1. FACULTY OF EDUCATIONS AND LANGUAGES OUMH1103
FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND LANGUAGES
OUMH1103
LEARNING SKILLS FOR OPEN DISTANCE LEARNERS
THE BENEFITS AND DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS OF INTERNET ON STUDENTS
Name : WAN ZAKARIA BIN WAN ROSLI
Matric number : 781028135033001
NRIC : 781028-13-5033
Telephone number : 019-8195296
E-mail address : wwzack78@yahoo.com
wwzack78@oum.edu.my
Tutor’s name: EDMUND ROBERTSON LINANG
Learning Centre:
SEPTEMBER 2012 Semester
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2. FACULTY OF EDUCATIONS AND LANGUAGES OUMH1103
TABLE OF CONTENTS
NUM TOPICS PAGES
1.0 INTRODUCTION 3 - 4
2.0 BENEFITS AND DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS OF INTERNET ON
STUDENTS
2.1 BENEFITS OF INTERNET ON
STUDENTS
2.1.1 The Internet is a universal digital library
2.1.2 The Internet is a fast way to reach
Knowledge
2.1.3 The Internet is vital to enhancing
exchanging cultures
2.1.4 It is exciting to get information on the Internet
2.1.5 It is enjoyable to communicate on the
Internet
2.2 DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS OF
INTERNET ON STUDENTS
2.2.1 Internet causes students to be far away from real
life
2.2.2 Internet includes unnecessary, non-useful
knowledge for students
2.2.3 Internet is full of scam and lies
2.2.4 Internet forces students to be alone
2.2.5 Internet creates addiction
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
3.0 SUGGESTIONS 12
4.0 CONCLUSION 13
5.0 REFERENCES 14
1.0 INTRODUCTION
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3. FACULTY OF EDUCATIONS AND LANGUAGES OUMH1103
In this year, 2012, the Internet is becoming even more popular among people of all
walks of life. The Internet is part of our modern daily life. People tend to communicate more
on the Internet, as depicted in most mass media.
It is actually hard to imagine life without Internet. According to an article “Malaysia
on Track to Achieving 50% Broadband Penetration by Year End” by Bernama on 12 March
2010, as of early 2010, Malaysia has 16.9 million Internet users, 30.4 million cell phone users
and 7.4 million 3G subscribers. According to Malaysian Communications and Multimedia
Commissions (MCMC/SKMM – Suruhanjaya Kominikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia)
chairman Khalid Ramli, 33.2% or 2.07 million Malaysian households had broadband as of
the programme's launch.
To begin with, one may look at the definition of Internet. As searched in Google,
“Internet definition” has come out with this definition: an international computer network
providing e-mail and information from computers in educational institutions, government
agencies, and so forth. As the saying goes, everything will have its own benefits and
detrimental effects.
Again, as searched in Google, “benefits definition” has come out with this definition:
an advantage or profit gained from something. “Detrimental definition” has come out with
this definition: tending to cause harm. “Effects definition” has come out with this definition:
a change that is a result or consequence of an action or other cause. And finally, “students
definition” has come out with this definition: a person or people studying at a school or
college.
Students in Malaysia are now famous for being given the 1Malaysia laptop from the
government as part of the National Broadband Initiative (NBI). Wikipedia has reported that:
“Malaysia’s NBI is a government programme designed to make high-speed Internet
accessible and affordable to the country’s citizens, with a special emphasis on rural areas,
children and the poor.
The public-private partnership, announced by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on
March 24, 2010, combines the efforts of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia
Commissions and Telekom Malaysia (TM).”
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Other than the 1Malaysia laptop programme, there has been numerous other
programmes such as special prepaid broadband service and special broadband for civil
servants offered by various telecommunications companies in the country. All of these have
brought a big impact on people of all walks of life, especially students in schools and
colleges.
Nowadays, most schools and colleges are offering free wireless connections. Students
may bring their own laptops and use these connections to surf the Internet. In this report, it
will focus on the benefits and detrimental effects of Internet among students. Some
suggestions on how to reduce the detrimental effects of Internet usage among students will
also be discussed.
2.0 BENEFITS AND DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS OF INTERNET ON
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STUDENTS
The Interned can be regarded as a tool or a resource. That tool or resource can bring
benefits. It may also bring up detrimental effects.
