1.1 Introduction (Background of the Study)
The internet is a global network of computers linked together over a large distance, Stains and Reynolds 1998 quoted in Agba (2001 p.55). It was created by the American military as a means of communication and has been in existence since the 1950s until the mid to late 1980s when commercial organizations and educational institution started using the internet.
The internet serves as the vehicle for the transportation of hottest and a wide display of technological innovation, sharing of information and social networking (Wenger 1998).
The internet communication has turned the world into a global community where different countries and races are beginning to think and act alike. Before now, communication flow was one sided, from the sender to the receiver. The receivers were vulnerable and passive absences in the society but the internet has changed that, the internet has also introduced interactivity in media community.
Today, even the system of education has benefited from the internet. Internet users have been exposed to a wide range of information, both educational and entertaining (Macham, 2010). In different locations of the world, information is made available to students with just one click of the computer connected to the internet.
With the perceived growth in the use of the internet by students, more people are conforming to the message associated with this medium. This new electronic dimension where time and space has almost no meaning has global implication which is staggering. It differs completely from the traditional media in terms of immediacy, ambiguity and uniformity of message delivery.
In spite of arguments that the originators of the internet (U.S.A) are the controllers of the internet, it has become a permissible mode of communication that gives every user a right to control and this exposure influences the behaviour of the student all over the world.
1.2 Statement of Problem
The problem with this medium is not its development, but the effects of its development, that is, how societies respond to its message. In this regard the issues that requires clarification are in:
- Whether the internet account for the perceived students behaviors.
- Whether internet management lack effective control on students.
- Whether internet improves the standard of education in Nigeria and
- whether the internet exposes the students to new norms thereby contributing to enculturation.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
This study is therefore designed:
- To determine if the internet accounts for students behaviour positively.
- To know if the controlling bodies of the internet lack effective control on students and to what extent.
- To know if the internet exposes the students to new norms and how this civilizes the society.
- To know if the internet improves and develops the standard of education and to what extent the students benefit from it.
1.4 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- How can the internet controlling bodies affect internet among students?
- How does the internet affect the standard of education?
- To what extent does internet affect students' behaviour?
- What cultural heritage does internet expose the students to and how does it affect the society?
1.5 Scope of the Study
This study is restricted to students only in the Federal University of Technology, Owerri. The behaviour of youths are almost identical in any society, therefore use of internet to FUTO students will serve as a benchmark for measuring the whole students population in Nigeria.
Even though the content of the internet also known as the new media is similar in many respects to the content of other conventional media, the central focus of this work is on the internet.
Again, while investigating the effects of the internet on students, the researchers shall limit themselves to the moral, social, educational and psychological aspects of the students' lives.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The usefulness of this study can never be overstressed. The significance of the study is on the behavior of students in Nigerian tertiary institution as a result of internet use and exposure. It is to identify its benefits and challenges to societal growth and development especially in this twenty first century of educational and youth advancement the present generation knowledge oriented.
It is an indicator to how well students have adopted to the internet messages they expose themselves to.
This study is significant for the preservation of cultural heritage. It exposes the Nigerian students to active information flow around the world rather than local passive observers.
It is beneficial to the youths as the future leaders and avails them the opportunities to have a holistic view of an ideal society.
This would reduce to its barest minimum student's delinquency. A Nigerian student who is not well informed would constitute societal blunder but a well informed student is a plus to societal development. This research remains for further research. Another significance is that it can serve as an academic source to fill knowledge gap.
1.7 Delimitation and Limitation
Delimitation:
The research is to examine the performance of students in Nigeria in terms of the effect of internet on Nigerian youths.
The researchers have decided to choose federal university of technology, Owerri (FUTO) as a case study. The decision is justified by the fact that the Nigerian students are identical in almost all respects. Since the researchers cannot lay hold on all the students using internet in Nigerian students in their closest environment from a ready population for data gathering.
The focus will be on the educational impact the internet has on the lives of students. This means that the impact on their social, political, religious and other aspects of their lives will be downplayed on.
Limitation:
A research carried out by human beings is bound to have limitations. This research deals principally on the effects of internet on Nigerian students.
The study is limited by many factors among them are:
- Limitation of researchers both in financial and time resources: This research work is not funded by government research agencies or academic bodies but is strictly funded through the financial strength of the researchers who are full time students with no source of income except the merger allowances from their parents and guidance. This financial constraint has affected the researchers in no small measure as any good research is based on fund and time which the researchers were not lucky to have.
- Another limitation was the lack of co-operation from the youths in the process of administering the questionnaire and conducting interviews.
- Secrecy: Although these factors exist, determination and effort will be made for relevance of the study.
1.8 Definition of Terms
Internet:
Internet is a global network of computers linked together over a large distance, Stains and Reynolds (1998) quoted in Agba (2001.p55).
Effect:
Is that which is produced by an agent or cause, the event which follows immediately from an antecedent, called the cause, result, consequence, outcome, as to speak with effect.
Nigerian:
Is a republic in West Africa on Gulf of Guinea gained. It gained its independence from the Britain in 1960; most populous African country (www.thefreedictionary.com/Nigeria).
Students:
A person engaged in study, one who is devoted to learning, a learner, a pupil, a scholar especially one who attends a school, or who seeks knowledge from professional teachers or from books as the students of an academy, a college, or a university (www.answer.com/topic/student).
It could also mean a learner who is enrolled in an educational institution (By Nkeiru Harry 2010).
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