University of Northeastern Philippines

Iriga City
Senior High School Department

INFLUENCE OF GADGETS ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AMONG SENIOR

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHEASTERN
PHILIPPINES

CHAPTER I

The problem

Technology has always been advancing throughout the years.

It has made a big impact on people especially on lifestyle. One

of the many things that are affected in the society: having been

a common source of information and entertainment.

The etymology of the word gadget is disputed. The word first

appears as reference to an 18th century tool in glassmaking that

was developed as a spring pontil. As stated in the glass

dictionary published by the Corning Museum of Glass, a gadget is

a metal rod with a spring clip that grips the foot of a vessel

and so avoids the use of a pontil. Gadgets were first used in the

late 18th century. According to the Oxford English Dictionary,

there is anecdotal (not necessarily true) evidence for the use of

“gadget” as a placeholder name for a technical item whose precise

name one can’t remember since the 1850’s; with Robert Brown’s

1886 book Spunyarn and Spindrift, A sailor boy’s log of a voyage

 University of Northeastern Philippines
Iriga City
Senior High School Department

out and home in a China tea-clipper containing the earliest known

usage in print.

A widely circulated story holds that the word gadget

was “invented” when Gaget, Gauthier and Cie, the company behind

the repousse construction of the Statue of Liberty (1886), made a

small-scale version of the monument and named it after their

firm; however this contradicts the evidence that the word was

already used before in nautical circles, and the fact that it did

not become popular, at least in the USA, until after World War I.

Other sources site a derivation from the French ‘gachette’ which

has been applied to various pieces of firing mechanism, or the

French ‘gagee’, a small tool or accessory.

The October 1918 issue of Notes and Queries contains a

multi-article entry on the word “gadget” (12 S. iv. 187). H.

Tapley-Soper of the City Library, Exeter, writes: “A discussion

arose at the Plymouth meeting of the Devonshire Association in

1916 when it was suggested that this word should be recorded in

the list of local verbal provincialisms. Several members

dissented from its inclusion on the ground that it is in common

use throughout the country; and a naval officer who was present

said that it has for years been a popular expression in the

service for a tool or implement, the exact name of which is

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Iriga City
Senior High School Department

unknown or has for the moment been forgotten. I have also

frequently heard it applied by motor-cycle friends to the

collection of fitments to be seen on motor cycles. ‘his handle-

bars are smothered in gadgets’ refers to such things as

speedometers, mirrors, levers, badges, mascots, and etc.,

attached to the steering handles. The ‘jigger’ or short-rest used

in billiards is also often called a ‘gadget’, and the name has

been applied by local platelayers to the ‘gauge’ used to test the

accuracy of their work. In fact, to borrow from present-day Army

slang, ‘gadget’ is applied to any old thing”.

The usage of the term in military parlance extended beyond

the navy. In the book “Above the Battle” by Vivian Drake,

published in 1918 by D. Appleton and Co., of New York and London,

being the memoirs of a pilot in the British Royal Flying Corps,

there is the following passage: “Our ennui was occasionally

relieved by new gadgets—“gadget” is the flying corps slang for

invention! Some gadgets were good, some comic and some

extraordinary.

By the second half of the twentieth century, the term

“gadget” had taken on the connotations of compactness and

mobility.
 University of Northeastern Philippines
Iriga City
Senior High School Department

In today’s modern age gadgets has becomes a way of life.

Gadgets nowadays are a basic need for everyday lifestyle. It

helps us a lot by doing things easier and faster. Gadgets help

students a lot by doing their projects more productive and

progressive. It is a small thing that anyone could have. Having a

gadget may help one’s be more productive and intellectual. Almost

of the people nowadays has cell phones. A cell phone is a

wireless gadget that most people these days communicate with.

Gadgets nowadays are a basic need for every student. Gadgets has

a big impact into the history of the humanity because of its use.

Many school students who own electronic gadgets spent most

of their time on it. As a result, both of the aspect of academic

achievement and health status is affected as they are too

dependent on electronic gadget. Students who spend a lot of time

on gadgets may become more violent, lose interest in other things

of the environment surrounding them, laziness, less interest in

other hobbies, and lacking interest in academics. This problem

leads children / students to bad personalities.

