Purpose of internet usage and learning via internet

A RESEARCH ON THE PURPOSE OF INTERNET USAGE AND LEARNING VIA

INTERNET
Ass. Prof. Dr. Nursel Selver RUZGAR,
Marmara University, Technical Education Faculty, Department of Computer Education, Kadikoy, Istanbul
[email protected]

ABSTRACT
New technologies are rapidly changing our ways of communication, and also the art of teaching, as well as
extending ways of learning. The dramatic growth of Internet usage has changed the lives of millions of people
around the globe during the last decade. For students and teachers, the Internet is becoming an increasingly
important part of the educational process. In addition, a new kind of multimedia approach is making the Web
available not just in the classroom, but in the textbook as well. This study is based on an online survey conducted
at a Turkish University to obtain student views about intensity of Internet use, reasons for using the Internet,
impact of the Internet on student life, via the Internet, web-based lecture notes, exercises, an electronic
discussion panel and an internal course email communication system and their future plans about web-based
learning. The sample was drawn from different faculties of Marmara University in Turkey. 744 students
answered online survey, but after extraction 720 survey results were evaluated by SPSS. On the evaluation
process, frequency and percentage graphs were sketched the results were compared with cross-tables. The results
indicate that in the future the profile of education will be changed, mostly the students will access to Internet and
take their courses via Internet. The young generation is exposed to Internet at very early ages and this will
rapidly increase Internet usage in the near future. Sending/receiving e-mail topped the list in sample followed by
research for school-related work. Approximately fifty percent of students believe that Internet access at home
improves their grade-point-averages (GPAs).
Keywords: Learning via Internet, Student preferences, Internet usage.

INTRODUCTION
The use of information technologies has shown a very rapid growth during the last decade in almost every
country in the world. Increasing computer ownership and access to the Internet have changed the lives of
millions of people who get online on a daily basis at home, at school, at work and other locations such as Internet
cafes. They go online to send/receive e-mails, chat, research for school or work, download music or images, and
to do many other activities.

More recent statistics for the United States indicate that, the end of 2002 connected 166 million people
connected to the Internet, representing 59 percent of the population (CyberAtlas, June 11, 2003). Coupled with
this high connection rate and increasing use of fast connection systems such as cable modems, Americans also
spend a lot more time on the Net than the citizens of other countries. As reported by Nielsen//NetRatings Inc. in
May 2003, the average Web usage in the United Kingdom was about 12 hours per month for both home and
work combined, while the corresponding statistics for Australia was 13.5 hours per month (CyberAtlas, June 16
2003). In the United States, the total time spent on the Web was about 99 hours per month (25.5 hours at home
and 73.5 hours at work). The rapid diffusion of the Internet is not a unique to the United States. Internet
penetration in the European Union has also shown very rapid growth during the last few years. The number of
households online has increased from18.3 percent in March 2000 to 40.4 percent in June 2002. Five countries
now exceed the 50% penetration rate with the Netherlands leading the pack (66 %), followed by Denmark (65
%), Sweden (64 %), Luxembourg (55 %) and Finland (54 percent). Greece had the lowest penetration rate in EU
with 9 percent (eEuropa).
By the end of 2002, 48 countries in the world had Internet populations of 1 million or more (Cyber Atlas, June
11). The United States leads the world in Internet technology and usage. Overall, it was estimated that 143
million Americans (54 percent of the American population) were using the Internet, up from 45 percent in
August 2000 (DOC, 2002). Japan had the second largest online population with 56 million people and 44 percent
access rate while China, the most populous country in the world, ranked number three with 46 million people but
only 4 percent access rate. Turkey had 2.5 million people online with an access rate of 4 percent. Countries with
similar access range were Romania (4 %), China (4 %), Mexico (3 %), Colombia (3 %), Indonesia (2 %),
Pakistan (1 %) and India (1 %).

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY

The survey form sought information on demographic data, availability of the Internet at home and school, how
long students had used the Internet, with what frequency they used the Internet, what purpose they used it for,
what sites were visited, impact of the Internet on student life, their attitudes about web based lecture notes,
electronic discussion panel and web based education.

The data for this project was collected online during the fall term of 2003-2004 Academic years. The sample was

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Purpose of internet usage and learning via internet

drawn from different 18 faculties of Marmara University and 744 students responded online survey randomly,
but after extraction 720 survey results were evaluated. On the evaluation process, results were tabulated and
analyzed descriptive statistics, frequencies and percentages, and cross tabulation with SPSS statistical package
and Microsoft Excel 5.0 spreadsheet software.

