The Effect of Internet on Essay Writing of Senior Secondary School Students, in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State
CHAPTER ONE
Objective of the study
the objective of the study is to investigate the effect of Internet on essay writing of senior secondary school students in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State. The specific objectives are ;
- To examine the various internset networks available to senior secondary school students in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State.
- To find out the level of Senior secondry School students’ participation in the various internet networks.
- To find out the effect of internet on students’ essay writing.
CHAPTER TWO
REBVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Concept of Social Media
Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) defined social media as a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web, and that allow the creation and exchange of user generated content. Merriam-Webster (1961) also defines social media as forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and micro blogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos).
In the views of Boyd and Ellison (2007), social networking sites are web-based services that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. Helou and Rahim (2010) also define online social networks (OSNs) “as virtual communities which allow people to connect and interact with each other on a particular subject or to just hang out together online. Social media sites around the globe provide users with a number of options to interact with each other through entertainment, chats, gossips, and games. Through these social network platforms students are able to meet to interact with each other on various topics and interests.
Davis et al. (2012), refer to social media technology (SMT) as “web based and mobile applications that allow individuals and organizations to create, engage, and share new user generated or existing content in digital environments through multi-way communication. Popular social network platforms on mobile and web applications include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, snap chat, Google Plus among others (Davis et al., 2012). These platforms have specific roles, functions and modes of communication although their functions are mostly related. This relates to the definition by Kaplan and Haenlein (2010), who view Social media as a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content. Ayiah and Kumah (2011) summed up the definition of social network as a web platform where people from different settings can connect and interact with each other. A critical look at the research conducted on Social Network sites, reveals certain information which is crucial to issues regarding social media sites. Boyd and Ellison (2006) further define social networking sites as having three common elements: a member profile (in their definition this is always a web page); the ability to add other members to a contact list (the names of your contacts vary – they might be called friends or buddies, for example); and supported interaction between members of contact lists (interaction varies greatly, and there will typically be some degree of interaction facilitated between people who are not named contacts). They further opine that the most popular dedicated social network sites in the UK are MySpace, Facebook and Bebo. These types of SNS are profile focused – activity centers on web pages that contain information about the activities, interests and likes (and dislikes) of each member (Boyd & Ellison, 2006). Researchers argue that the impact of social media relies on the fact that they employ mobile and web-based technologies to create highly interactive platforms via which individuals and communities share, create and co-create, discuss, and modify user generated Content (Ahlqvist, 2008). Piskorski (2011) argues that the secret of successful ones and here he refers to the business rather than the social success-is that they allow people to fulfill social needs that either cannot be met offline or can be met only at much greater cost. This insight provides another perspective on social media: it does help not only social communication, but also the business world. It implies that companies can leverage social platforms to create a sustainable competitive advantage. Companies need to help people interact with each other before they will promote products to their friends or help companies in other ways.
From the definitions given by various scholars, it can be observed that two key basic things run through all their definitions: social media being electronic or online or web-based system and that it connects people and enables them to share contents or resources and interact with one another
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH DESIGN
The study design was descriptive survey. The sole purpose of descriptive research is to provide an accurate and valid representation of the factors or variables that are relevant to the research question (Amedahe, 2002).Descriptive survey research is helpful in indicating trends in attitudes and behaviors and enables generalization of the findings of the research study to be done (Neuman, 2000). Gay (cited in Oppong, 2009) contends that the descriptive design befits educational investigations including evaluation or assessment of attitudes, opinions, demographic information, conditions and procedures. Therefore, the descriptive survey will be an appropriate design for the exploration of the The effect of Internet on essay writing of senior secondary school students.
According to Fink (cited in Oppong, 2009), the design also enables the researcher to describe, observe and document aspects of a situation as it naturally occurs rather than explaining it. It enables the researcher to produce a good amount of responses from a wide range of people. Several writers (Sarantakos, 1998; Creswell, 2002) point out that, data gathered with such a design provides a more accurate picture of events and seeks to explain people’s perception and behaviour on the basis of data gathered at a point in time. Despite the merits of the descriptive survey, Kelley, Clark, Brown and Sitzia (2003), pointed out some demerits associated with its use. These include the danger that the significance of the data can become neglected. This, according to them, happens if the researcher focuses too much on the range of coverage to the exclusion of an adequate account of the implications of those data for relevant issues, problems, or theories. Also, descriptive survey may delve into the private affairs of respondents and therefore create the likelihood of generating unreliable responses and difficulty in assessing the clarity and precision of questions that elicit the desired responses (Fraenkel & Wallen, 2000).
CHAPTER FOUR
Results and Discussion
The background characteristics considered in this study were gender and age. Frequency and percentages were the analytical tools used for the background characteristics as shown in tables 1 and 2.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
CONCLUSION
The researchers observed that Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Imo, Twitter and Viber are the various internet networks available to students. It is worth mentioning here that there is a high level of students’ participation in internet networks in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State. Evidently, majority of them agreed that they often visit social media sites, they have used social media network for more than six months and they often get surprised by how much time they have spent on social media. Finally, we conclude that social media networks have affected students’ academic writing by; making students to pay little attention to the use of punctuation marks just as they do in social media communications, making students subconsciously use shorthand in their writing and making students to subconsciously or unintentionally use jargons or slangs in their writing. Other effects of social media networks on students’ academic writing were tallied as; students’ poor essay writing habit is partly due to the introduction of social networks rather than the writing of letters and students’ poor performance in essay writing can partly be attributed to social media network usage
RECOMMENDATION
The study recommends that Parents should be more vigilant on their wards in order to monitor their use of phones and other electronic devices so that they can limit or regulate the time their wards spend on the various social media sites. Also, teachers should be more vigilant on their students in order to monitor their use of phones and other electronic devices so that they can limit or regulate the time their wards spend on the various social media sites. Secondly, Heads of Senior secondary Schools should organise regular mass education or talks in all Senior secondary Schools in the country. Such talks should be based on the negative effects of internet on students’ academic work. This awareness will help students use social media sites responsibly and positively. In addition, English Language teachers should be critical on students’ writing and should encourage students to read over these writings. Defaulters should be punished accordingly.
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