9191411 Impacts of Internet Usage on Students

Impacts of Internet Usage on Students’ Academic Performance (CGPA) Awais, Bilal, M Usman, M Waqas, Sehrish LUMS, LSE, NCA, PU, UET

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this research is to explore the impact of internet usage on student’s academic performance so that universities will take effective measures and invest in IT and encouraged students to use internet. Design/methodology/approach – Exploratory studies method is adopted for the entire research. Our research project is concerned with Field Study. Data were collected from six universities students from which five are top ranked specified university and one is general university with a questionnaire methodology. Correlation and regression techniques were used to find out the strength and direction of the relationship. Findings – Internet is one of the beneficial tools in this era of IT world not only for business but for academic point of view and enhances the skills and capabilities of students which assist them in studies and in professional life. Student with high CGPA use more internet for their About Authors studies and gain more knowledge and information All authors are students of across the world. Masters in Business Research limitations/implications – The self-report criteria are a limitation. Future research should employ more objective measures of internet use. Also, antecedents of internet use might be explored in other developing economies. We have chosen limited universities and disciplines from a single city Lahore. Practical implications – To encourage internet usage intentions, it appears worthwhile to create in potential users a sense that the technology is useful, easy to use, and that others have expectations regarding its usage. Keywords: Information Technology (IT), Internet, Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) Type of paper: Research paper

Administration (MBA) at GIFT University Gujranwala, Pakistan. Awais: ([email protected]) Mr. Awais is specialist in statistics and accounting. Bilal: ([email protected]) Mr. Bilal is interested in discoursing new things. Mr Waqas: ([email protected]) Mr. Waqas has special interest in statistics and web browsing. H. M. Usman: [email protected] H. M. Usman is enthusiastic to brings about new knowledge and learns new skills Sehrish: ([email protected]) Ms. Sehrish is found of research work.

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Introduction 102

Throughout the world, Marketer and Consumer Buying Behavior (CBB) are changing the face of education. It has been argued that the, if a marketer can identify CBB, he or she will be in better position to target products and services at them. Just as computers are about to replace books (some would argue this has already happened) as our main source of information globally, computers will come to occupy the central position in education once occupied by books. The Internet was initially developed by the US Defense Department and was at one time only popular within the research community. Its ability to share information across organizations and to interact with people at low cost has gradually enticed other sectors to explore its use. Today, the Internet has an impact on every facet of our life including business operation, education, communication, entertainment, social activity, shopping, and so on. Many universities around the world are expanding their investment in information technology (IT), and specifically the Internet, and are actively promoting Internet use. From a student’s perspective, learning using online tools is multidimensional. It may entail a multitude of variables such as prior student knowledge of IT, experience in its usage, perceptions of IT usage, computer competencies, and background demographics. The Internet is one of the greatest recent advancement in the world of information technology and has become a useful instrument that has fostered the process of making the world a global village. The Internet provides several opportunities for the academia. It is a mechanism for information dissemination and a medium for collaborative interaction between individuals and their computers without regard for geographic limitation of space. The word Internet is derived from two words: “international” and “network”. The Internet therefore can be defined as an international computer network of information available to the public through modem links so internet is a worldwide system of linked computers networks. The Internet is the world’s largest and most widely used network. It is an international network of networks that is a collection of hundreds of thousands of private and public networks all over the world. There are rich and varied learning experiences available on the Internet that would have been inconceivable just a short while ago. The Internet has a range of capabilities that organizations are using to exchange information internally or to communicate externally with other organizations. The primary infrastructure for e-commerce, e-banking, e-business, e-learning and virtual library is provided by the Internet technology. The Internet provides several opportunities for all academia, business organizations, the employed and the unemployed, the young and the old. The Internet is a ‘live’ constantly ‘moving’, theoretically borderless, potentially infinite space for the production and circulation of information. The Internet might thus be described as a ‘sea of information’, containing texts which are not housed between library and bookshop walls and subject areas span across all fields of knowledge. The Internet can be used for other things besides email. One can listen to international radio station on research and education on the Internet, read national dailies of other countries, speak to friends around the global, read books and other materials on the Internet. The list of things that can be done on the Internet is a very long one. The Internet contains more

information than the world’s largest libraries with access to the Internet one can retrieve information from the world’s largest information database.

