THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING INTERNET AS A PRINCIPAL

INFORMATION RESOURCE IN TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITY IN

HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN MALAYSIA.

Farahiza Zaihan Azizan

Jabatan Teknologi Maklumat,Kulliyyah Muamalat

Kolej Universiti INSANIAH
Jalan Sultanah Sambungan, 05350 Alor Star, Kedah
Tel: 0194254740/047374372 Fax: 047374371
[email protected]

Abstract

Globalization has brings the major changes to the growth of technology. The use of
Information and communication technology (ICT) has leaved a tremendous impact to
human life. The rapid growth of this technology brings a new dimension to the education
field. This exploratory study examined the effectiveness of using internet as a principal
information resource in teaching and learning activity in higher educational institutions in
Malaysia. The library researches done by the researcher have shown that majority of the
previous researchers indicated that there are significant relation between the internet and
the student and also the lecturer in using internet as a principal information resource in
teaching and learning activities. The high used of internet for the quest for information
also supported by their favorable towards ICT. The findings showed that internet is a
technology that considered brought benefits to the student and lecturer in teaching and
learning activities as well as the applications provided by the internet.

Keyword: Information and communication technology (ICT), internet, teaching and

learning, principal information resources.

1.0 Introduction

The information revolution has leaved a great impact to the growth of science and
technology in the world. Nowadays, the citizens are known as a knowledge citizen. The
technologies are invented for the better lives. The human lives became comfortable and
pleasant. One of the most crucial inventions in science and technology is a computer.
Computer is a machine that totally change the way people work, learn and solve the
problem. The technology came by from the use of computer is the information and
communication technology (ICT). The ICT has changed the structure of human live.
People can easily communicate with each other without any barriers. They can use the ICT
for 24 hours, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. The education fields also use the ICT in
teaching and learning activities. It transformed the conventional techniques to the modern
techniques by using the ICT applications such as internet into the teaching and learning
processes. The ministry of education of Malaysia has made a good use of ICT in schools
and higher educational institutions in Malaysia. They are driven the institutions towards
science and technology in education process. The use of ICT in education is expected to
improve teaching and learning process, increase focuses in class and as well as in
assessment. In addition, ICT is expected to add value on student skills and knowledge.

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Internet is one of the ICT applications that is widely use all over the world. Internet is such
a huge world full of interesting things. People can use internet to find or learn about
information, to listen to music, to watch movie and to communicate with friends. Internet
is a very popular application with maximum access at a low cost. Furthermore, nowadays,
internet has been used as a platform to the portal and web that can be used by the student
and the lecturer to search for the information and to make a discovery. People at every
level of age tend to use an internet for information. They can get access to the information
within a second. All these factors mention above make an internet an interesting
technology to discover as well as to apply in lives. Therefore, the student and also the
lecturer especially in higher educational institutions choose to use an internet as an
information resource in their teaching and learning activities. Internet provides them with
information valley that they can find and learn about information from the virtual library,
subscribes the article and journal from the electronic journal (e-journal), communicates
with friend and other people from different a city and town using the forum application or
download and upload the tutorial from and into the portal or web. Thus, this study is
primarily aimed to examine the effectiveness of using the internet as a principal
information resource among the students and lecturers in the higher educational
institutions and also to discover the benefits of using internet in teaching and learning
activities. Specifically, this study focuses in four main objectives which are listed below:

 To examine is there a relation between student and lecturer with the internet as a
principal information resources.
 To examine the role of internet in teaching and learning processes.
 To survey the influence of the internet in education
 To identify the benefits from the internet as a principal information resources.

2.0 Background

The growth of science and technology provided the student and lecturer in higher
educational institutions with various convenient facilities in order to support their teaching
and learning processes. The convenience facility is provided for their comfortable and to
make their teaching and learning processes more interesting and focuses. The use of ICT
application such as internet helped them to teach and learn fast at a low cost. The search
for information becomes easier and faster at anytime, and anyplace. The needs for
information from the articles, journals, newspapers and magazines, drive them to find for
the appropriate technique that can help them to complete the process of teaching and
learning. Internet and the applications offered such as portal, web, homepage, virtual
library and many more attracted the students and the lecturers to choose the internet as a
principal information resource in their teaching and learning activities. Thus, there are
important to examine the relation between the student and lecturer with the internet. In
add, we can identify the benefits of the internet offered to the user.

