The impact of internet use on tertiary institution students’ academic performance: An exploratory study

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of internet use on tertiary institution students’ academic performance (AP). The objectives of the study are to ascertain the impact of internet usage on the AP of students in tertiary institutions, find out some of the difficulties encountered in the utilization of the internet by students in tertiary institutions, and determine some of the benefits of internet usage to students in tertiary institutions.  The sample size for this research consists of 300 students whose data were collected through the administration of questionnaires. The study employed the survey research method and the Chi-square (X2) method to analyse and test the various hypotheses formulated. Findings from the study show that there is a significant relationship between internet usage and the AP of students in tertiary institutions. Even though internet usage makes work faster and easier, there are various difficulties encountered in the utilization of the internet by students in tertiary institutions, and the study recommends some ways that will assist to mitigating these difficulties, as well as ways to improving internet use by tertiary institution students. Keywords: Academic performance, Institution, Learning, Student, Teaching