Objectives of study A study of different disciplines was conducted to identify the intensity of internet usage by student who belongs to different disciples. The purpose of our studies is to evaluate weather is their any relationship between the usage of internet and students academics performance. To better understand the relationship how the Internet affects university students learning, the following questions should be answered. What are the benefits of using the Internet as part of a university education? What are the main factors affecting such use? What is the impact of such use on student learning? What does it take to encourage positive attitudes in students toward Internet use? This study tries to answer these questions by exploring the antecedents to, and the impacts of, Internet use in university education. The specific objectives were to: •

Identify attitude of students toward IT.

•

Determine the purpose of internet usage for students.

•

Find out the intensity of internet usage by students.

•

Evaluate that whether the use of internet improve the academic performance of students or not.

Significance of study This study could be beneficial for student as well as for institutions. The valuable feedback from 500 students should help student to realize the benefits of internet in their education. Institutes can invest more in internet facilities to enhance the performance of their students and produce better results. Based on Pakistan’s experience, international readers may take advantage from this study work.

Literature review Advancement in technology brings major impacts on education (Underwood 2003).Many universities around the world are expanding their investment in

information technology (IT), and specifically the Internet, and are actively promoting Internet use in university education (Al-Nuaimy, Zhang & Noble, 2001; Bargeron, Grudin, Gupta &Sanocki, 2002; Chandler, 2002; Chen & Paul, 2003; Dringus, 1999; Huang et al, 2004;Kinshuk, 2002; Owston, 2000; Pahl, 2003; Richardson, 2003; Rovai, 2001). Instructors are being requested to make their teaching materials and other supporting resources accessible through the Internet (Alavi, 1994; Barker, 2002; Coppola, Hiltz & Rotter, 2002; Lee, 2001; Topper, 2002).Students are encouraged to communicate with instructors, or

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with one another, via email. As universities promote Internet use, they need to understand their students’ attitudes towards using it (Frank, Reich & Humphreys, 2003; Milliken & Barnes, 2002).

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Instructors have long since considered the introduction of novel technologies into the classroom in hopes of stimulating student interest, focusing attention and fostering learning (Palloff & Pratt, 1999). Indeed, the advent of the Internet in recent years has brought with it new possibilities for instructors to creatively deliver effective course instructions to students (Carswell , L., Thomas, P., Petre, M., Price, B. & Richards, M., 2000). For instance, Kekkonen-Moneta and Moneta (2002; see also Xie and Zhang, 1999) compared the students’ learning outcomes in a lecture with an online version of an introductory computing course. Both lecture- and online-learning students achieved comparable factual learning outcomes. Moreover, the online students outperformed the lecture students in applied-conceptual learning. Among others, these findings suggest that the use of carefully designed interactive learning modules can effectively foster higher-order learning outcomes. Indeed, Martin and Taylor (1997) regarded a virtual classroom as the next step in the development of educational technology. There are various types of possible support that may be provided at organizational level by a university, such as support from instructors and technical experts and training opportunities. These types of support may lead to greater Internet use and more effective learning. Future studies should take these research limitations into consideration at the design stage, so that research can be improved and accuracy further increased. While Internet use in university education is becoming more widespread and provides a supplement to traditional teaching methods, more extensive research in this area should be conducted to fully understand what factors lead to greater Internet use and better learning performance in students (Waiman Cheung and Wayne Huang, 2005). Although there are many organizational factors (Igbaria & Tan,1997; Igbaria Parasuraman & Baroudi, 1996) that may influence an individual’s perceptions and attitudes, only two are considered dreadfully important: organizational support and IT support (Igbaria et al, 1996). Internet usage among university students, including the frequency and intensity of Internet use also significant for relationship between internet usage and student performance (Igbaria & Tan, 1997; Igbaria, Zinatelli, Gragg & Cavaye, 1997).

