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Figure 5.2: Internet access time (N=322) Source: Field data (2017)
Figure 5.2 above shows the distribution of responses in terms of time of Internet access. As shown above, 42.2% (136) of the surveyed learners indicated they were able to access the Internet during school hours, 23.9% (77) of the respondents were able to access the Internet on weekends, 18%
(58) of the respondents were accessing the Internet after school hours, 14.3% (46) of them were able to access the Internet all the time and 1.6% (5) of the surveyed learners indicated they were accessing the Internet on other times. The other times as indicated by learners included during sports competitions as well as getting the chance to use a mobile phone. A surveyed learner highlighted the use of the mobile phone to “access the Internet at night”.
172 5.4.1 Internet information access purposes
The Internet like all other information communication mediums serves a myriad of purposes, including entertaining, educating, general awareness, and others. In this regard, this section sought from the respondents their purpose(s) of accessing the Internet for online information aside academic purposes. Responses from participants have been distributed on Table 5.11 below.
Table 5.11: Internet access purposes N=322
Internet access purpose Count Percent
Entertainment 203 63.0
Communication/ networking 149 46.3
News 76 23.6
General awareness 48 14.9
*Multiple responses received Source: Field data (2017)
In this section, respondents were able to select all applicable options for the question; hence, the total frequency is more than 322 and total percentage is above 100. The distribution of responses in terms of purposes of accessing Internet by the learners has been presented on Table 5.11 above.
As shown above, 203 of the learners representing 63% accessed online information on the Internet for the purposes of entertainment. Further, 149 (46.3%) of the surveyed learners indicated that their reason for accessing online information was for communication / networking; 76 of the participants representing 23.6% were accessing online information for News purposes; and 48 of the surveyed learners representing 14.9% mentioned that they were accessing online information for the purposes of general awareness.
5.4.2 Accessing online information on the Internet for academic purposes by learners The Internet has become one of the efficient and reliable mediums for accessing literature and academic related information. As a result, this section sought from the respondents their purposes of accessing online information on Internet for academic work.
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Table 5.12: Internet use for academic purposes N=322
Internet access for academic purpose
Count Percent
Class assignment 157 48.8
Class test 78 24.2
Examination 86 26.7
Information literacy skills 110 34.2
Research project 85 26.4
Past questions 10 3.1
Laboratory test / practical 21 6.5
*Multiple responses received Source: Field data (2017)
In this section, respondents were able to select all applicable options for the question; hence, the total frequency is more than 322 and total percentage is above 100. Table 5.12 above shows the distribution of respondents in terms of Internet use for academic purposes. From the Table 5.12, 157 of the respondents representing 48.8% accessed online information on the Internet for class assignment, while 110 of the participants representing 34.2% used the Internet for Information Literacy Skills; and 86 of the participants, representing 26.7% were accessing online information for examination. Additionally, 85 of them representing 26.4% accessed online information for research project; 78 of the participants representing 24.2% accessed online information for class test; 21 of the participants, representing 6.5% used the Internet for laboratory practical or test; and 10 of the participants representing 3.1% used the Internet to access past examination questions.
5.4.3 Access to subject portal
The Internet is accessible to everyone and most times does not restrict people from sharing information. As a result, some information on the Internet may be less important and misleading.
It is based on this that the researcher sought from participants if their schools are having a subject portal. A subject portal is a website which has an entry point to other websites for accessing a collection of high quality, evaluated resources for a particular subject. Figure 5.3 distributes the responses of participants.
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Figure 5 3: Subject Portal (N=322)
Source: Field data (2017)
Figure 5.3 distributes learners’ accessibility to subject portal at their respective schools. The results from the learners show that 96.9% (312) of the learners had no access to a subject portal at their school and the remaining 3% (10) indicated they had access to a subject portal at their school.
5.4.4 File transfer
This section sought from the learners if they were required by their tutors to transfer files via email or electronically. Responses from the learners have been shown on Figure 5.4.
3.0% (10)Yes
96.9% (312)No
Yes No
175
Figure 5.4: File Transfer (N=322) Source: Field data (2017)
Figure 5.4 above shows a distribution of responses from the learners on whether they were sending files or some of their academic works to their teachers electronically. Reading from the Figure 5.4, 67.1% (216) of the participants indicated they were not required by their teachers to send academic works electronically and the remaining 32.9% (106) had been transferring files or some academic works to their teachers electronically.
5.4.5 Email addresses
An email address helps learners and other individuals to send messages and attach documents or files. Besides, it helps learners to have official and effective online communication with their colleagues and teachers. This section therefore sought from the learners if they had email addresses.
32.9% (106)YES
67.1% (216)NO
Yes No
176
Figure 5.5: Email addresses (N-322) Source: Field data (2017)
Figure 5.5 above shows the distribution of responses in terms of possession of an email address.
As shown above, 84.8% (273) of the learners had email addresses and the remaining 15.2% (49) of the learners indicated they were not having an email address. Most learners who did not have email addresses indicated that they were yet to create an email address; others also indicated that, they seemed not to have many activities to undertake with having an email address.
5.4.6 Email communication with teachers
In this section, respondents who indicated ‘Yes’ to the previous question regarding possession of email address were asked to indicate whether they were having email communication with their teachers. Figure 5.6 distributes respondent’s responses.
84.8% (273)
15.2% (49) 0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Yes No
Percentage
Possession of e-mail address
177
Figure 5.6: Email Communication with Teachers (N=273) Source: Field data (2017)
From Figure 5.6 above, 65.9% (180) of the 273 respondents who had email addresses indicated
‘No’ as an answer to whether they were communicating via email with their teachers; and the remaining 34.0% (93) responded ‘Yes’ to establish that they were communicating with their teachers through email.