AN ASSESSMENT OF THE INTERNET AND ITS AVAILABILITY AND UTILISATION BY UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN GHANA ( A CASES STUDY KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY)

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE INTERNET AND ITS AVAILABILITY AND UTILISATION BY UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN GHANA ( A CASES STUDY KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY)

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Background of the study

Because the world has become a global community, universities are held to a high standard in terms of research, innovation, information distribution, and innovative teaching. According to Diem (2007), the Internet has given infrastructure for global economic growth, assisted in the creation of a knowledge-based society, aided in innovation, and added value to the global economy. More significantly, the Internet brought the globe closer together by speeding up the spread of information. It also enhances research, encourages creativity, and makes cooperation easier (Diem 2007). Globalization is the process of connecting the whole globe via a global network. The Internet has brought people from all around the world closer than ever before. Without a doubt, Internet usage is quickly becoming unavoidable, and knowledge, skills, and infrastructure for effective Internet service delivery have become essential for modern education, commerce, and business. To enable growth and development in societies, the Internet necessitates local, national, and global networking (Oduro, 2013). Modernization and the pervasiveness of technology in all areas of human life has necessitated a thorough understanding of how to utilize the Internet by everyone on the planet, young or old, male or female. This is to guarantee that everyone can participate in society's new technological trend while also accelerating national growth and development. When the Internet was first introduced in Ghana in early 1998, Ghanaians had completely different experiences when it came to engaging in social and commercial activities. Ghanaian already have their own methods of doing things, but the advent of the Internet has significantly impacted some activities such as education, entertainment, buying and selling, and connecting with others. According to Mumuni (2013), the last place anybody expected the Internet to wind up was in our educational institutions' classrooms and lecture halls. Despite the fact that many schools in Ghana have yet to be linked to the Internet, the fear of the Internet finding its way into classrooms and lecture halls has diminished dramatically. This is because the Internet plays such an important part in modern schooling. For example, at institutions all around the globe, the Internet has become a backbone for joint research. Diem (2007) claims that the Internet has empowered professors and students, contributing significantly to learning and success. It shifted the focus of education from institutions to learners, and from lecture halls to widespread wireless connectivity. With the advent of the Internet, new groups of learners at the higher educational level have emerged: those who could not attend to campus or could not pay the university's set time frame, as well as those who would want a curriculum customized to their particular requirements. According to Mumuni (2013), the Internet enables colleges to be more flexible in terms of location, time, and content. As a consequence, universities have developed or modified new course materials for this new distribution channel for new learners and providers (professors, teachers, instructors or tutors). The majority of institutions have adopted a mixed style of training, including both remote learning and on-campus learning, as one of the most significant effects of the Internet. To add to the aforementioned, the advancement of Internet technology has provided many institutions with a huge opportunity to share their intellectual assets by placing their course materials online and making them available to the public for free (Mumuni,2013). In Ghana's early days of the Internet, in 1998, government organizations, big companies, and a few wealthy households were the only ones who could use it (Mumuni, 2013). Today, however, the Internet is quite prevalent in many lecture rooms in higher educational institutions. Instructional platforms such as online educational films, virtual classrooms, and online access to a library of research resources all offer students and lecturers with a pleasant life-long learning experience. This, in and of itself, has reshaped Ghanaians' perceptions of education. Because modern university education heavily emphasizes the use of the Internet, Internet knowledge and skills are needed to boost productivity. Knowledge of the Internet has not been fully used throughout time, particularly in developing countries, since most countries lack national laws on ICT, including the Internet (Oye et al, 2012). Creating and sharing new information are important responsibilities of higher educational institutions, according to Diem (2007). It seems that Ghanaian society agrees with Diem's statement (2007). This is due to the fact that many job ads in Ghana, for example, demand university graduates to have Internet abilities. The ICT4AD Strategy Committee was not charged with developing an ICT policy for socioeconomic development until 2003. The strategy, among other things, aims to promote Internet use across Ghana's educational system. It also highlighted an ICT-driven socio-economic strategy, including an Internet-based plan, capable of converting Ghana into a