Exploring Senior Secondary Students’ Internet Use Pattern

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate senior secondary students’ Internet use pattern. The study was meant to determine the purpose to which students make use of the Internet, how often they use Internet and how do they search information on the Internet. A close ended questionnaire was designed and distributed to 220 students (140 male students and 80 female students) selected randomly from a sample of 2200 students of class XI and XII enrolled in two senior secondary schools affiliated to Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. The study found that majority of the students (83%) use Internet. Most of the students learned Internet usage skills from their family, relatives and friends. Majority of students make use of the Internet everyday. Students mostly use Internet for entertainment purpose. However, some students use Internet for completing their assignments, projects and school work. Social Networking is found as the most preferred Internet service among students. The study revealed that majority of the respondents preferred Internet when they need information, whereas only 23.12 percent respondents preferred to visit library for getting required Information. The findings of the study have important implications for school authorities and librarians. Librarians should create awareness and provide training programmes for maximizing the use of Internet for education and learning purposes.