3.0 Literature Review

Internet has changed the way people work and live. It change the way we communicate
and interact with other people. The usage of internet has increased from day to day. The
internet is widely used in business, education, engineering, architecture and many more
fields. For example, Baloh and Trkman (2003) stated that the integration between the
information and the people in the organization drive the organization towards objective.
The use of internet in Malaysia begun in 1990 and JARING was the first internet service

Proceedings of Regional Conference on Knowledge Integration in ICT 2010 8

provider (ISP) launched by MIMOS (Malaysian Institute of Microelectronic System). The
Malaysia government, acting with United States of America, together for a common
purpose to increase the usage of the internet by using the satellite. In add, the government
also launched the MSC (Multimedia Super Corridor) project in 1996 to show their support
to the ICT technology. The growth of internet usage in Malaysia is driven from the factors
such as low cost, wide access, faster to communicate, and powerful application as well as
the convenience infrastructures provided by the government.

Internet is synonymous in management. According to statistic from Baloh and Trkman

(2003), there were almost 300 millions of internet users, 2 billions of websites and 17
millions of domains registered only in United States of America. The number shown that
internet has a significant influence over the individual or the organization on how, why
and when they work. The use of internet has leaved a deep impact to how people do their
work, the process of work and as well the throughout. The use of internet in education was
first introduced by the implementation of the e-learning concepts. Malaysia also applied
the e-learning in teaching and learning activities. Glenda, Mahon, Devonish, Alleyne and
G.Alleyne (2006) in their study, the perception of information and communication
technology among undergraduate management students in Barbados found that there are
empirical studies done by the previous researchers all over the world shown that there is a
significant relation between the computer, internet and the student as well as the lecturer.
The empirical studies are shows in the following table:

Table 1: The Empirical Studies by The Previous Researchers

Researcher Year Study / Research Study / Research Outcome
Dorup 2004 Study Among Medical The students used the computer to
Students In Denmark access to the internet and send email
at home frequently and they
supported the use of ICT in learning
activity to replace the conventional
method.
Schumacher and 2001 Study On Gender Male user had more experience in
Morahan-Martin Differentiates In using computer compared to female.
Experience And The male attitude towards computer
Perspective Towards is positive compared to negative
Computer. attitudes from the female.
Kay 1992 Study On Gender Female user seems less interest in
Shashaani 1997 Towards The Computer using computer and internet.
Usage.
Kraut et al 1998 Study On The Level Of The adults spent more their time to
Age In Computer access the internet compared to teen
Usage. age.
Ramayah and 2003 The relationship between age and
Jantan internet usage is negative. The use of
internet is not influenced by the age
factor. The student used internet
frequently.
Cuban 2001 Study On Computer The USA university student used
And Internet Usage computer to generate document,
Among The US access to the internet and
University Students. communicate with friend using email.

Proceedings of Regional Conference on Knowledge Integration in ICT 2010 9

 The lecturer used computer to do
their research and also in their
teaching activity.
Frizzler 1995 Study On Relationship Computer has the ability to improve
Between Computer And the teaching and learning method at a
Course Administrator lower cost.

There were empirical studies done by the Malaysian researchers to perceive the relation
between the internet and the education. The table below shows several empirical studies
done in Malaysia.

Table 2: The Empirical Studies by the Malaysian Researchers

Researcher Year Study / Research Study / Research Outcome
Goh Ying 2005 The Use Of Technology The study found that technology has a
Soon, In Teaching Language: great impact to the education. Besides,
Azman Che The Challenge, Treat And the researcher has identified e-learning
Mat, Tey Opportunity. as an effective method can be used in
Meng Kar the teaching and learning activity.
Shukriah 2003 The Use Of Internet The study has identified the significant
Ismail Among The relation between the undergraduate and
Undergraduate Student Of the internet as an information resource
UTM in teaching and learning process. The
internet provided virtual library to
undergraduate students.
Nasariah No IT Application In Writing The study found that majority university
Mansor, date Article: A Survey Of Skill students used computer in writing
Nafisah And Perception Of The articles to generate a professional
Mahmud, Student. document. The internet also used as an
Faizah engine to search for information and to
Ahmad collect data from the internet.
Norazen Md No A Competency Of Using The study found that majority of the
Dali, date ICT In Teaching And lecturers used ICT in their teaching and
Hassan Learning Among The learning activity. They have positive
Ash‘ari Lecturer. attitudes towards the computer and ICT.
Zainal
Abidin,
Mohd
Ruzman
Mat Ali
Robiah 2001 The Adoption Of Science The study found that the youth accepted
Sidin, Juriah And Technology: The and have adapted the science and
Long, Impact Of Technology To technology and also have positive
Khalid The Training And attitudes towards the technology.
Abdullah, Education Among The
Puteh Malaysian Youth.
Mohamed
Surendran 2006 The Use Of Internet As The study found that the lecturer
a/l sankaran An Information Resource awareness about the importance of using
Among The UUM internet in teaching is high. The lecturer
Lecturers. moderately used an internet as a search

