Nomophobic Prevalence and Academic Achievement of Higher Secondary Students Practicing Blended Learning during COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: Smartphone usage for academic and non academic processes increased among the adolescent students, especially among Higher Secondary students. This increased usage developed a kind of addiction among them towards the smartphones and other mobile gadgets. The mode of delivering learning experiences also changed due to the pandemic and this makes the need of the current study. Aim: To identify the smartphone addiction termed as nomophobia and academic achievement of higher secondary students during blended learning activities which known for the mixing of appropriate theories, methods and technologies to optimise learning in a particular context. Materials and Methods: A standardised nomophobic rating scale utilised to check the extent of smartphone addiction among the higher secondary students. Their academic achievement is identified using an achievement test in the relevant subject. The higher secondary students from Kerala constitute the population of the current study and 30 among them practicing blended learning activities are selected for the study in a convenient manner. Results: The results show that students are more prevalent to the smart phone addiction during the blended learning process. The male students show a higher level of smartphone addiction when compared to their female counterparts while academic achievement does not differ with respect to gender. Locality of the higher secondary students has no significant role on their nomophobic prevalence and academic achievement.  Nomophobic prevalence correlated negatively with academic achievement but not at a significant level. Conclusion:  This study reveals the major issues about the need for adequate supervision of adolescent mobile phone usage especially during blended learning. It also emphasises the need and importance of timely interventions from teachers, parents, and professionals as the learning process shifted to blended methods after the pandemic among higher secondary level.