Chapter 7: Summary, conclusion, and recommendations
3.8 Studies related to the information behaviour of high school learners
3.8.3 Studies done in Ghana
Although, literature available to the researcher depicts a lack of study on “Internet-based information behaviour of high school learners in Ghana”, there are related studies in Ghana that focus on learners’ Internet use, Internet accessibility and general information seeking behaviour of young people. For example, Borzekowski, Fobil and Asante (2006) investigated how adolescents in Accra, Ghana accessed the Internet. Their study revealed that two-thirds (66%) of the in-school youth (high school learners) and approximately half (54%) of the out-of-school youth (school dropouts) had previously used the Internet for information seeking. Of all these Internet users, more than half of them had sought Internet health information, and this percentage did not differ significantly by gender, age, ethnicity, or even school status. Learners, according to the study showed great interest, high levels of efficacy, and positive perceptions of online information; thus high levels of interest and confidence in finding information on the Internet were observed among learners who used the Internet in Accra, Ghana.
Markwei and Rasmussen (2015) investigated the everyday life information-seeking behaviour of marginalised youth among adolescents in Accra, Ghana through a qualitative study. The findings of their study revealed that the information needs of the homeless youth were mostly in relation to their basic needs following Maslow’s hierarchy of needs with their preferred information sources been mostly interpersonal and limited in range comparatively. The study further revealed that, the most important information-seeking behaviour of these marginalised youth was characterised by free sharing of information among their social network of friends.
Grimus (2015) and Grimus and Ebner (2016) conducted a study among high school learners in Keta Senior High Technical School, Keta - Ghana on how learners could access and incorporate the use of mobile devices into their learning. Learners, according to these studies perceived the use of mobile devices with Internet connectivity for learning as an additional value for cooperation
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in experiments and documentation of their study outcomes. The study further noted that, developing guidelines for appropriate usage of mobile device was important for implementation of mobile learning. Thus, developing guidelines with teachers and learners together would lead to better understanding of the relevant issues. These studies also observed that ownership of mobile devices had reached a sufficient range for integration in educational activities, since one third of learners owned a laptop with more than half of the learners having a mobile phone, most of them with media-enriched items.
A study conducted by Buabeng-Andoh and Issifu (2015) among learners from both public and private schools from four regions in Ghana showed that majority of learners (64%) used the Internet and other ICTs to communicate with peers more than other activities. It was found also that learners’ pedagogical use of the Internet and other ICTs was low. Learners’ low competence level in ICT usage was observed as a possible reason why learners rarely used the Internet and other ICTs to support their learning. Analysis of the study also showed that learners in public schools pedagogically used ICT more than learners in private schools with urban learners pedagogically using the Internet and other ICTs more than semi-urban and rural school learners.
Quaye (2013) investigated the sexual and reproductive health information seeking behaviour of 197 learners of the Labone senior high school in Accra, Ghana. The study showed that almost 63%
of learners had families serving as their dominant sources of information. For example, parents, especially mothers were the most information preferred sources (31 percent) for learners on their sexual and reproductive health informational needs. This was followed by the Internet (28%). The study further revealed that the informative nature and privacy of information sources were reasons that compelled learners to access a medium of information.
Similarly, a study conducted by Buami (2013) among 255 learners in Nima, Accra showed that almost half (49.8%) of learners accessed information from the Internet for their assignments, 35.7% used the Internet for communication and 5.9% retrieved news stories from the Internet. This attests to the fact that majority of learners were using the Internet for academic purposes.
118 3.9 Summary of the chapter
Chapter Three looked at empirical and theoretical literature which was mostly derived from academic studies in both developed and developing countries. The themes discussed in this chapter also reflect the research questions and the problem under investigation. The literature was therefore arranged systematically based on the research objectives and key research questions underpinning this study.
Key studies relating to the information behaviour of high school learners were reviewed and the literature reviewed showed that the Internet and other ICTs have become an integral part in education and serve as effective tools in providing access to information for both learners and instructors. It was observed that, for learners to use the Internet effectively for information seeking, they need skills, and librarians and teachers must be interested in developing learners Internet retrieval skills and competencies for them to use the Internet for information seeking activities effectively. Several findings from the literature also reported factors that hinder learners’ Internet- based information behaviour; among these are lack of Internet access, limited skill to use computers and the Internet, lack of qualified librarians, limited information literacy instructions and others.
The literature review also shows that only a few studies have been conducted on information behaviour of learners in Africa especially Ghana. A study on Internet-based information behaviour of high school learners in Ghana is therefore important since the findings of the study serve as additions to the body of knowledge on the topic. Discussions on the research methodology used to investigate the research problem of this study follows in Chapter Four.
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CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 4.1 Introduction
This chapter presents the research methodology and methods used to investigate the Internet-based information behaviour of high school learners. The chapter outlines the research paradigm, research approaches, and design of the study, as well as the population, sampling techniques, data collection methods, and instruments used for data analysis. The research instruments adopted for data collection were that of a questionnaire and interview due to the nature of the problem investigated. Validity and reliability of research methods were also considered and discussed. The analysis of quantitative data was done using SPSS and qualitative data analysis through thematic content analysis. How data for the current study were analysed as well as ethical considerations are also discussed in this chapter.