RESEARCH FINDINGS
744 students responded this online survey, but after extraction 720 reponses were evaluated. From 720
participated students, 373 were freshmen (51.8%), 181 were sophomores (25.1%), 71 were juniors (9.9%) and 95
were seniors (13.2%). The males dominated the responses (71 %) as shown in Table 1. Males still dominate
Internet usage in Turkey (Sevdik; Polatoglu, 2001). Cross tabulations indicated that there were significant
differences in sex or class level, freshmen/sophomores versus juniors/seniors on overall frequency of web use.

For the sample, most of the respondents went online from home (50.1%) while “other combinations” option
received the second place (32.4 %). The Internet Cafes that are widely available in Istanbul explain the
importance of this category. The lower access from school is because of the fact that most Colleges in Turkey
have not been able to create the infrastructure to provide easy access to their students.

67.1 % of the respondents had telephone dial-up connections. The cost and availability factors explain the low
usage of cable modems in Turkey. The cost is as high as $60 per month and the service is not available
everywhere. One might suspect that the slow speed of dial-up modems and the relatively high hourly cost might
reduce the use of Internet in Turkey.

TABLE 1. Sample Characteristics

Characteristics Sample (%)
Gender Male 71.4
Female 28.6
Internet Access From: Home Only 50.1
School Only 12.8
Both Home and 4.7
School 32.4
Other
Combinations
Type of Internet Connection Modem (Dial-Up) 67.1
DSL 14.6
Cable 11.3
Other/Don’t Know 7.1
Time Spent Online (Hours/week) 1-5 36
6-10 20.6
11-15 11.1
16-20 22.1
ONLINE ACTIVITIES
The students used the Internet to perform a number of activities. Among these, sending/receiving e-mail topped
the list (Table 2). It was interesting to discover that the school-sponsored e-mail played a small role with only 7.5
percent of the respondents using it. This finding perhaps suggests that the universities in Turkey should invest
more in Internet infrastructure. Hotmail (48.3 %), Yahoo (44.7 %) and Mynet (34.3 %) were the three top e-mail
account providers to the sample members.
Using the Internet to read news and sports information was the second most important activity. To do research
for school-related work was the third and chatting was the fourth important activities. While about 45 percent of
the group used the Internet to research for products and services, 30.6 percent and 29.7 percent of respondents
used it to download images and music, respectively. In addition, only 20 percent of the respondents did actually
bought products online.

TABLE 2. What Do They Use the Internet For?

Use Internet For.... Sample (%
)
E-Mail 64.4
Research for Homework 58
Chat 56.8
Read News and Sports Information 60.6
Download Music 29.7
Buy Products Online 20
Research for Products and Services 45.6

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Purpose of internet usage and learning via internet

Play Games 26.3

Download Images 30.6

Impact of Internet
As mentioned above, the students use the Internet for a number of activities ranging from e-mail to buying
products online. Regarding impact of the Internet, the results show that 40.6 % of the students agree and strongly
agree that they read less because of Internet, compared to 46.5 % who disagree or strongly disagree and 12.9 %
who are neutral (Table 3). Obviously, this might cause some problems in cultural and literary development of
these students. Less than half of the respondents also indicate that they watch less television now because of their
online involvement. This might be good or bad depending that one talks to. However, it is definitely bad news
for television advertisers! It is sometimes argued that Internet negatively impacts the socialization process and
reduces interaction with friends or family members (Reisberg, 2000; Anderson, 2001). Others argue that
Internet actually facilitates interactions and people keep in touch with friends or family members via e-mail or
chat. One might even make friends online. 46.2 percent of the respondents indicated that they made new friends
while in chat rooms.

TABLE 3. The Impact of the Internet on Student Behavior

Comments/Statements Str. Agree- Neutral Disagree-
Agree Str.disagree
I read less because of the Internet 20.3-20.3 12.9 21.9-24.6
I watch less television because of the Internet 18.6-23.9 18.6 20.6-18.3
I have acquired new friends while in chat 18.6-27.6 19.6 21-13.1
rooms
Access to the Internet at home improves my 16-19.4 15.1 30.7-18.8
GPA
I am on the Internet more than I should be 14.6-23.6 7.8 32.8-21.3

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Favorite Sites
In an open-ended question, the respondents were asked to provide the top three Web sites that they use most
often. E-Mail sites (Hotmail, Yahoo, Mynet, MSN) topped the list followed by News/Sports Information sites,
and search engines. Entertainment, music, cinema, arts, banking, and health sites were also frequently
mentioned.

The Future of the Internet

According to a recent study, over 80 percent of faculty at North American colleges and universities believe that
web-based technology is a key contributor to student success (McGraw-Hill, 2002). It was also noted that 62
percent of faculty the United States and Canada, use the Internet to prepare coursework, 56 percent use the Web
to supplement textbooks, while 51 percent use it to ensure up-to-date course content. A large number of
professors in the United States now place lecture outlines, course requirements, homework, required reading and
guidelines on the Web using software such as the Blackboard or WebCT. They also communicate with their
students via e-mail quite often. Thus, having access to the Internet at home is a big advantage for the American
students.

