Effects of Academic Performance of Students

The controversy over whether technology actually improves student learning is one that stirs debate and motivates research. The articles reported in the economics literature have been limited both in quantity and scope with methods and results varying across studies. The literature has focused primarily on the use of technology in general on student learning; few studies have examined the direct link between educational outcomes such Internet use.

For obvious reasons, it should be noted that the impact of Internet access on on-campus instruction is the influence of Internet on Academic Performance of students differs depending on population. Some studies reported no significance effect, however, other studies affirmed effect of Internet access of students with a post test results according to Ehrman (1995).

In contributing to the academic performance of students, Wagner (1998) saw internet as a forum that promote group discussion which is time and distance independent. The world wide web service provided by the internet with over 5 million web sites allow students from all disciplines to source for relevant information. Busari (2001) sees the internet as a medium through which lecturers and students can meet without seeing each other learn through teleconferencing whereby the use of small video camera and microphone members of the group can actually see and hear each other.

Sanni et al (2009) in a recent study observed that there is a gender difference in internet use and thus adequate attention should be paid to ensuring equal access between male and female students.

In a report by Carvin (2005), the research conducted appears to corroborate parents’ perceptions that home computer use is related to better academic performance. For example, early home computer use studies found that high school students who used educational software at home scored significantly higher than other students on computer literacy tests. Home computer use has been linked to improvements in general academic performance as well.

English than those without home computers. Furthermore, students with home computers are also more likely to have families with greater income and education, factors that are highly correlated with better academic performance. But even just among those with home computers, heavier users performed better academically than light users: students who reported using their home computers for at least 10 hours during the school year for activities unrelated to a class also reported better overall grades, better grades in Math and English, and did better on a test of scientific knowledge than thosewho reported using their home computer less.

Emergence of statistically significant results suggests that quantitative characteristics of browsing behavior can be useful predictors of meaningfulbehavioral outcomes. Variables such as number of browsing sessions and length of browsing sessions correlated with students’ final grades. The valence and magnitude of these correlations were found to interact with the course (whether a student was enrolled in the communications or computer science course), browsing context, and gender (Geri and Grace-Martin, 2001)

There are various types of possible support that may be provided at organizational level by a university, such as support from instructors and technical experts and training opportunities. These types of support may lead to greater Internet use and more effective learning. Future studies should take these research limitations into consideration at the design stage, so that research can be improved and accuracy further increased. While Internet use in university education is becoming more widespread and provides a supplement to traditional teaching methods, more extensive research in this area should be conducted to fully understand what factors lead to greater Internet use and better learning performance in students (Waiman Cheung and Wayne Huang, 2005)