Impact of Internet Usage on the Academic Performance ofUndergraduates in Rajarata University of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Nowadays, the internet has gained a significant place in the field of education. The internet is one of the main resources for information. Through the internet, information can be disseminated and retrieve from any location regardless of the political and geographical boundary. The ease of the internet encourages institutions of higher learningto employ the internet to support students’ learning. This study aims to investigate the impact of internet usage on the academic performance of undergraduates because internet usage has deeply penetrated the academicians for their academic activities. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 174 respondents by using a simple random sampling technique. With the literature evidence, frequency of internet use, preferred location of internet use, academic-oriented internet utilization, social-oriented internet utilization, recreational oriented internet utilization and their views regarding the usage of internet have been tested with the student academic performance. Descriptive statistics,Correlation analysis and Multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the collected data. Consequently, the findings revealed that internet use for academic purpose and internet use for social purpose has a positive significant impact on academic performance.Meanwhile, the frequency of internet use and internet use for recreational purposes have no significant impact on academic performance. The findings of this study would help decision-makers in the education sector in numerous ways. K