Vol. 5, Issue 1, Part A (2023)

The modern society is characterized by extensive use of technology in day today life for various purposes. Technology has facilitated teaching-learning process, evaluation, research and development of study material like MOOCs. The technology has been imbibed in almost all Teacher training programs including Physical Education. Smartphone are devices that have the capability to process information, store information and enable communication. During tough times of Covid19, it has become inevitable for Teacher trainees to get equipped with mobile phones and internet specifically for communication and accessing information. The unprecedented increase in smartphone usage has led to smartphone addiction. There can be consequences where addiction can lead to depression, anxiety and destroy social relationships. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the smartphone addiction in Undergraduate male and female Physical Education Trainees of Kuvempu University. The study intended to find the differences in smartphone addiction between male and female trainees at Kuvempu University during 2019-20. For the purpose of this study thirty-three physical education trainees pursuing B.P.Ed. IVth semester at Kuvempu University were selected from Jnanasahyadri campus, Shankarghatta. Purposive sampling was employed to gather information on smartphone addiction from physical education trainees at Kuvempu University. Male and female physical education trainees of Kuvempu University were included in the study. Their age ranged between 21-26 years. These subjects were studying at Jnanasahyadri campus during the year 2019-20. In order to test the hypothesis of this study smart phone addiction was assessed with the help of a standard questionnaire by Kwon, et al., (2013). The questionnaire consisted of thirty-three questions. Each item was rated on a 6-point scale, from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (Strongly agree), based on their past experiences. Descriptive statistics like Mean and Standard Deviation were employed and results on mobile phone addiction was obtained. Further, for understanding the differences in stress between male and female subjects ‘t’ test was employed. On the basis of the results of the present investigation it can be concluded that there is significant difference in mobile phone addiction between male and female physical education trainees pursuing Bachelor’s Degree at Kuvempu University during 2019-20. Male exhibited higher mobile phone addiction than female trainees.