Research methodology Local and international articles and journals were referred as secondary source of information in the study. Primary data were collected from the distribution of self-administered questionnaires to 500 students from Lahore, Pakistan where there are so many recognized universities than other cities of Pakistan. Research instrument Closed and open ended questionnaire form was designed for this study. There were five sections in the questionnaire. Section A identified the attitude of

students towards IT whether they feel comfort with usage of internet. Section B deal with social pressure on students from instructor. The usage of Internet was acknowledged by Section C. Internet facilities were asked in Section D. Personal information about respondents were elicited in Section E. Sample design The convenience sampling method was used to select 500 students from top ranked institutes listed on website of Higher Education Commission (HEC). We have selected five disciplines including Masters in Business Administration (MBA), Masters in Computer Sciences (MCS), Masters in Arts (MA), Bachelors in Engineering (BE) and Bachelors in Medicine and Bachelors in Surgery (MBBS) from public and private institutes. Public institute was The University of Punjab (PU) for all disciplines. On the other hand private institutes include Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) for MBA, Lahore School of Economics (LSE) for MCS, National College of Art for MA, The University of Engineering and Technology (UET) for Engineering, King Edward Medical College for MBBS. Selection of private institutes was based on high ranked by HEC in some particular discipline. See detail on table I. Data collection procedure The survey method was used to collect primary data in this research paper. A pilot test was conducted by distributing questionnaire forms to 50 students in beginning of 2008. Minor editing was done before the final questionnaires were used to collect data from students by acting on their feedback. We personally went in above mentioned institutes and collected data by interacting with students. Before hand over questionnaire form to students, we approached to desire discipline students and make sure that they are not from 1st semester and had GPA result which is compulsory variable of our study. Data analysis techniques and selection of measures The Statistical Package for Social Science Program (SPSS) was used to summarize and run correlation on data obtained from the survey. Frequency distribution used to mention demographics of students. Correlation technique was utilized to discuss relationship between students’ academic performance (CGPA) and internet usage.

Research findings Demographics characteristics of respondents Table I Table II and Table III show the demographic characteristics of respondents with their institutes. There were no missing values in response. Out of 500 respondents, 50 students were from each discipline from two different institutes. Overall male were 59.6 per cent, while the rest were females. About 21.8 per cent were under 20 years old, 70.8 were between 20-24 years old and rest of them was 25 or more than 25 years old.

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Disciplines Public

MBA

106

MCS

MA

BE

MBBS

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

Total

Male

23

46

31

62

21

42

45

90

28

56

148

Female

27

54

19

38

29

58

5

10

22

44

102

Total

50

100

50

100

50

100

50

100

50

100

250

Male

36

72

Female

14

28

Total

50

100

PU

King Edward

Private LUMS

Male

33

66

Female

17

34

Total

50

100

LSC

Male

29

58

Female

21

42

Total

50

100

NCA

Table I Number of students with their disciplines in institutes

Male

22

44

Female

28

56

Total

50

100

UET

Male

30

60

Female

20

40

Total

50

100

Table II Age of Students

Under 20 20-24 25 or more Total

n 109 354 37 50

Table III Gender of Students

Male Female Total

n 298 202 500

% 21.8 70.8 7.4 100 % 59.6 40.4 100.0

Attitude of students Table IV revealed that 37 per cent of total respondents were strongly feel comfort while using internet and 9.8 per cent are not feel comfort while using internet. The survey showed that majority of students thought that the use of internet in education can increase the quality of study.

According to 59 per cent student said that instructor encourages them to use internet as given in Table V. 1 n Feel comfort while using computer 20 Feel comfort while using internet 22 Internet increases quality of study 12 Note: Where 1 = Strongly

1 n 20

2

n 53

4

4

n % n % n % 2 5. 8 19 14 7 4 9 18 0 38 3 6. 8 1 17 3 4.4 2 4 8 7.6 4 4.8 3 6. 8 1 20 4 2.4 2 4 4 6.8 3 0.6 Disagree and 5 = strongly agree

