, have been an active field of research. Besides the inclusion of sensors such as accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, proximity, light, GPS, microphone, camera, the ubiquity and unobtrusiveness of the phones and the availability of different wireless interfaces, such as WI-FI, 3G and Bluetooth, make them an attractive platform for human activity recognition.

Students all over the globe are most beneficiaries of the inherent applications of mobile phones. These days, students use mobile phone applications in studying than the use of conventional tools. Most people especially students, use soft bible application in their phones, take photographs, record events, check time, predict the weather e.t.c.

Delta State University is one of the state universities in Nigeria and it is situated in Abraka, with student population 36,000 according to DELSU Wikipedia.  It was established on 30th April 1992 by the then Executive Governor of the State, Olorogun Felix Ibru. The university is composed of ten faculties including the College Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences; others are Faculty of Arts, Education, Sciences, Social Sciences, Agriculture, Management Sciences, law and Engineering.

Delta State University, Abraka has been historically recorded as a centre of education. It started as Government Teachers Training College during the colonial era and some years into the post-colonial era. It became College of Education (N.C.E) from 1971-1985 that awarded Nigerian Certificate of Education. It was affiliated to the University of Benin, Benin City and consequently offered degree programmes form 1981 till 1985 when it became the Faculty of education of the then Bendel State University with its main campus at Anwai, Oleh, and the main Campus in Abraka.

1.2     Statement of the Problem

                   Modern mobile phones come with a variety of sensors that automate or easy many of our daily tasks in activity recognition use a different type of sensors as the sources of the raw data collection, (Sunny, George and Jubilant 2015). Before the advent of mobile phones or smart phones human activity and usage of conventional tools has been difficult because of some challenges such as low pace in accomplishing task; inadequate storage device like note, unavailability of mobile note, etc. Using conventional tools have caused inefficiency and effectiveness in human daily task. The increase of mobile phone in doing work agent conventional tools shows that mobile phone has added advantage.

However, the challenges of smart phone not withstanding has not stop human in using them in daily work. Students’ mobile phone usage is increasingly against conventional tools which the study seeks to establish if the frequency for mobile phone by undergraduate students is as a result of the inherent purpose for mobile phone usage over conventional tools and the influence of mobile phone usage over conventional tools.

1.3             Objectives of the study

The objectives of this study are to:

1.       Determine the frequency of mobile phone usage by undergraduate students of Delta State University Abraka.

2.       Determine the usage purpose of mobile phone by undergraduate student of Delta State University Abraka.

3.       Examine the influence of mobile phone usage on conventional tools by graduate students of Delta State University Abraka.

1.4     Research Questions

1.       What is the frequency of mobile phone usage by undergraduate students of Delta State University Abraka?

2.       What is the usage purpose of mobile phone by undergraduate student of Delta State University Abraka?

3.       What is the influence of mobile phone usage on conventional tools by graduate students of Delta State University Abraka?

1.6     Scope of the study

          The study is centered on the influence of mobile phone usage on conventional tools. It seeks to investigate how undergraduate student are using mobile phone against conventional tools. The geographical scope of the study is Delta State University and it cover all under graduate students of Abraka.

1.7     Definitions of Terms

1.       Influence: The ability to control or the affect things in order to change from the former to a new way of doing thing.

2.       Conventional tools: These are static tools use to perform task by people. There are traditional tools.

3.       Usage: the style of using a thing to perform duty.

4.       Undergraduate student: This is a person who is currently undergoing his/her first degree study in the university.

5.       Mobile phones: A mobile device use in communication and other human activities.