Proceedings of Regional Conference on Knowledge Integration in ICT 2010 10

 engine to find for the information. There
is also a significant relation between the
skill of using internet and the purpose of
using the internet.
Wahyu No The E-Learning The study identified e-learning is a
Idrus, date Application In Teaching suitable technique to be used in
Yahya And Learning Activity In presenting the teaching and learning
Buntat Malaysia Primary School: module in the higher educational
Issues And institutions in Malaysia.
Implementation.
Alias Daud, No The Impact Of IT On The study found that there are the needs
Zainab date Higher Education For to transform the conventional method of
A.N., Zaitun Malaysia teaching and learning to the ICT driven.
A.B.
Wong Su 2008 Gender Differences In The study found there are significant
Luan, Ng The Usage And Attitudes relation in gender differences in the
Siew Fung, Toward The Internet usage and the attitudes toward the
Hanafi Atan Among Student Teachers internet among the student.
In A Public Malaysian
University

4.0 Method

This is a descriptive study that used stratified random sampling technique and a library
survey. The sample was chosen from the students and lecturers of higher educational
institutes in Malaysia. Five hundred students and lecturers were targeted for the study,
using self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed for this study by
the authors of this paper. The first draft of the questionnaire used in the survey was tested
on 40 students and 10 lecturers from Kolej Universiti Insaniah (KUIN). Data from the
pilot study was used to adjust the questionnaire and were not included in the final analysis.
50 questionnaires were mailed to each higher educational institution in northern region of
Malaysia. The data were collected by hand and mail and then they were integrated in
Microsoft Excel before imported into Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS)
for analyzing.

5.0 Findings And Discussions

The library surveyed by the researcher shown that there is a significant relation between
student and lecturer with the internet. This statement is supported by the study done by
Nasariah, Nafisah and Faizah (not dated) and Surendran (2006). Internet is used in
teaching and learning process as a technology that helps and supports the student and
lecturer in searching for information. The use of internet as a principal information
resource made teaching and learning activities more interesting and fascinating. For
example, the used of multimedia elements, audio, video, image, text, animation and many
more in order to prepare for the lecture notes, make the teaching session full of focuses
and attractions. In addition, the use of internet in teaching and learning process also is
influenced by the student and lecturer computer skills and literacy. The computer literacy
proved to help them to use the internet in effective and efficient manners. According to
Dorup (2004) as cited in Glenda et. al., (2006), he said that most of students have
developed their computer skills from home. They had used the computer at home and they

Proceedings of Regional Conference on Knowledge Integration in ICT 2010 11

also have access to the internet. Their skills increased when they frequently used the
computer and the internet. Thus, the access to the internet helped them to get focuses and
also supported them with multi-kinds of information and sources. Rhiza (2008) stated that
the use of e-learning has transformed the conventional method of teaching and learning
into a new dimension. Furthermore, Frizzler (1995) as cited in Glenda et. al., (2006)
mentioned that computer could help in order to improve the teaching and learning method
in class. Shukriah (2003) in her empirical study found that the contents of internet are
suitable to use as a source in their teaching and learning process. The internet is an ICT
technology that provides great benefits to the student and lecturer in order to improve their
teaching and learning processes.

6.0 Conclusion

This study found that students and lecturers were generally favorable to ICT in an
academic setting. Students had access to computers and the Internet off campus. There
also seems to be widespread usage of various forms of information technology such as
Internet, Web and email. With respect to age, no significant differences found. It is
recommended that university administrators and also the higher educational institutions
maintained the high levels of ICT usage among students through continuous education and
promotion of the benefits attached to ICT resources such as internet. It is also
recommended the university and the institution to encourage lecturers and course
administrators to embrace e-learning and its resources in their teaching and learning
activities. A limitation of the study was the relatively small sample size, which may limit
the generalizability of these findings to the population under study. Future research should
consider undertaking large-scale studies of attitudes to internet and its usage outside the
academic setting, targeting business professionals and other practitioners.

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(2006). Perceptions of Information and Communication Technology Among
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