2.1 BENEFITS OF INTERNET ON STUDENTS
Modern society depends on the internet because of its ease of use. While some may
find it might not benefit them, most would agree that Internet is actually a modern wonder or
a miracle that can make life easier. The benefits of the Internet are as follows:
2.1.1 The Internet is a universal digital library
Once upon a time, students tend to do their revision in a library. The Internet has
become a place, a universal digital library (Isman et. al., 2004). The Internet is a separable
part of today’s educational system. (Safdar, M. et. al., 2010). People depend on the Internet,
so as students – students increasingly depend on the Internet, mainly for a variety educational
purpose, including the Internet itself acting as a universal library.
A majority of academic and research institutions provide Internet service to students,
teachers, and researchers (Kaur, 2008). In these recent years, use of the Internet has also
increased in most schools. Policymakers have given priority to invest in information and
communications infrastructure in schools, colleges and universities. The infrastructures act as
access points into the digital library.
The Internet as a library is a big advantage because students can access the
library anytime they want, without the time restrictions that traditional library has. This is a
big benefit because students have their own learning styles and learning time. Students may
visit this universal digital library with their friends, or with their teachers, or even with the
guidance of their parents.
This could be assisting our students to become an independent learners and life-long
leaners. Visiting the real libraries can be fun, and visiting this universal digital library can be
fun and beneficial too. After all, reading is a good and very beneficial hobby.
2.1.2 The Internet is a fast way to reach knowledge
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The Internet is the fastest way to reach knowledge (Isman et. al., 2004). Internet
is growing well around the world. It is impossible to count the number of networks which are
linked to the Internet – and as the number keep on increasing (Sturges, 2002). The Internet is
definitely a fast way to reach knowledge. One simply cannot depend on their teachers and
lecturers all the time. The Internet can be accessed anytime and anywhere, thus providing a
fast and easy way to reach knowledge.
According to Jones (2002), College students and their teachers find the Internet
convenient and useful for educational activities. Students are a unique population of internet
users. It was recorded that students was the first group in USA who used the Internet for
communication, recreation and file sharing (Jones, 2002). The Internet is definitely the fastest
way to reach knowledge – it has become our learning buddies, and even our teachers, because
it can provide knowledge.
2.1.3 The Internet is vital to enhancing exchanging cultures
The Internet is important to enhancing cultures exchange (Isman et. al., 2004) as
we live in a big multi-cultural world. Students were exposed to their own cultures and the
cultures of societies around them.
With the use of the Internet, students can learn other cultures from all around the
world. We are never too old to learn something. We may even regard that we have a good
culture, but we as learners can always learn something new from other cultures as well.
The Internet may provide us with the tools to learn new cultures. We need not
travel to a place far away just to learn new cultures and new things. This is another big
benefit. Apart from learning new good cultures, we can save money and time on the process
of learning the new good cultures.
2.1.4 It is exciting to get information on the Internet
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The Internet itself is an interesting way on getting information (Isman et. al.,
2004). This benefits our multiple personality students. All of the students will find out that it
is exciting to get information from the Internet and it is a very interesting way to get
information – compared to the traditional lectures, textbooks or chalk-and-talk methods.
This can actually benefits both the students and the teachers. Students are more
engaged if the teachers can provide them with a more exciting, interesting and enjoyable
methods of getting information. Then, the teachers may ask the students to submit their
homeworks via the Internet. This is both exciting and beneficial for both parties – students
and teachers.
The natural way of interactive communicating on the Internet is exciting to all
users, especially students. Students may read and respond, for example by commenting on
articles read. Students may also engage on writing or a photography contests on the Internet.
All of these activities potentially lead to an exciting interaction on the Internet.
According to a research by Isman et. al. (2004), majority of students in his
research samples took help from their friends for solving problems in using the Internet. This
proves that one can get information and help, provided he or she has a connection into the
Internet world.
In addition, according to the research, most participants stated that they are using
the Internet to update their knowledge. This is a very exciting way to learn and upgrade
ourselves. Good students can leap forward by themselves in terms of getting enough
information on their current studies. It can bring no harm if we would like to increase our
mastery level of our desired field of knowledge.
