AN INVESTIGATION ON THE EFFECTS OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY ON THE LEARNING BEHAVIOR OF STUDENTS IN THE JOS STUDY CENTER OF NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of digital technology on the learning behavior of students in the Jos study Center of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). Investigation was made on three learning behaviors that the use of digital technology could affect; social, health and academic. The target population for this study was the Jos-study center of NOUN and the sample population that was selected for the study was 50 final year students. This study used the quantitative research method to analyze the primary data that was collected with the use of a closed and open-ended structured questionnaire. The data collected was coded and analyzed using SPSS 22, the research questions were answered and presented in frequencies and percentages while the hypothesis of the study was tested with the use of spearman’s correlation at 0.05 significance level. The correlation research design was applied to investigate correlation between the variables of this study. Findings of this study revealed that student’s use of digital technology for learning does not significantly affect this three aforementioned learning behaviors of students (social behavior, academic behavior and health behavior). What is evident from the study is that students enjoy the use of digital technologies for learning because it increases their desire to learn, it makes information accessible for the learners which in turn boosts the academic behavior of students. However, a few respondents noted that it affects their health by causing shoulders and neck pain, eye diseases and stress. From the evidence of the findings, some of the students do not have funds to purchase laptops amongst many other technological required materials for their academic pursuit, consequently, the researcher recommended that the Federal Ministry of Education in Nigeria should use the findings of this research study to put in more effort in ensuring that the digital technologies used for learning by students are readily available at affordable rates and provided in schools because it will motivate the learning behavior of students as they use digital technology for learning purposes.