Vol. 10(3), pp.
30-36, July-December 2019
DOI: 10.5897/IJSTER2018.0441
Article Number: FD94CA062066
ISSN 2141-6559
Copyright © 2019 International Journal of Science and Technology
Author(s) retain the copyright of this article
[Link] Educational Research
Full Length Research Paper
Utilization of the internet by undergraduate students of
the University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Olateju Jumoke Ajanaku
Department of Information Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Received 10 August, 2018; Accepted 28 September, 2018
The internet technology over the past few decades has become an important tool in higher education
for learning, teaching and research. The study investigated the internet activities engaged in, frequency
of use of the internet and challenges limiting the use of the internet among the undergraduate students
of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. A survey research design was adopted. A close-ended
questionnaire was used to collect data from 300 undergraduate students. Findings were analysed using
descriptive statistics and the result indicated that the respondents had good computer skills and used
the internet for various activities which vary across faculty of study. The respondents were dissatisfied
with the high cost of accessing the internet and inadequate internet facilities. The major
recommendation of the study is the provision of basic internet training for the students; equipping the
university with adequate internet facilities; regular power supply and free internet access to all
university students.
Key words: Utilization of internet, undergraduate students, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
INTRODUCTION
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) of the world population today and has become the best,
especially the internet has been ushering in a new age in largest and most useful encyclopaedia of information.
the information society and has become the potent force The internet has a far larger and serious impact on our
for transforming social, economic and political life globally society than the introduction of television, greater than
(Gurumurthy, 2004). The internet is a series of the influence of the industrial revolution or the printing
technologies with varying meanings for users around the press (Ebersole 1999, 2000). The internet over the past
globe. However, Lebow (1995: 36) defined the internet as few decades has thus become an important technological
“a global network of linked computers that enables tool in the production, marketing and use of information
people to share and exchange information”. The internet worldwide. It has given a new approach to education
is not only a conduit for many innovations, but it is also where students are no longer dependent on their
dependent on other technologies and infrastructures to teachers and school libraries as their only source of
be in place such as computers and mobile phones information. A major cursory observation shows that the
(Putnam and Kolko, 2010). internet is a major means of communication and
The internet has become a necessity to a large portion information among students of higher institutions.
E-mail: tejlad@[Link].
Author(s) agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License 4.0 International License
Ajanaku 31
Specifically, the internet is an invaluable tool being used to face program students of Indira Gandhi National Open
in higher education for information access, learning, University, India. The study revealed majority of the
teaching research and development, as a communication respondents use the internet for academic purposes and
medium, and for teaching and learning (Brändström, social networking. The respondents also reported that the
2011). However, there are also many drawbacks in terms internet improved their professional competence and
of access and use by the students. improved their research process.
The higher education sector in developing countries A review of literature shows several other studies in
such as Nigeria is imperative in improving economic and Africa that have established a high degree of internet use
social status of such countries. Therefore, in the present among university students and inadequate internet
knowledge economy, seamless information access by the access. A study by Badu and Markwei (2005) on
students is a major key to academic improvement in the awareness and use of the internet at the University of
universities. Globally, different studies have been carried Ghana showed that the students were aware and use the
out on students’ use of the internet which depends on internet. The results showed that e-mail was the
various associated factors such as the available internet commonly used internet service followed by information
facilities, purposes and students’ skills (Fasae and search.
Aladeniyi, 2012). In Nigeria, Anasi (2006) highlighted that the low pattern
of internet use among undergraduates’ students from the
Faculties of Education and Law at the University of
REVIEW OF LITERATURE Lagos. Furthermore, the study revealed that though most
of the students browsed the internet, many of them
The review of literature discussed here were identified lacked search strategies skills even though their Internet
following a search on scholarly databases and search use had very high impact on their academic or career
engines such as Library and Information Science related activities. Olufemi (2006) in the investigation of
Abstract (LISA), EBSCO host, Google Scholar, Emerald internet use among undergraduate students of Obafemi
Insight, Wiley Online Library, Science Direct, google, etc. Awolowo University, Nigeria reported a high level of use
Scholarly databases were used in this study since it of the internet and their major access was through the
contains peer reviewed and current researches about commercial cybercafés where they paid for access time.
internet use by students while search engine such as The study also showed that problems experienced by the
google was also used to capture literature that are peer students when using the internet include slowness of the
reviewed and published on open source journals. The server and high payment of the access to the internet.
review of literature is obtained from both print and Similarly, Awoleye et al. (2008) examined the level of
electronic resources and material selection was based penetration of internet usage among undergraduate
upon the relevancy to the objectives of the study. students of Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria
reported that the students had high level of internet
usage and use the internet mostly for email, information
Previous studies on internet use by students research and online-chat.
