THE INFLUENCE OF THE INTERNET ON INFORMATION ACQUISITION AMONG STUDENTS OF BAYERO UNIVERSITY, KANO

By

Author

Presented To

Department of Arts

ABSTRACT

The use of the Internet in education is gradually gaining prominence in our higher educational institutions. As students are active users of the Internet, it is believed that they utilize the Internet for their academic pursuit. This study explores and investigates the Influence of the Internet on Information Acquisition among Students of Bayero University, Kano during the 2012-2013 Academic Session. However, as the Internet is seen to be a somewhat troublesome media, Social Cognitive Theory underpinned this study giving prominence in understanding how students can self-regulate the use of new media especially the Internet and perform a particular cause of action at a time. Furthermore, the study investigated the extent to which the Internet influences the students of Bayero University, Kano and what use the information from the Internet is put to. The qualitative and quantitative research methods were used in gathering data and conclusions for this study based on frequencies and their equivalent percentages. The sample size for this study was 376, out of which 47 respondents were drawn non-proportionally from 8 sampled departments. Data collected shows that most students have frequent access to the Internet but via Cyber cafes in the institution. Different purposes informed their respective use of the Internet with the greatest number using the Internet for academic purposes. On this basis, the study recommends that universities should provide adequate Internet facilities and an enabling study environment for students at Universities.