First year and final year Undergraduate Students’ Academic use of Internet. Case of a Zimbabwean University

Abstract

The use of internet, started as a thinking in the early 60s, and Zimbabwe started using it in the 90s. Now internet usage has spread to various areas of the country including rural areas. Internet can be used for various purposes, entertainment, education or social reasons. Given the immense rise of internet usage and its wide use it would be interesting to note to what extent the internet is being used for academic purposes. The study looked at level of internet skills, method of internet use, method of information search, pathways and search engines used, academic use of internet and quality of learning using internet. This study was carried out with 100 university undergraduate students to determine the extent to which they use internet for academic reasons. Data was collected and analysed using descriptive statistics. Findings showed that final year students use internet for academics more than first years and the way forward was discussed. Gender differences in the use of internet were also discussed.

Keywords: internet, academic use, undergraduate students