The respondents in this study also confirmed positive expectations. The comments made were overwhelmingly
positive and many remarked that their lives would be much improved at work and at home due to their ability to
access the Internet. They felt that they would be a lot more productive because of the Net and some even
mentioned that “they can’t imagine spending a day in the future without being online to communicate with
friends, family and colleagues, read news and sports, listen to music, view videos, and to shop online.” Some
concerns were as well. These mainly revolved around privacy and security online that they expected will be
solved in the near future.

Feeling about Online Education Activities

Quantitative research methods (descriptive statistics,mean and standard deviatin; Independent sample t-test for
equality of means under the assumption of equal variances) were used in order to investigate the feelings of
respondents. All questions in this section of the survey were prepared a five-point scale Likert type scale
anchored at 1=‘‘strongly agree,’’ 2=‘‘somewhat agree,’’ 3=‘‘neutral,’’ 4=‘‘ somewhat disagree,’’ and 5=‘‘
strongly disagree.’’ According to Independent Samples Test results (Table 4), sig. (2-tailed) values of each
questions were greater than =0.05. This indicate that means are not significantly different.

According to mean values of the questions, most of the respondents strongly agree on “Lecture notes can also be
on the web”, “Exam results should be demonstrated on the web page of the Faculty.”, “Answer keys of
midterms, assignments and final should be demonsrated on the web page.”, “I have to access content and use
communication tools such as discussion boards, on-line.”, “ On-line Quizzes have to be avalible on the web
page.”, “Lecture notes are on my faculty web page.”, “İnternet has to be used for supporting education.”,
“Registration of a course can also be on-line.”, “I have enough face to face contact with my lecturers in my
faculty.”and “In the future, web based education will take place of school based education.”, but, however, they
generally disagree on “Exam results are announced on my faculty web page”.

TABLE 4. Independent Samples Test

Levene's Test .t-test for Equalityof
for Equality of Means (95% Conf. Descriptive
Variances Int. of the Diff) Stat.
Sig.2- St.
F Sig. t df tailed Mean Var.
Lecture notes can also be on the web. 2,378 ,123 -,281 718 ,779 1,52 ,543
Exam results should be demonstrated on the web page of the
,133 ,715 ,894 718 ,372 1,56 ,542
Faculty.
Answer keys of midterms, assignments and final should be
1,248 ,264 ,045 718 ,964 1,53 ,534
demonsrated on the web page.
I have to access content and use communication tools such as
1,215 ,271 -1,241 718 ,215 1,55 ,540
discussion boards, on-line.
On-line Quizzes have to be avalible on the web page. ,733 ,392 -,085 718 ,932 1,55 ,538
Exam results are announced on my faculty web page 7,512 ,006 -1,304 718 ,193 2,70 ,457
Lecture notes are on my faculty web page. 13,470 ,000 -1,766 718 ,078 1,85 ,356
İnternet has to be used for supporting education. 6,532 ,011 -1,233 718 ,218 1,71 ,464
Registration of a course can also be on-line. ,173 ,678 -,150 718 ,880 1,54 ,542
Do you think you will have performed better than, as well as
or poorer than you would have done under a more traditional 3,517 ,061 ,076 718 ,940 2,15 1,13
approach?.

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Purpose of internet usage and learning via internet

I have enough face to face contact with my lecturers in my

7,168 ,008 1,294 718 ,196 1,21 ,404
faculty.
In the future, web based education will take place of school
,364 ,546 ,223 718 ,824 2,45 1,31
based education.
I have Internet education. 16,179 ,000 -1,935 718 ,053 1,88 ,331
My feelings about Internet in the future. ,009 ,924 -,072 718 ,943 1,21 ,02
My feelings about web based education in the future. ,486 ,486 -,633 718 ,527 1,32 ,127

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The use of Internet has shown a rapid growth during the recent years. Students are heavy users of the Internet
throughout the whole world. Since they often serve as opinion leaders in technology products, it is important to
investigate their online behavior. In this study, students from Marmara University were surveyed to find out
more about their online activities and perceived impact of Internet on social behavior and their feelings about
online education activities. The following are some of the basic conclusions obtained after a detailed analysis of
student responses: The Internet has also become an integral part of college life and its usage is approaching 100
percent among students. It is expected that they will keep on using the Net after graduation. Thus, the future
looks very bright for Internet. The problems faced by the older generations due to the introduction of new
computer/Internet technology will not be a problem for this segment. Access from school was much for the
sample and home access was a lot more prevalent. 36 percent of the students spent 1-10 hours per week on the
Internet. In terms of activities online, sending/receiving e-mail topped the list followed by read news and sports
informations, research for school-related work, chat, research for products and services, download images and
musicand buy products online, respectively.
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