2.1.5 It is enjoyable to communicate on the Internet
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8. FACULTY OF EDUCATIONS AND LANGUAGES OUMH1103
The Internet can be an enjoyable communication medium (Isman et. al., 2004).
The Internet has a seductive power to lure people to engage and communicate using it (Sato,
T., 2006). Some scientists labelled humans as “social animals”. That can be paraphrased into
us humans as social beings. We are socially active and we are socializing every single day
simply because that is our deep nature. We communicate because communicating among us
is enjoyable.
The Internet has made it more enjoyable for us to communicate. People from all
walks of life are using You Tube, My Space, Friendster, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, Facebook and
Twitter to communicate. We may communicate face to face, but sometimes, we tend to
communicate via the Internet because it is more enjoyable (Isman et. al., 2004). There are
certain things such as elaborate homeworks, notes or digital photography that we cannot
share and communicate face to face. The Internet medium makes it easy, fast and enjoyable.
Students may communicate with their peers, as depicted in most learning channels in
Astro. Students may also communicate with their teachers via e-mails. Some teachers offer
tuition via e-mails. Perhaps this is enjoyable for both students and teachers.
2.2DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS OF INTERNET ON STUDENTS
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9. FACULTY OF EDUCATIONS AND LANGUAGES OUMH1103
Students who are using and dependent on the Internet may found themselves affected
by the detrimental effects of the Internet. Those detrimental effects are as follows:
2.2.1 Internet causes students to be far away from real life
The Internet has causes students to be far away from their real life (Isman et. al.,
2004). A real life needs real communication. Sometimes, when a student highly depends on
the Internet, he or she can only communicate via the Internet. This is totally not right with our
natural face to face communication. Real life needs a proper communication where we sit and
talk to our friends, teachers and family members. This detrimental effect may bring harm to
our own social skills.
While the Internet may be a source or a coach in guiding us to lead a real life, it
may trap us into the unknown. For example, real life needs us to complete real assignments.
The Internet has made it possible for some students to commit plagiarism in their assignments
(Scanlon & Neumann, 2002).
Most students in a study by Scanlon and Neumann (2002) agreed that plagiarism
of any kind is wrong. However, the Internet seems to cause them to drift away from real life
and real hard work. The ease of getting bits of information has led some students to be
copycats.
2.2.2 Internet includes unnecessary, non-useful knowledge for
Students
Internet is a big wide place. The Internet includes too much unnecessary and
non-useful knowledge for the learning community (Isman et. al., 2004). Students who cannot
control themselves might end up reading things that are not related to their studies.
Study matters might be boring at certain times, and young learners are very
quick in losing focus in their studies. It can be said that they may get lost in all of the
revisions that they are doing in the Internet – a universal digital library.
2.2.3 Internet is full of scam and lies
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10. FACULTY OF EDUCATIONS AND LANGUAGES OUMH1103
The Internet can be full of lies (Isman et. al., 2004). Some information can be a
bit misleading while some needs more thorough investigation and research.
It is a sad moment when some business transaction over the Internet is just a
scam. Some students might want to buy a book on the Internet. While most transactions are
valid, there might be liars and scammers in the Internet. Most victims would be the students –
young learners who are just trying to learn about the real world.
Some students might get the wrong message here – they might come to think
that to make easy money on the Internet is by tricking other Internet users. This is a huge
detrimental effect. And it looks like a domino effect. A proper guidance might be needed in
such transactions over the Internet – as sometimes even the experts can be tricked and
scammed.
Not all information on the Internet is reliable or safe (Safdar, M. et. al., 2010). Sturges
(2002) mentioned the unreliability of information on the Internet. There are not necessarily
quality or authenticity checks on information on the Internet (Safdar, M. et. al., 2010).
Misrepresented, fake, and pirated literature causes problems for researchers and
students (Safdar, M. et. al., 2010), which is very sad indeed. Users, especially students may
have privacy concerns. There are sites that many users may find offensive, as well as
instructions for carrying out violent or illegal acts (Safdar, M. et. al., 2010). These are
definitely dangerous and detrimental.
