THE EFFECT OF INTERNET ACCESS FROM HOME

The Effect Of Internet Access From Home On AUT Students' Academic Performance



Abstract

Internet usage in education has been helping students all over the world to enhance their learning and improve their performance. In relation to the technology, the demands of students are increasing for the fulfilment of their newly identified electronic resources needs (e.g. e-books & e-journals). To meet these demands, universities have developed technological infrastructure to facilitate the learning process. Apart from university, students' also need access to internet for their study at home. Although, information is increasing, the need for internet access from home is also increasing. This research aims at exploring the nature of relationship between university student academic performance and broadband access to the internet from home/student residence.

Table of Contents

ABSTRACTII

LITERATURE REVIEW1

Access to home computers10

Access to broadband internet service11

How home computer technology might influence academic achievement14

The impact of home computer technology on test scores15

Effects Of Home Computer Access Moderate Over Time20

Heterogeneity in the effect of internet access21

METHODOLOGY27

Theoretical Framework27

Research Design29

Procedure30

Data Analysis30

Instrument31

Measures31

Reliability32

Validity32

Ethical Concerns33

Limitations34

Assumptions34

REFERENCES36

The Effect Of Internet Access From Home On AUT Students' Academic Performance

LITERATURE REVIEW

Decades of research has focused on the issue of whether using computers facilitates learning, typically measured as school performance.

After reviewing dozens of studies of school learning with computer-based technology, including five meta-analytic reviews, Roschelle and colleagues came to the less-than-satisfying conclusion that the findings are inconclusive (Roschelle, Pea, Hoadley, Gordon, & Means, 2000). For example, one meta-analytic review of over 500 studies (kindergarten through twelfth-grade students) found positive effects of computer tutoring applications on achievement test scores. (McClure 1991)

However, other uses of the computer, such as simulations and enrichment applications, had no effects (Kulik, 1994). Still other findings suggest that the benefits of computer-based instruction are clearer for mathematics and science than they are for other subjects. For example, a study by the Educational Testing Service found that using computers to engage higher-order thinking skills was related to better school performance in mathematics by fourth and eighth graders (Wenglinsky, 1998).

Roschelle et al. (2000) offered three explanations for the equivocal findings with respect to computer-based instruction and school performance. First, variability in hardware and software among schools participating in the research may explain the equivocal findings. Second, the failure of schools to accompany technology use with concurrent reforms in the other areas, such as curriculum and teacher professional development, may explain the failure to find beneficial effects of technology use on academic performance. Third, the lack of rigorous, structured longitudinal studies may explain the failure to find positive effects of computerbased instruction, as well as information technology use in general, on academic performance. Rochelle and colleagues suggest that positive effects are most likely to emerge when technology is used to support the four fundamentals of learning: active engagement, participation in groups, frequent interaction and feedback, and connections to real-world contexts.

Subrahmanyam and colleagues reviewed the research on computer use and cognitive skills, focusing on a broad array of cognitive competencies but particularly on visual intelligence skills, such as spatial skills ...