Journal of Educational Media and Library Sciences

Abstract

The recognized potential of technology to improve education has led to several initiatives to foster effective use and integration in the curriculum. The Internet as a new invented technology holds the greatest promise humanity has known for learning and universal access to quality education. It allows students to broaden their academic experience, access important information and communicate to others within academic community. In the light of these therefore, this study examined undergraduate’s uses of the Internet and its implications on their academic performance at the University of Botswana, Gaborone. Three hundred and six undergraduate students from thirteen systematically selected departments formed the study sample. A modified Internet Use scale was used to gather data for the study. The data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics, chi-square and Friedman test. The results indicate that: majority of the respondents (66%) access the Internet 1–5 hours per week, 33.3% of respondents access the Internet 6–20 hours per week and 0.7% of respondents access the Internet between 21–25 hours per week. Moreover, most respondents use the Internet for the purpose of obtaining course related information. The results also reveal that Internet contributes significantly to academic performance of the respondents. To enhance and optimise the use of the Internet so that learning can take place at any time and anywhere, providing more access to computers and the Internet on campus constitutes the major recommendations. Future areas of research could include determining variations in Internet use by students from different disciplines, determining the nature and relationships between Internet use and academic performance.

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