Table of Contents 1 Volume XLVI, Number 1, Spring 2020 2 Reinventing High School: Understanding the Challenges and Successes of Transforming Education to Meet Student, Society, and Industry Needs By Scott R. Bartholomew, Greg J. Strimel, Anne M Lucietto, and Mesut Akdere 20 Immediate impact of dynamic graphics instruction on learners of varied levels of spatial ability By Gabriel Grant 32 Effects of Mobile Phones on Students’ Academic Performance in Religious Education By Mangaliso Quinton Mabuza and Joseph Osodo 43 Table of Contents, Volume XLVI, Number 2, Fall 2020 32 Effects of Mobile Phones on Students’ Academic Performance in Religious Education By Mangaliso Quinton Mabuza and Joseph Osodo ABSTRACT Information and Communication This study examined the effects of the mobile Technology in Education phones on high school students’ academic The use of Information and Communication performance in Religious Education. The aim Technology (ICT) has resulted in tremendous of the study was to test the efficiency using progress in the field of education in developed of mobile phones against the lecture method. and developing countries, and it has also Seventy-two participants (31 females and 41 brought a revolution in the teaching and learning males), in the Kingdom of Eswatini, participated process by changing the roles of teachers and in this quasi-experimental study. Purposive learners (Kusi, 2017). The success of integrating sampling was used to select participants who mobile phones into the teaching and learning were randomly assigned to two groups (control process depends on the degree of interaction and experimental). The control group was and communication between teachers and taught the topics, “The birth of the church and learners (Woolfolk, 2014). Today, teachers have The Journal of Technology Studies The Journal of Technology its spread” using a lecture method, whereas enormous opportunities to transmit knowledge the experimental group was taught the same and skills to students with the help of educational topic using mobile phones. The independent technology materials, many in the form of t-test and the dependent t-test were used to audiovisual materials. analyse data. The independent variable used was “teaching method,” with two levels: lecture Information and Communication versus mobile phones. The dependent variable Technology in Eswatini was the participants’ scores derived from the In Eswatini, the government established a pre-test and post-test. The independent t-test fully-fledged ICT Ministry in 2009 to promote and the dependent t-test were used to analyze economic growth and development. The data. The results revealed that there was a government of Eswatini acknowledged the significant difference in favor of the experimental significant role which ICT plays as the country group. The study concluded that the use of moves toward a knowledge-based society as mobile phones improved students’ academic stipulated in the Eswatini National Education performance in Religious Education, and thus the and Training Sector Policy (2018). Moreover, integration use of mobile phones in the teaching one of the objectives stipulated in the policy is of Religious Education is recommended in order to integrate ICT in both primary and secondary to improve performance. schools. Since Eswatini is a developing country, certain technological developments are slow. Keywords: Information and Communication A number of schools and tertiary institutions Technology (ICT), lecture method, mobile have begun to introduce e-learning through phones, Religious Knowledge an initiative by the network service provider, Eswatini Mobile Telephone Network (MTN). INTRODUCTION The initiative has helped schools access Teaching and learning environments of the curriculum content and other materials through 21st century are changing rapidly due to the mobile phones. A number of teachers have been incorporation of Information and Communication introduced to e-learning through this initiative by Technologies (ICT) in education. Mobile phones, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) in particular, have gained attention due to their with the assistance from MTN. Other schools applications in education. Smart phones, which have taken the route of not using ordinary can serve as a mini-computer, are efficient textbooks and using e-books. Therefore, tablets learning tools (Alsied, 2019). Research on the and e-book readers have become a focal point use of mobile phones in education shows that they can enhance students’ academic interest Statement of the Problem (Squire & Dikkers, 2012). The purpose of the The Eswatini General Certificate of Secondary current study was to explore the effects of using Education (EGCSE) RE examination results mobile phones on high school students’ academic show that learners’ performance is poor in performance in Religious Education (RE) in RE. The pass rate from 2012 to 2016 ranges contrast to using the lecture method. between 36.65% and 42.06% achieved in 2013 and 2016 respectively (Examinations Council 1999). The approach is more theoretical and less 33 of Swaziland, 2016). Research attributes this practical. It does not apply activity-based learning Performance in Religious Education of Mobile Phones on Students’ Academic Effects problem to teaching methodology. According to encourage students to learn real-life problems to Adunola (2011), poor academic performance based on applied knowledge. Coincidentally, in among learners is fundamentally linked to the context of Eswatini, Shongwe (2010) also application of ineffective teaching methods by observed that Religious Education lessons in the teachers when imparting knowledge to learners. local high schools are dominated by traditional Indeed, studies such as Adeoti and Olufunke teaching methods such as lecturing, note giving, (2016), Ganyaupfu (2016) as well as Akinfe, question and answer as well as too much reliance Olofimiyi, and Fashiky (2012) found a significant on textbooks. This is a cause for concern as relationship between teaching methodology and the Examinations Council of Swaziland (2016) students’ academic performance. Ganyaupfu reported poor performance of students in (2016) also posited that the effectiveness of Religious Education in EGCSE in the past 5 years. teaching methods is often reflected by the achievements of learners. Thus, it can be said Mobile Phone Assisted Learning that the teaching style is also a factor in student Mobile phone assisted learning is a quite new achievement as it determines success or failure. field in research. It offers a way of gaining In light of the statistics above, there was a need new knowledge to improve the mastery of to examine the effects of different teaching skills. This creates a method of learning very methods in RE. As Steel (2012) correctly different from conventional methods commonly observed, very few studies have investigated used in teaching and learning. Research shows students’ personal use of mobile applications for that mobile phones can be used to leverage learning and the learning benefits. Therefore, this instruction (Roschelle, & Pea, 2002), empower study compared the lecture method (traditional) place-based learning (Squire, Jan, & Matthews, which is the most prevalent in Eswatini 2007), and amplify learning (Squire & Dikkers, (Shongwe, 2010) and mobile phone assisted 2012). Mobile phone assisted learning allows learning (modern) to which no local studies have RE teachers to offer access to authentic content, been found in the teaching of RE. communicative religious practice, and task completion (Chinnery, 2006). The Lecture Method The lecture method is a common teaching method. Integrating Mobile Phones Lecturing is when an instructor is the central in Religious Education focus of information transfer (Kelly & Brandes, Mobile phones fit well with the multisource 2001). Typically, an instructor will stand before nature of RE because they give a “total picture” a class and present information for the students. of the subject matter (Hennessey, 2003). That is, The main criticism against the lecture method mobile phones not only facilitate understanding, is that very little exchange occurs between the but also promote interest, analytical research, instructor and the students during a lecture. That critical thinking and enjoyment among students is, when the lecture method is used, the learners (Hesson & Shad, 2005). In contrast to the lecture become passive recipients of information with method, mobile phones are inclined toward little participation in their own learning. It can discovery learning, which is a learner-centered be noted that the success of the lecture method, approach (Greitzer, 2002). Slavin (1996) being a teacher-centered technique, is largely submitted that a learner-centered approach dependent on the teacher’s skill in delivering also motivates goal-oriented behavior among content. In other words, success is typically driven students and is very effective in improving by an instructor’s ability to present information student achievement. Unlike the lecture method, effectively. Therefore, less effective “presenters” mobile phone assisted learning is considered tend to see less transfer of knowledge and skill. more effective since it does not centralize the This is the major weakness of the lecture method. flow of knowledge from the lecturer to the Because the teacher controls the transmission and student (Lindquist, 1995). Since learning is a sharing of knowledge, the lecturer may