CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
The development of the internet has resulted in tremendous progress in the area of communication and information dissemination, which contributed in making the world more interactive. The internet has served as a medium by which people who may never meet have access to similar resources. Also, the internet is inexpensive and accessible easily throughout the globe. Certainly, this permits instantaneous personal dialogue and communication between people around the world.
Education is central in the survival and growth of human being as individual and as society, each with its own ways and means of educating its members, as dinternetated by the societal culture. Every culture has a mechanism that adjusts and accommodates new developments happening within and outside the society which ensures continuity and effective transmission of the societal culture from generation to generation. Mishandling of changes happening within and outside the society may cause significant effect on the culture of the society. The effects may cause retrogression, confusion, acculturation, or even extinction of the society in totality. In this context, each society develops and designs its educational system based on its tradition, culture, norms and values, to suit its environment and generation, and to carter for its immediate and future developmental needs and aspirations. Consequently, as a result of development in the internet, diverse ideas and cultures interact and interwoven, as such, new knowledge, ideas, cultures and values, are transferred from one place to another.
The manner, by which secondary schools students in Lagos state usually glue themselves to their phones through which the access services of the internet is alarming never unconnected with the availability and affordability of the devices in the country in recent times. The worry here is about what the students are doing on these devices. Findings of some studies revealed a huge patronage of the internet among students, while other studies revealed some positive as well as negative effects of such inclination on the students. For instance, students are becoming more and more overwhelmed by programmes available on the internet, which in turn facilitate or erode their learning inclination and improve or retard their educational development. Empirical researchers have established that, modern technologies such as computers and the Internet have become enmeshed in young people‟s lives, the Kaiser report, of 2004 as cited in Shu-Sha and Subrahmanyam, (2009) confirmed that:
74% of 8-year olds to 18-year olds in the United States had Internet access in their homes, more recently, the 2008 World Internet Project survey of 13 countries revealed that among youth 12-years to 14-years, 88% in the United States used the Internet; the percentage of Internet users in this age group was 100% in the United Kingdom, 98% in Israel, 95% in Canada, and over 70% in Singapore. Among adolescents, the communication applications of the Internet such as instant messaging, blogs, and social networking sites (e.g., MySpace, Face book) are especially popular. As the Internet has become pervasive in the lives of young people, their online activities and interactions have become the focus of intense research. It is becoming evident that the Internet presents risks as well as opportunities to adolescent development (Shu-Sha and Subrahmanyam, 2009).
Also, the Shu-Sha and Subrahmanyam‟s (2009) study attributed some negative attitudes such as Internet addinternetion as well as online risks such as exposure to sexually explicit materials and online vinternetimization including harassment or cyber bullying and sexual solicitation to the students’ inclination toward internet. These reasons along with the government intention of further developing education in the country by means of improving internet access prompted the research to assess the impact of internet usage in selected junior secondary schools in Lagos state.
Statement of the Research Problem
For the fact that no country can live in isolation, and as the internet has become part of our daily life, students are becoming more and more susceptible to its effects. Accordingly, it is imperative for each society to study the effect of internet on the societal life in order to develop those elements that are beneficial to its survival and avert what is detrimental to its growth and development. Internet is enormously enhancing people‟s accessibility to knowledge and information across the globe, minimizing time waste, narrowing distance between people, and contributing significantly to the growth and development of societies. It is a known fact that, today’s college students have grown up with intrinsic technological innovations that are integrated into modes of communication, education, and socialization, (La Rose, Eastin, and Gregg (2001) in Everhart, (2011). In the same vein, prevalence of negative attitudes among students, such as pornography, money laundering, cultism, international terrorism and child abuse, may also be attributed to the unchecked accessibility of the INTERNET by the students, (Omekwu 2005, cited in Aduwa, 2006).
Junior secondary schools‟ students in Lagos state nowadays commit considerable proportion of their time on internet which ideally supposed to positively impact on their educational development. However, for the fact that most schools lack an effective method of guidance on issues pertaining to internet, the students are therefore left with the choice of their preferences on internet. This made most of them to be carried away by the fun side of it, using most of their time on social media, chatting with friends and many things alike. Consequently, the study was conducted to assess the effect of the internet usage on the academic performance of social studies students in Lagos state.
Objectives of the Study
Main objective of the study was to assess the impact of internet usage on the academic performance of social studies students in Lagos state. Other objectives are to:
- Compare the rate of knowledge and usage of internet between junior secondary schools‟ students in the private and public secondary schools.
- Study the effects of internet on the Academic performance of junior secondary schools students‟ in Lagos
- Study the Relationship between internet and the Academic Performance of junior secondary school students in Lagos
Research Questions
- Has internet impacted positively on educational development of junior secondary schools‟ students in Lagos state?
- Are there significant variations in terms of knowledge and usage of internet between junior secondary schools‟ students in public and private schools of Lagos state?
- Is there any significant relationship between academic performance of junior secondary schools‟ students in Lagos state and their usage of internet?
Research Hypotheses
- Internet has positively impacted on educational development of junior secondary schools‟ students in Lagos
- There are significant variations in terms of knowledge and usage of internet between junior secondary schools‟ students in public and private schools of Lagos
- There is significant relationship between internet and the performance of junior secondary schools‟ students in Lagos
Significance of the Study
- The study is significant being an attempt to make contribution to the existing body of knowledge by revealing the effect of internet on educational development of junior secondary schools‟ students in Lagos State with a view to fill the existing vacuum in the
- Proliferation of internet in Nigeria and the reaction of the students towards it have constituted a source of concern regarding their academic performance, thereby calling for a careful study to ascertain the effects on them. Hence, this research is a step in that
Limitation of the Study
Scope of the study in terms of population was limited to some selected junior secondary schools‟ students in zone three education district of Lagos State. Also, with respect to internet, the study limits itself to Internet and International Satellite Media. In terms of academic performance, the study was limited to the annual progress report provided by the schools on students‟ performance in final examinations; Junior secondary School Certificate of Education (SSCE). In addition, academic activities were limited to students‟ attendance of extra lessons, tutorials, going to libraries, and reading at home.
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