2.2.4 Internet forces students to be alone
The Internet and the usage of the Internet may force students to be alone (Isman
et. al., 2004). This is a very frightening notion. Students can be, physically, alone when using
or too depending on the Internet. Some students might not realize this because they are too
dependent on the Internet. Their online friends might make them into thinking that they are
just fine, when in fact, they are very alone just with their laptops and the Internet.
The Internet is supposed to be the additional curricular activities. However, those
students and teachers who are sometimes highly dependent on the Internet may find
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themselves forced to be alone. This is what is happening around us – our real life activities
being substituted by online activities.
A go-home Internet homework may be completed excellently, but we might be
missing the social and humane points here. While technology assists and helps us in our daily
life, we must try to understand and balance our social needs. This is to ensure our general
physical and mental health.
2.2.5 Internet creates addiction
All in all, one of the biggest detrimental effects on students is that it creates
addiction (Isman et. al., 2004). The ever grooving of information and communication
technology has shaped a new generation of youngsters who are very dependent on the
Internet. While it is okay and it is right to be dependent on the Internet, it is not okay to be
highly addicted to the Internet.
According to Sato (2006), the explosive growth of the Internet in the last decade
has had a huge impact on communication and interpersonal behaviour. In his rather serious
research, the authority has had a difficult time in addressing this particular detrimental effect
of the Internet.
3.0 SUGGESTIONS
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12. FACULTY OF EDUCATIONS AND LANGUAGES OUMH1103
This report dwells in the theme of good versus evil. While the Internet may have
detrimental effects, it is all on us that make it beneficial or the other way around. It surely can
bring more good than harm, provided we try to understand the system first.
On the positive side, the Internet has many benefits. One of the biggest benefits is the
Internet is a big universal digital library. As a first suggestion in this report, the policymakers,
the authorities or the teachers should provide a library-like Internet facility that can be
accessed by the students.
Some students might not have a portable laptop, some might not have a personal
computer, and most might not have a proper and stable Internet connection. This facility can
be a new learning playground for the students. The facility should be monitored and
maintained by a group of experts to make sure the proper and full use of it. It should also
have wireless connections for students that already have their own laptops.
Another suggestion that can be reported here is that the policymakers and the
authorities may design a special programme that can help students keep track and organize
their own learning needs. This is similar to the usage of text books, files, note books, exercise
books and so forth, but organised into one software that is easy to use and utilize. Certain
countries and states have begun their own trials and usage – all are for the benefits of the
future generations.
Parents can play a very big role here. They can be the educators for their children. In
fact, most people believe that education starts from home, thus, parents must try to bring up
the appropriate hardware to enable their children learn and fully use the Internet at an earlier
age.
Parents must show a good example for their children to follow. Parents must also be
responsible to educate and guide their children in using the Internet. A proper checking and
monitoring must be made, in order to keep their children safe and protected from abusing the
Internet. In addition, this could tie the bonds between family units. This activity of surfing
and learning from the Internet can benefit the whole family unit.
4.0 CONCLUSION
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The Internet and computers have changed the manner all of us react to the world.
When we need the Internet, we must be focused on what we want to achieve. As adults or
teachers, one needs to guide young learners and students the proper etiquette and values in
using the Internet – a universal digital world. The Internet is a good place if we treat it in a
good manner.
5.0 REFERENCES
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Isman, A. & Dabaj, F. (2004). Attitudes of Students Towards Internet. The Turkish Online
Journal of
Distance Education, 5 (4).
Jones, S. (2002). The Internet goes to college: How students are living in the future with
today's technology. Retrieved November 01, 2012, from http://www.great-web-design-
tips.com/web-site-design-150.html
Kaur, A. Internet use for entertainment and information. Retrieved November 1, 2012, from
http://www.zonalatina.com/Z1data129.htm
Safdar, M., Mahmood, K. & Qutab, S. (2010). Internet Use Behaviour and Attitude of
College Students: a Survey of Leadership Colleges’ Network. Library Philosophy and
Practice, Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Sato, T. (2006). Internet Addiction among Students: Prevalence and Psychological Problems
in Japan. Japan Medical Association Journal, 49 (7).
Scanlon, P. M. & Neumann, D. R. (2002). Internet Plagiarism among College Students.
Journal of College Student Development, 43 (3).
Sturges, P. (2002). Public Internet access in libraries and information services. London:
Facet.
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