Mishra (2009) studied the use of internet at the
Parameshwar and Patil (2009) investigated the use of the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. The findings showed
internet by faculty and research scholars at Gulbarga that 74.6% of the students using the internet for research
University’s library in India. The study revealed that the and academic purposes; and concluded that necessary
challenges faced included downloading problems, facilities should be put in place for faculty and students to
information overload and finding relevant information. As make optimal use of information resources available on
part of the “PEW Internet Life Project”, Jones et al. (2007) the internet. Furthermore, Ani (2010) in his study which
examined a sample of 7421 undergraduate students examined the extent and level of internet access in
across the United States. Parameshwar and Patil (2009) Nigerian universities submitted that undergraduate
revealed that the students reported using the internet for students extensively use the internet. However, majority
academic purposes and the internet had positively of the respondents indicated that they relied on
impacted their academic lives. commercial internet services and cybercafés due to poor
A study conducted by Patel and Darbar (2016) on internet infrastructure in the university. The results
internet usage among students of CK Shah Vijapurwala showed that most of the students use the internet for
Institute of Management Library, India revealed 100% of academic purposes.
the respondents use the internet and majorly for their Adekunmisi et al. (2013) in their study on the internet
studies and social networking. More than half of the access and usage by undergraduate students of Olabisi
students were satisfied with the WIFI access on their Onabanjo University, Nigeria indicated that majority of the
campus and a major problem to internet use is the low respondents had access to the internet. The students
speed internet connectivity. Similarly, Kumar (2017) using accessed internet facilities from the privately-owned
a survey studied the internet access and use among face cybercafés in town despite the fact that the university
32 Int. J. Sci. Technol. Educ. Res.
Table 1. Gender of respondents.
Gender Frequency Percent
Male 151 50.3
Female 149 49.7
Total 300 100
grossly lacks internet facilities. Furthermore, the students two experts. The pilot study was conducted on 30 undergraduate
use the internet mostly for emails, academic purpose and students of The Polytechnic, Ibadan. Reliability of the questionnaire
was measured using the Cronbach’s coefficient alpha with value of
getting information while the high cost of browsing, slow 0.87.
internet access speed, power outage and few internet Data was collected from 350 undergraduate students in the
facilities are challenges identified as impediments to University of Ibadan during academic session. The researcher
internet by the students. personally distributed the questionnaires with the help of a research
A review of related literature shows that there have assistant. Out of the 350 questionnaires that were distributed, 50
been many studies on internet use globally and most of questionnaires had incomplete responses and were discarded.
Thus, 300 questionnaires were usable. The generated data was
them reached a consensus that internet usage is most analysed by using SPSS Statistics 22.0.
prevalent among university students’, but no in-depth
study has been reported on the use of internet in the
university under study. Therefore, this study was carried
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTEPRETATION
out to ascertain internet use in the selected university in
Southwest Nigeria.
Gender of respondents
The result as presented in Table 1 shows that 50.3% of
Research objectives
the male and 49.7% of female respondents participated
in the study. This result specified that there were more
The aim of the study is to investigate the use of the
male internet users than female users in the sample
internet among the undergraduate students of the
studied.
University of Ibadan.
The specific objectives of the study were:
(1) To identify the computer and internet skills of Age of respondents
undergraduate students.
(2) To find out the type of internet access the The respondents’ age range was distributed from
+
undergraduate students use in connecting to the internet. ≤18years to 36 years as shown in Table 2. The result
(3) To find out the frequency and duration of internet use revealed that the majority (47%) of the respondents’ age
among the undergraduate students. were 19 to 24 years old followed by the respondents
(4) To analyse the on-line activities engaged in by the (34%) in the age range of 25 to 30 years old. Only 1% of
+
undergraduate students through the internet. the respondents’ age were 36 years old. According to
(5) To recognize the challenges encountered by Recchiutti (2003), age is an imperative demographic
undergraduate students in internet usage. variable in studies on the internet use.