knowledge-based society. This is intended to bring the country closer to development in the quickest period feasible. The government, business sector, and civil service are all important stakeholders. One of the goals of the 2003 ICT 4AD Policy is to utilize the Internet to accelerate the development of national human resource capacity and research and development capabilities. This is to satisfy the Ghanaian economy's various requirements and expectations. Again, the strategy seeks to promote an enhanced educational system in which Internet facilities are extensively implemented to make educational services more accessible at all levels. Finally, via the use and exploitation of ICT facilities and the Internet, the strategy seeks to promote the growth of women and eliminate gender disparities in education, employment, and decision-making. These will be accomplished, according to the policy, through increasing school capacity and creating opportunities for girls and women. The usage of ICT facilities at the University of Cape Coast started with a strategy established by the university library director in 1999 to purchase supporting research resources in all disciplines to encourage postgraduate study, according to Kwarteng, Boadi-Siaw, and Dwarko (2012). As a result of this strategy, the University Library Complex has been equipped with contemporary ICT facilities and resources, including Internet services and equipment, since 1999. This was done in order to provide more funding for research at Kwame Nkrumah University. The Internet has a lot of promise for delivering education. As a result, technology may effectively enhance teaching and learning capabilities, resulting in improved student performance. Learner preparation may also be made easier with the help of the Internet. Because the Internet facilitates information access and collaborative research, this is the case. In a similar vein, Hardman (2005) claims that using this new technology in schools may aid in averting the looming academic catastrophe. Integration of the internet into education will allow for departures from conventional pedagogical methods, possibly benefiting student learning. The use of the Internet in educational practices, particularly in Higher Educational Institutions, makes teaching and learning more dynamic and engaging for graduate students (Hardman, 2005). According to Larbi (2008), the University of Kwameh Nkrumah has a high availability of information and communication technology facilities, but few computers are linked to the Internet, resulting in a poor availability of the Internet campus. so individuals who wanted Internet connection had to get it from somewhere else, such as a commercial cybercafé near the institution. and that Internet research use was low in terms of collaborative academic and collaborative research The usage of the Internet in education has been linked to a variety of learner-specific motivating characteristics. Higher dedication to the earning job, greater pleasure and interest, better self-esteem, and increased independence and confidence are some of these benefits. Computer-assisted learning settings, for example, may be more helpful to Constructivist teaching methods. Bruner's (1973) Constructivist Theory stresses that teaching is founded on the belief that learning happens when students actively participate in the creation of meaning and knowledge rather than passively absorbing information. Constructivist teaching philosophy produces motivated and self-sufficient students. According to this theoretical framework, learning constantly builds on what a learner already knows. This is referred to as the schemata. The learner uses a cognitive framework (schema and mental models) to choose and change information, create hypotheses, and make choices based on the meaning and arrangement of experiences. In terms of teaching, the teacher should encourage the learner to find ideas and principles on their own, and it is far less expensive for a graduate student to access soft versions of books on the Internet than it is to purchase hard copies of such volumes. Even in most instances, getting a hold of certain hard copy books seems to be a challenge. There should be an active conversation between the teacher and the student, as research has demonstrated..

1.2 Statement of the problem

The lack of sufficient Internet access at Kwame Nkrumah University has long been a source of concern for many of the university's students. Despite the growing global demand for the use of the Internet in contemporary education, Acheampong (2012) conducted a study at Kwame Nkrumah University to assess Internet usage by undergraduate students and discovered that the university's limited Internet facility, while more geared toward administrative use than lecture halls and students' halls of residence, revealed that the limited Internet facility at the university was more tilted to administrative use than lecture halls and students' halls of residence. Although the majority of undergraduate students have personal computers, the research shows that they seldom utilize them to access the Internet to help them with their academic work. For their studies, just 25% of undergraduate students utilized the Internet to access online publications and electronic textbooks. The degree to which this disease exists among Kwameh Nkrumah University graduate students is unclear. The results of Acheampong(2012) are likely to be shared by the university's graduate students. As a result, the purpose of this study is to determine the availability and use of the Internet by Kwame Nkrumah University students.

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