Thanks to the rapid development of modern technology our

life become much easier. It helps us in different spheres and

education is one of them. Students actively use all kinds of

gadgets to execute their assignments faster and more effectively.

 University of Northeastern Philippines
Iriga City
Senior High School Department

Moreover, teachers and professors encourage using modern devices.

This practice slowly affects academic performance in University.

Is it good or bad for students? We think that it has a lot of

advantages and disadvantages.

Today, one of the hot issues in technology is about

technological devices (gadgets). Broadly speaking, all cellular

phones, laptops, and computers belong to technological devices

has become a significant part of student’s everyday lives. But

the question is, how are these devices affect or influence the

student’s learning.

We are witnesses to seek on how the students learning

influenced by technological devices (gadgets). Until now we can

read in the newspapers about the good and the bad effects the

technological devices may give to the learning of the students.

 University of Northeastern Philippines
Iriga City
Senior High School Department

Statement of the problem

This study aimed to know the influence of educational

devices or gadgets in the learning performance of the senior high

school students of the University of Northeastern Philippines.

Specifically, it attempts to answer the following questions:

1. What are the negative influence of common technological

devices to the performance of the students?

2. What are the positive influence of common technological

devices to the performance of the students?

3. Does using gadgets leads to lacking interest in

academics?

4. Does it reduce, deaden, or enhance the student’s

creativity?

Assumptions of the study

The following assumptions are made regarding this study.

1. Using gadgets may lead to psychological and physical

issues, such as eye strain and difficulty focusing on

 University of Northeastern Philippines
Iriga City
Senior High School Department

important tasks. They may also contribute to more serious

health conditions, such as depression. The overuse of

gadgets may have a more significant impact on developing

children teenagers and esp. students.

2. Other ways gadgets is seen to have a positive effect on

society include increased knowledge and understanding.

3. Gadgets help to fulfil merely every academic assignment

very fast. Students receive instant access to information

sources that help to complete their tasks such speed and

productivity gently motivate them.

4. Technology enhances creativity, it drastically reduces

the cost of actualizing our intent. We can search

domains, mix and match ideas and test concepts almost

effortlessly. That means students can try out a lot more

possibilities and increase the chances of producing

something truly outstanding.

Significance of the study

This study is about the influence of gadgets on the academic

performance among the senior high school students for this S/Y

2020-2021 in University of Northeastern Philippines.

 University of Northeastern Philippines
Iriga City
Senior High School Department

Learners. They will benefit from this study because this

will help them to be more aware in using gadgetsbwhile in school

or studying.

Teachers. The teachers will be the one to grade or rate the

student’s performance in their academics.

Scope and Delimitation

This study is limited on the influence of gadgets in the

academic performance of the senior high school students in

University of Northeastern Philippines.

This study focuses only to 50 SHS students of the said

school who are using technological devices (gadgets), are the

subject of the investigation. Each student will be given same set

of questionnaire.

Definition of terms

This study focuses on the influence of gadgets in academic

performance among the senior high school students of University

of Northeastern Philippines. To have furthermore understanding

 University of Northeastern Philippines
Iriga City
Senior High School Department

regarding the contents of the study, here are some keywords to

help you understand:

Cellular phone - refers to mobile technology that allows

you to communicate to others.

Computer – refers to a device that helps student do their

schoolwork and as for entertainment.

Laptop / Netbook – refers to a portable computer devices

that helps student do their schoolwork anywhere they want.

Technological devices – means any computer, cellular phones,

smartphones, digital camera, video camera or other electronic

device that can be used for creating, storing, or transmitting

information in the form of electronic data.

Gadget – a small mechanical or electronic device or tool,

especially an ingenious or novel one.

 University of Northeastern Philippines
Iriga City
Senior High School Department

Locale of the study

This study is conducted in University of Northeastern

Philippines, located at 806 Southbound Rd, City of Iriga,

Camarines Sur.