METHODOLOGY Computer and internet skills
A survey research design was used to achieve the purpose of the Computer literacy is very important for the optimal use of
study. The targeted population of the study was the undergraduate internet services (Okello-Obura and Magara, 2008). The
students of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. A close-ended respondents were asked whether they have computer
questionnaire was adopted as the research instrument and
stratified random sampling was employed for on the spot selection
and internet skills. Their responses as depicted in Table 3
of students. The questionnaire was designed by the researcher and reveal the majority 97.33% of the respondents indicated
consisted of two sections. The first section contained questions they have computer and internet skills while only 2.67%
aimed at eliciting information about the demographic characteristics indicated they do not have the skill. The findings of this
of the respondents while the second section consisted of questions study agree with that of Muniandy (2010) who reported
related to the study. The questionnaire was based on a five-point
that the respondents had a good level of computer and
Likert scale from (1 -strongly disagree, 2 -disagree, 3 -neither agree
nor disagree, 4 -agree, 5 -strongly agree). Reliability and validity of internet skills study in their study entitled “academic use
the questionnaire was ensured by carrying out a pilot study and of internet among undergraduate students in a Malaysian
restructuring the questions based on suggestions and comments of University”.
Ajanaku 33
Table 2. Age of respondents.
Age group (years) Frequency Percent
≤18 30 10
19-24 141 47
25-30 102 34
31-35 24 8
+
36 3 1
Table 3. Computer and Internet skills.
Parameter Measure Frequency Percent
Yes 292 97.33
Computer and Internet skills
No 8 2.67
Type of internet access Furthermore, the results of this study indicate that the
internet is no longer anonymous as the present age of
The responses of the respondents about their access to information explosion has revolutionised the use of the
the internet facilities are depicted in Table 4. Majority internet. Majority of the students use the internet daily
(91.33%) of the respondents stated that they accessed and the internet is no more a mystery to them.
the internet from the cybercafé, followed by access
through their mobile phones (83.67%) and from modems
(80%). The least of the respondents (13.3%) indicated Duration of internet use
access to the internet from the School LAN. This result
suggests that the cyber-cafes play a major role in the The researcher sought to determine the duration of
provision of internet services to the undergraduate internet use by the respondents. As shown by the data in
students while the university has inadequate internet Table 6, the majority of the respondents (39.67%)
facilities. The proliferation of data services to mobile browsed the internet for 1 to 2 h, 34% for more than 2 h
phone users by telecommunication companies also and the least respondents (26.3%) spent 30 min to 1 h.
caused an explosion of internet use among the This may be explained by the fact that most of the
undergraduate students. This could be a reason why respondents have different internet access through the
mobile phone topped second in the list of internet access. cyber café, mobile phone, school LAN and modems. It is
According to Ehikhamenor (2003), non-use of internet in obvious from the results that the respondents tried to
Nigeria is often attributed to the problems of accessibility variegate their internet access points by making use of
and cost. This finding is consistent with that of Ani (2010) different available points since one access point could not
and Waithaka (2013) in which most of the respondents satisfy internet needs. The majority of the respondents
indicated they accessed the internet from the cybercafés. spend 1 to 2 h on-line followed by the respondents who
This study also agrees with Adekunmisi et al. (2013) who browse for more than 2 h. The result is summarized in
reported that the universities under study lacked internet Table 7. The finding of this study agrees with that of Khan
facilities and the students accessed internet facilities from et al. (2011) and Waithaka (2013) who reported that
the privately-owned cybercafés. majority of the respondents specified they required 1 to 2
h.
Frequency of internet use
Internet activities
The students were asked to indicate their frequency of
internet use. As shown in Table 5, 76% of the The students used the internet to perform a variety of
respondents stated that they used the internet every day, internet activities as depicted in Table 8. Among these,
19.33% weekly, and 14.67% monthly. This result agrees academic work (75.6%) topped the list followed by
with that of Adekunmisi et al. (2013) who reported that information search (66%). While the least (21.7%) used
most of the respondents in their study use the internet the internet for software download. This finding agrees
every day. The finding is also consistent with that of with Mishra (2009), Ani (2010) and Adekunmisi et al.
