AN EMPIRICAL APPRAISAL OF THE IMPACT OF INTERNET APPLICATION ON THE ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES OF STUDENTS IN NIGERIA

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 technology holds the greatest promise humanity has known for learning and universal access to quality education. In the light of these therefore, this study examined undergraduates’ use of the Internet and its implication on their academic performance at the University of Ilorin. 200 undergraduate students from twenty systematically selected departments formed the study sample. Research questionnaire was used to gather data for the study.

The data collected was analyzed using the simple statistics and chi-square (X2) tests. The results indicate that: The results reveal that Internet contributes significantly to academic performance of the respondents. The results from this study also show that there is a significant relationship between Internet and academic performance of students with Internet access. The study concludes that, the Internet is of great advantage for knowledge acquisition by serving as an alternative to scarce and outdated books.