3 % 11

4

n 129

% 26

n 201

n 17 4 18 4 16 9

5 % 40

n 97

Note: Where 1 = Strongly Disagree and 5 = strongly agree

1 n Information

2 %

n

288 57.6

3 %

81 16.2

n 43

4 %

n 9

107

5

%

2 %

3

% 3 5 3 7 3 4

Table IV Attitude of students

Table V Instructor % encourages 19 the use of internet

5 %

n

%

Total Rank 1 7.6 500

50

10

38

27 101

20

51 10.2

500

2

38

13

43

8.6

500

4

School Work

65

13 148 29.6 135

Communication

45

9 157 31.4 189

Chatting

62 12.4

75

15

77

15 178

36 108 21.6

500

3

Other

44

39

7.8

56

11 105

21 256 51.2

500

5

8.8

66

Note: where 1 is most important and 5 is least important

Usage of internet The survey disclosed in Table VI 57.6 per cent student’s ranked information is most important for purpose of internet usage. They ranked other purposes 2, 3, 4 and 5 to school work, chatting, communication and other i.e. entertainment, gaming respectively. Table VII suggests that out of 500 respondents, 51 per cent, 30.2 per cent, 4.2 per cent and 3.2 per cent students used to access internet daily from home, school/institute, office, public terminal and other places respectively. 53 per cent students were financially sported by parents according to Table X. Our study confirmed that majority of students use internet on night and face difficulty of speed/bandwidth mostly. Table XI shows majority of students spend 2-3 hours on internet. Experience of Students Table XII 30.2 per cent students have 3-6 years experience of internet and 49 per cent students agreed their internet skills are high.

Table VI Purpose of internet usage

108 From Home From School

Table VII Places of where from they internet

From Office From Public terminal From Places Total

Twice a month n %

Daily n % 25 4 51 15 3 1 0.2 1 56 1.2

Weekly n % 11 4 23 10 0 20 1 54 0.5

21

4.2

40

8

32

16 50 0

3.2 10 0

23 50 0

4.6 10 0

20 50 0

30 43 16

Monthly n % 8. 6 42 4 8. 6 30 6 3. 35 2 5 19 6. 4 60 12

4 10 0

60 50 0

Never n % 60 17 6 3. 8 34 7 38 1 50 0

12 10 0

12 35 71 69 76 10 0

Table VIII Financial sport

Self Parents Office School Other

n 151 268 31 32 18

% 30.2 53.6 6.2 6.4 3.6

Table IX Time of usage

Morning Afternoon Night Total

n 29 104 367 500

% 5.8 20.8 73.4 100

Table X Hours spend on internet

0-1 2-3 3-4 4-5 6 or more Total

n 93 219 115 36 37 500

% 18.6 43.8 23 7.2 7.4 100

Table XI Critical issue facing while using the internet

Filtration of relevant information Speed/bandwidth Hardware/Software Paying for online services Other Total

n

% 132 270 39 56 3 500

26.4 54 7.8 11.2 0.6 100

109

110

n 374

1 3 Less than 6 months 2 n % n % n % n 80 % 6-12 months 59 12 176 35 166 33 1-321 years4.2 114 Note: Where 1 = Strongly Disagree and 5 = strongly agree 3-6 years 151 7 years or more 118 Total 500 CGPAs less than 2.5 2.5-2.8 2.8-3.1 3.1-3.4 3.4-3.7 3.7-4.0

% 5 7.4 n %16 78 22.8 16 30.2 23.6 100

n 91 31 115 70 106 87 500

% 18.2 6.2 23 14 21.2 Table XIV 17.4 CGPAs of 100 students

Performance of students Table XIV showing that 18.2 per cent, 6.2 per cent, 23 per cent, 14 per cent, 21.2 per cent and 17.4 per cent out of 500 respondents had CGPA lesser than 2.5 or between 2.5-2.8, 2.8-3.1, 3.1-3.4, 3.4-3.7 and 3.7-4.0.

Limitation of study It is acknowledged that the work here is exploratory study because previously no study was done. The survey took some time due to personal visits. Time constraints and cost are also the limitation of our study. Study is to subject to a number of limitations because of small sample size and self-reported data collection technique. Students hesitated to mention the true CGPA. May be their CGPA was over stated by students to some extend but have nominal variation.

Recommendations for further study Consider some limitations in this study which does not enable us to generalize our results. The following suggestions and recommendations could be beneficial for further study. 1. Increase sample size that include more institutes and no. of students from other areas of Pakistan. 2. Conduct longitudinal study that could enhance results of study.

Table XIII Internet skills are high Table XII Experience of use internet

3. Use IT tools like selects students that use internet only from university computer lab and create profile of their activities on internet. Observe the internet usage patterns over the period of time.

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Appendix