Impact of Internet Usage on the Academic Performance Essay Example

networks which bear a variety of information and services.

Literature Review

The internet is a global linking of devices that allow information transfer. The internet was established in the early 1960s by the U.S Department of Defense (Schneider, Evans, and Pinard, 2006) for military purposes. It is a fact that the internet is one of the greatest advancements in the world of information technology as it has become a useful instrument that has fostered the process of making the world a global village. The Internet provides an environment in which millions of people participate and engage in the creation and exchange of information (Rose & Fernlund, 1997). It allows for the exchange of information and interaction among individuals in real-time, making transport and distance no longer a problem.

There are approximately 2.4 billion people on earth who have access to the internet with over 70 percent of them using the internet at least once a day. This amounts to a total of 144 billion emails being sent every 24 hours (internet world statistics, 2012). What started as a hobby for some computer literate people has become a social norm and way of life for people around the globe (Boyd, 2007). The Caribbean consists of approximately 42 million people, 32.4% of which, use the internet (internet coaching library, 2012). Internet use has become very popular in many areas as well as in education in recent years. Accordingly, Internet access in schools has increased greatly over the last 20 years (Berson, 2000).

In a research article, Ying-Fang

Chen and Samuel S. Peng (2005-2006 academic year juniors). A study done on a variety of randomly selected University students in Taiwan showed that heavy Internet users and non-heavy Internet users differed significantly on several dimensions. Non-heavy users had better relationships with administrative staff, academic grades, and learning satisfaction than heavy Internet users.

Tuckman (1975) defined academic performance as the apparent demonstration of understanding concepts, skills, ideas, and knowledge and proposed that grades depict the performance of students. Heavy users were more likely than non-heavy Internet users to be depressed, physically ill, lonely, and introverted. According to a journal of Education and Sociology done in Pakistan, Muhammad Musaud Asdaque, December 2010.

The use of the internet is one of the major factors affecting the academic performance and social life of university students. The number of hours spent on the internet will affect the grades of students depending on if the internet is used for study purposes or social purposes. Many studies have been conducted regarding the type of information the end-users seek and obtain on the Internet and in which circumstances they prefer electronic sources to paper sources(Tenopir et al.2003). Also, students can gain from others’ knowledge and experiences, participate in chatrooms, share ideas and solutions.

Teens spend approximately 2.3 hours online a day, 80 percent of that time, on social networking sites (Roiworld, 2010). Students who multi-task between social networking sites and homework are likely to have 20% lower grades than a student who does not have a social networking site in the visual range (Lenhart, A, 2009, April). Also, many researchers believe that excessive use of the internet has the potential to become an addiction (Griffiths,

1995, 2000).

Some, involvement on the Internet begins to have serious, negative consequences. When such consequences are minimized or ignored while Internet use increases, Internet dependence is occurring. As of 2005, it is estimated that 6% of users are Internet-dependent (Villanova Counseling Center). The internet can act as a major distraction to students if not properly managed. However, some studies show that students primarily use the internet for school work specifically, searching the web for information needed for school projects (Kraut et al, 1996). This, in turn, can improve the academic performance of a student.

Methods of Data Collection

Primary Sources

To carry out the internal assessment on the impact of internet usage on the academic performance of adolescent students of St. Stephens College, research had to be done using both primary and secondary sources of data. The primary data collection source used was a questionnaire since it allowed the person time to answer questions and it was also cost-effective. The questionnaire was also used because it allowed for data to be analyzed easily and was not time-consuming. A questionnaire is a means of research, consisting of a series of questions and other prompts to gather information from respondents.

The questionnaire used consisted of 14 questions, 3 of which were open-ended. The open-ended questions were used to obtain qualitative data from the respondents. The other 11 questions were closed-ended and were used to obtain quantitative data on the topic. A total of 60 questionnaires were distributed randomly across forms 1 to 6 students. The random distribution ensured that there was no bias in the selection of candidates since each person had an equal chance of being chosen.

Secondary Sources

The secondary sources

of data included the internet, books, and texts. This was done to gain a better understanding of the problem which was being investigated

Interpretation of Data

Based on the results obtained from the 60 students investigated at St. Stephens College, it was found that most students ( 68% ) partake in online activities more than once per day while only 4% of them do not partake at all. This shows that while most students do have internet access , some do not and are therefore not affected by the effects of the internet. As indicated by figure 2, a majority of the students who do have access to the internet also spend between 1 and 3 hours online everyday ( 45 ) while 12 spend more than 4 hours online.

The internet is used by students in various fashions  The number of students using the internet for education, entertainment, and communicating with others is almost corresponding. Coupled with the other activities as, passing time, shopping and work/business, it can be seen that most time spent on the internet is not for educational purposes. all of the students that were selected, use the internet for aid in research, using newspapers, and 7 use journals as their source.

shows that while 21 students are scoring acceptable grades at end of the term examinations (60-100%), there is still an overwhelming number of students performing under par (0-60%). This includes 39 of the 60 students. The table shows that there is likely a link between the use of the internet and the academic performance of the students. Larger quantities of students idle online resulting in greater quantities of students scoring below average.

Most students

use the internet either at their homes or at a family member’s home. This accounts for 52 of the 60 students. A home is a place where most students relax and feel free and this may lead to them allocating more time idle on the internet as compared to a student who uses the internet at school where the use of the internet is controlled. The large quantities of students using the internet at home may be directly linked to the below-average end-of-term examinations grades.

Many of the students indicated that the internet was useful when it came to academic work (95%), while the other 5% said otherwise according to almost equal quantities of students both disagree and agree with the statement that the advantages of the internet outweigh the disadvantages. A total of 23 students agreed while 22 students disagreed, 15 students were neutral about the topic. The data shown from both figures 6 and 7 indicate that while large quantities of students do believe that the internet is useful for academic work, it is easy to be distracted and held at a disadvantage instead of focus and being at an advantage.

Discussion of Findings

The main objective of this study was to investigate the impact of internet usage on the academic performance of students at St. Stephens College. The findings from the research done indicated that the increased quantity of students using the internet corresponded to the high numbers of students with low academic scores. This also corresponded to the research article done by Ying-Fang Chen and Samuel C.Peng (2005-2006) as their candidates who had heavy internet usage performed poorly concerning academics.

From the research done it

was also found that students with internet access spend more time online, idle than doing assignments. Therefore students without internet access would spend more time constructive.

One of the objectives of the research was to determine if students had become dependent on the internet. Althought many students admitted that the internet does help with research, many of them also refer to sources such as books and journals. This data leads to the conclusion that while students are quite heavily dependent on the internet, they are not dependent and are capable of using various sources for research.

Overall, the results of this study compared to the literature review show that students are more negatively impacted upon by internet use as the internet, althought helpful at times, is a distraction to students.

Conclusion

The research study has clearly outlined the impact of the internet on the students of ST. Stephens College. It can be concluded that although internet usage does have its benefits, the internet impacts more negatively on students as they are more distracted by online activities and spend less time doing work. Also, it can be concluded that althought students are heavily dependent on the internet, they are not fully dependant since they are capable of using various sources for information.

Firstly, the sample for the study was selected from only one institute, therefore generalization of the findings to the total population is limited. Also, the study investigates the impact of the internet on academic performance. Other variables such as health, gender, and social well-being may also affect performance, therefore future studies should not be as limited.

To improve the study done, more questionnaires could have been distributed to improve the

accuracy of the study. Also, some students could have been interviewed to obtain a better qualitative report. To reduce the negative effect of the internet on students, schools can inform parents to manage to supervise their child’s internet usage to ensure that time is not wasted.