Awoleye et al. (2008) and Ani (2010) who reported that (2013) who found out that majority of the students using
the students had high level of internet usage. the internet mostly for research and academic purposes.
34 Int. J. Sci. Technol. Educ. Res.
Table 4. Internet access.
Type of access Measure Frequency Percent
Yes 240 80
Modem
No 60 20
Yes 40 13.3
School LAN
No 260 86.7
Yes 274 91.33
Cyber-café
No 26 8.67
Yes 251 83.67
Mobile Phone
No 49 16.33
Table 5. Frequency of internet use.
Internet usage Frequency Percent
Everyday 228 76
Weekly 58 19.33
Monthly 14 4.67
Table 6. Duration of internet use.
Duration of use Frequency Percent
30 min-1 h 79 26.33
1-2 h 119 39.67
>2 h 102 34
Table 7. Internet activities.
Purpose Frequency Percent
Email 170 56.7
Instant Messaging 125 41.7
Information search 198 66
Academic work 227 75.6
Software download 65 21.7
Music/movie download 74 24.6
Patel and Darbar (2016) in India similarly reported the was identified by the majority of the respondents (82%)
use the internet for academic by students. Khan et al. as the greatest challenge followed by inadequate internet
(2011) also reported in their study that the majority of the access in school (77%), and high cost of browsing
respondents used the internet for their study followed by (68.7%). The results are shown in Table 8. The findings
those that used it to prepare for assignments. of Mishra (2009), Ani (2010) and Anasi (2006) on the use
of the internet among university students in Nigeria is
similar to the findings of this study regarding the
Challenges encountered in internet use challenges encountered in using the internet. From the
result in Table 8, it is evident that erratic power,
The respondents were asked to indicate the challenges inadequate internet access in school, and high cost of
encountered in using the internet. Erratic power supply browsing are part of the crucial challenges faced in
Ajanaku 35
Table 8. Challenges encountered in internet use.
Challenges Frequency Percent
High cost of browsing 206 68.7
Slow internet speed 178 59.3
Erratic power supply 246 82
Inadequate information retrieval skills 85 28.3
Inadequate browsing skills 45 15
Overload of information 150 50
Inadequate internet access in school 231 77
accessing the internet in Nigeria which was reported by adequate computers and Wi-Fi connection be provided
previous researchers. Another challenge encountered by the university for maximum use of internet as this will
was slow internet speed which may be due to the have impact on academic productivity of the student; an
bandwidth capacity and/or several users browsing at the alternative means of regular power supply should be
same time. This challenge was also reported by Okello- installed by the university; and finally, the government
Obura and Magara (2008), Mishra (2009), Ani (2010) and needs to address the issue of erratic electricity.
Waithaka (2013) in their studies on internet use. The
findings of this study also agree with that of Adekunmisi
et al. (2013) who reported high cost of browsing, slow Conclusion
internet speed, inadequate browsing skills, overload of
information and power outage as the problems As this study has shown, more students are relying on
encountered by students of Olabisi Onabanjo University the internet for their academic needs than any other
in the use of internet. areas. Unlike the developed countries where students
In summary, the key findings of this research are as have access to internet facilities on the campus, most
follows: students do not have access to internet on the campus in
Nigeria. The revelation of this study may be useful for the
(1) The students had good basic computer and internet university regarding the provision of better internet
skills. facilities for more efficient use of the internet for their
(2) Majority of the students accessed the internet from students.
the commercial cybercafés.
(3) There is inadequate provision of internet facilities by
the university. CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
(4) The students used the internet mostly for academic The author has not declared any conflict of interests.
purposes and information search. Other activities
included email, instant messing, software download and
music/movie download. REFERENCES
(5) The major challenges hindering internet use by the Adekunmisi SR, Ajala EB, Iyoro AO (2013). Internet Access and usage
students were erratic electricity, high cost of browsing by undergraduate students: a case study of Olabisi Onabanjo
and inadequate access to school LAN. The university University, Nigeria. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal), Paper
848. Retrieved April 10, 2017 from
lacked adequate Wi-Fi connection.
