EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERNET USE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SOCIAL STUDIES STUDENTS A CASE STUDY OF SOME SELECTED JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL IN LAGOS STATE’S ZONE THREE EDUCATION DISTRINTERNET
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
THE STUDY’S BACKGROUND
The advancement of the internet has resulted in tremendous progress in the areas of communication and information dissemination, which has contributed to the world becoming more interactive. The internet has provided a medium for people who may never meet to access similar resources. Furthermore, the internet is inexpensive and easily accessible all over the world. Certainly, this allows for instant personal dialogue and communication between people all over the world.
Education is critical to human survival and development as an individual and as a society, each with its own methods and means of educating its members, as determined by societal culture. Every culture has a mechanism in place to adjust to and accommodate new developments occurring within and outside the society, ensuring the continuity and effective transmission of societal culture from generation to generation.
Mishandling of changes occurring within and outside the society may have a significant impact on the society’s culture. The consequences may result in societal retrogression, confusion, acculturation, or even extinction. In this context, each society develops and designs its educational system to suit its environment and generation, as well as
to cater for its immediate and future developmental needs and aspirations, based on its tradition, culture, norms, and values. As a result of the internet’s development, diverse ideas and cultures interact and intertwine, and as a result, new knowledge, ideas, cultures, and values are transferred from one location to another.
The alarming manner in which secondary school students in Lagos state usually glue themselves to their phones in order to access internet services is never unconnected with the country’s recent availability and affordability of devices. The concern here is what the students are doing with these devices.
Some studies’ findings revealed a high level of internet usage among students, while others revealed both positive and negative effects of this inclination on students. For example, students are becoming increasingly overwhelmed by internet-based programs, which either facilitate or undermine their learning inclination and either improve or retard their educational development.
Empirical researchers have established that modern technologies such as computers and the Internet have become ingrained in the lives of young people. The Kaiser report, as cited in Shu-Sha and Subrahmanyam, (2009), confirmed that:
More recently, the 2008 World Internet Project survey of 13 countries revealed that among youth 12-years to 14-years, 88 percent in the United States used the Internet; the percentage of Internet users in this age group was 100 percent in the United Kingdom, 98 percent in Israel, 95 percent in Canada, and over 70 percent in Singapore. Internet communication applications such as instant messaging, blogs, and social networking sites (e.g., MySpace, Facebook) are especially popular among adolescents. As the Internet has become more prevalent in young people’s lives, their online activities and interactions have become the subject of extensive research. It is becoming clear that the Internet both risks and opportunities for adolescent development (Shu-Sha and Subrahmanyam, 2009).
Furthermore, the Shu-Sha and Subrahmanyam (2009) study attributed some negative attitudes such as Internet addition as well as online risks such as exposure to sexually explicit materials and online vinternetimization including harassment or cyberbullying and sexual solicitation to students’ inclination toward the internet.
These factors, along with the government’s intention to improve internet access in order to further develop education in the country, prompted the study to assess the impact of internet usage in selected junior secondary schools in Lagos state.
STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
Because no country can exist in isolation, and as the internet has become a part of our daily lives, students are becoming increasingly vulnerable to its effects. As a result, it is critical for each society to investigate the impact of the internet on societal life in order to develop those elements that are beneficial to its survival while avoiding those that are detrimental to its growth and development.
The Internet is vastly improving people’s access to knowledge and information all over the world, reducing time waste, closing gaps between people, and significantly contributing to the growth and development of societies. Today’s college students have grown up with inherent technological innovations that are integrated into modes of communication, education, and socialization (La Rose, Eastin, and Gregg (2001) in Everhart, 2001). (2011).
Similarly, the prevalence of negative attitudes among students, such as pornography, money laundering, cultism, international terrorism, and child abuse, may be attributed to students’ unchecked access to the INTERNET (Omekwu 2005, cited in Aduwa, 2006).
Junior secondary school students in Lagos state now spend a significant portion of their time on the internet, which is ideally supposed to benefit their educational development. However, because most schools lack an effective method of guiding students on internet-related issues, students are left to choose their internet preferences.
Most of them were carried away by the fun side of it, spending most of their time on social media, chatting with friends, and other similar activities. As a result, the study was carried out to determine the impact of internet usage on the academic performance of social studies students in Lagos state.
THE STUDY’S OBJECTIVES
The study’s main goal was to evaluate the impact of internet usage on the academic performance of social studies students in Lagos state. Other goals include:
Compare the rates of internet knowledge and usage among junior secondary school students in private and public secondary schools.
Investigate the effects of the internet on the academic performance of Lagos junior secondary school students.
Investigate the relationship between the internet and the academic performance of Lagos junior secondary school students.
QUESTIONS FOR RESEARCH
Has the internet had a positive impact on the educational development of Lagos state junior secondary school students?
Are there significant differences in internet knowledge and usage among junior secondary school students in Lagos state’s public and private schools?
Is there a link between the academic performance of junior secondary school students in Lagos state and their use of the internet?
HYPOTHESES FOR RESEARCH
The Internet has had a positive impact on the educational development of Lagos junior secondary school students.
There are significant differences in internet knowledge and usage between junior secondary school students in Lagos’ public and private schools.
The internet has a significant relationship with the performance of Lagos junior secondary school students.
THE STUDY’S IMPORTANCE
The study is significant because it attempts to contribute to the existing body of knowledge by revealing the effect of internet on educational development of junior secondary school students in Lagos State in order to fill the existing gap in the Proliferation of internet in Nigeria and the students’ reaction to it have constituted a source of concern regarding their academic performance, necessitating a careful study to ascertain the effect As a result, this study is a step in that direction.
THE STUDY’S LIMITATIONS
The population of the study was limited to some selected junior secondary school students in Lagos State’s zone three education district. Furthermore, the study restricts itself to Internet and International Satellite Media. In terms of academic performance, the research was limited to the annual progress reports provided by schools on students’ performance in final examinations; Junior Secondary School Certificate of Education (SSCE). Furthermore, academic activities were restricted to students attending extra lessons, tutorials, visiting libraries, and reading at home.
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EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERNET USE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SOCIAL STUDIES STUDENTS A CASE STUDY OF SOME SELECTED JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL IN LAGOS STATE’S ZONE THREE EDUCATION DISTRINTERNET