ASSOCIATION OF SMARTPHONE USE IN ONLINE LEARNING TO CHILDREN’S COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

Online learning during COVID-19 pandemic increased smartphone use which had a negative impact, that students were stimulated to access other applications, this increased the risk of smartphone use by students. Excessive use of smartphones and electronic devices has various negative impacts on children. Excessive habits can cause social changes, sleep disturbances, and even cognitive function disorders in the form of memory, attention, and executive functions. This research is observational analytic research using cross sectional method. The number of samples in this study were 63 subjects according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, with the sampling technique using consecutive sampling. Data analysis used Chi-square, Mann-Whitney U Test (non-parametric). Multivariate analysis using logistic regression test. Qualitative data analysis to identify phenomena with in-depth interviews. Sampling was done by purposive sampling. The results of this study found that the use of smartphones in online learning was related to impaired cognitive function of elementary school-aged children during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ngablak District, Magelang Regency. The results of in-depth interviews with 3 informants obtained 3 themes, that are: a) online learning systems are divided into 3 categories, types of online learning, online learning media, and online learning constraints; b) smartphone use during online learning consists of 2 categories; characteristics of smartphone use, and the effect of smartphone use on children; c) children's cognitive function during online learning consists of 4 categories, that is; student achievement before online learning, student achievement after online learning, increase in learning subject scores, and students' cognitive abilities during online learning.