[Link]
Anasi S (2006). Internet use pattern of undergraduate students at the
University of Lagos, Nigeria. University of Daes Salaam Library
RECOMMENDATION Journal 8(1):1-15.
Ani OE (2010). Internet access and use: A study of undergraduate
students in three Nigerian universities. The Electronic Library
Globally, the use of the internet is becoming an
28(4):555-567.
increasingly important part of the educational system and Awoleye MO, Siyanbola WO, Oladipupo OF (2008). Adoption
students are heavy users of the internet. Academic Assessment of Internet Usage Among Undergraduates in Nigeria – A
achievements depend on the ability to read and share Case Study Approach. Journal of Technology Management and
Innovation 3(1):84-89.
information effectively. Like other developing countries
Badu EE, Markwei ED (2005). Internet awareness and use in the
there is proliferation of the internet in Nigeria and its use University of Ghana. Information Development 21(4):260-268.
has become very common among university students. It Brändström C (2011). Using the Internet in Education-Strengths and
is clear that erratic electricity and inadequacy of internet Weaknesses: A Qualitative Study of Teachers' Opinions on the Use
of the Internet in Planning and Instruction.
infrastructure in the university are the major challenges Ebersole SE (1999). Adolescents‟ use of the World Wide Web in ten
faced in utilizing the internet by the students. The study public schools. A useand gratification approach. PhD thesis,
recommends that adequate internet facilities such as Colorado State University, Fort Collins.
36 Int. J. Sci. Technol. Educ. Res.
Ebersole S (2000). Uses and gratifications of the web among students. Putnam C, Kolko B (2010). The social meaning of ICTs: patterns of
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 6(1):JCMC614. technology adoption and usage in context. In Proceedings of the 4th
Ehikhamenor FA (2003). Internet resources and productivity in scientific ACM/IEEE International Conference on Information and
research in Nigerian universities. Journal of Information Communication Technologies and Development P 34. ACM.
Science 29(2):107-116. Recchiutti JK (2003). College students uses and motives for e-mail,
Fasae JK, Aladeniyi FR (2012). Internet use by students of faculty of instant messaging and online chat. Unpublished Masters Thesis,
science in twoNigerian universities. Library Philosophy and Practice University of Delaware,Newark.
(e-journal) P 763. Waithaka MW (2013). Internet use among university students in Kenya:
Gurumurthy A (2004). Gender and ICTs overview report, Brighton, a case study of the University of Nairobi. Masters dissertation
England, University of Sussex, Institute for Development Studies. submitted to the University of South Africa. Retrieved April 20, 2017
Retrieved May 4, 2017 from [Link] from [Link]
[Link]
Jones S, Johnson‐yale C, Pérez FS, Schuler J (2007). The Internet
landscape in college. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study
of Education 106(2):39-51.
Khan SA, Khan AA, Bhatti R (2011). Internet access use and
gratification among university students: a case study of the Islamia
University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Chinese Librarianship: An
International Electronic Journal 32:1-14.
Kumar D (2017). Internet Access and Use among Face to Face
Program Students of Indira Gandhi National Open University: A
Survey. International Research: Journal of Library and Information
Science 7(1):1-15.
Lebow I (1995). Information highways and byways: From the telegraph
to the 21st century. New York: IEEE Press.
Mishra MK (2009). Use and importance of the Internet at the University
of Maiduguri, Nigeria. First Monday 14(3):1-7.
Muniandy B (2010). Academic use of internet among undergraduate
students: a preliminary case study in a Malaysian university.
International Journal of Cyber Society and Education 3(2):171-178.
Olufemi OB (2006). A survey of Internet access and usage among
undergraduates in an African University. The International
Information and Library Review 38(4):215-224.
Okello-Obura C, Magara E (2008). Assessment of the problems LIS
postgraduate students face in accessing e-resources in Makerere
University, Uganda. Collection Building 29(3):98-105.
Patel K, Darbar M (2016). Internet Usage among Students of CK Shah
Vijapurwala Institute of Management Library, Vadodara: A Study.
International Research: Journal of Library and Information Science
6(2).
Parameshwar S, Patil DB (2009). Use of the internet by faculty and
research scholars at Gulbarga University Library. Library Philosophy
and Practice. Retrieved April 20, 2017 from
[Link]
xt=libphilprac&sei