An Exploratory Study of Internet Use for Education and Research by Postgraduates in AAU
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Date
2007-08
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The application of communication media for education is very vital. The
most recent development among these communication media is the
Internet. The Internet diffuses very rapidly in all parts of the world, as
compared to any other communication media before it. The role of this
media for advancement of education in developing countries, where a
staggering economy and lack of educational materials is evident, is not a
questionable issue. The case of Ethiopia is not an exception to the above
fact. Nowadays, a significant increase in the use of Internet is being
witnessed in Ethiopia, especially in higher learning institutions and
among academicians carrying out different researches.
However, very little research has been done concerning the practical use of
Internet by students and its impacts. In light of this fact, this exploratory
study examines the use of Internet for academic purposes by students in
higher learning institutions. The main objective of the study is to examine
the students’ pattern of Internet use and to determine the impact of that
use on their academic studies. A qualitative data gathering approach
consisting of in-depth interview and focus group discussion was employed
to meet the stipulated objectives of this research paper.
The findings have shown that there is an increasing dependency on the
Internet among the students for the purpose of doing assignments,
researches and coursework. The study also revealed that overwhelming
majority of the respondents use the internet mostly for e-mailing, and
information searching, which were found to have potential impact on their
academics. Experience in checking the reliability of sources from the
internet has been found rudimentary and most students have a tendency
of plagiarism owing to their heavily dependency on the Internet to access
information. Limited access to the internet was found a deterring factor
for wider use of the internet. Finally, the need for incorporating courses
related to media literacy in the curriculum is recommended in order to
capitalize the appropriate usage of this technologically new medium - the
internet.
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Keywords
Internet Use for Education