Usage of Mobile Phone Applications and Its Impact on Teaching and Learning

This study continues studies on the concept of leisure as culture dependent – between tradition and modernity, while focusing on the usage of mobile phone applications and its impact on teaching and learning within a unique population. The study examined the association between having NetSpark on one’s Smartphone and utilization of spare time among students who had or did not have the program installed. The assumption is that when the program is installed students will be more inclined to engage in non-internet related activities, such as spending time with friends, and when the program is not installed they will be more inclined to stay at home and be on the internet and will display less active life of other types. The research population included 120 9th-12th grade female students at a religious high school, aged 14-18. Half were students had had the NetSpark program installed on their phones, and half had not. The study used three questionnaires: a sociodemographic questionnaire, a questionnaire on Smartphone usage patterns, and a questionnaire on utilization of leisure time. The research findings show no association between use of Smartphone applications and of the internet among students in whose phones the program had been installed versus those in whose phones it had not been installed. Secondly, no association was found between utilization of leisure time among students in whose phones the program was installed versus those in whose phones it had not been installed. Furthermore, no difference was found between the total time for which respondents had been using cellular phones of by religiosity, and no difference was found in the joint effect of religiosity + program on the variable daily duration of internet use. Moreover, no difference was found in use of cellular applications between respondents who had / did not have the NetSpark program installed, however use of cellular applications was found to be higher among respondents who ranked themselves less religious than among respondents who ranked themselves as highly religious. Finally, no difference was found in the utilization of leisure time (various activities) among respondents with different levels of religiosity.