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THE USE OF ICT BY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND THE IMPACT ON ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE

Conference Paper · March 2017

DOI: 10.21125/inted.2017.0688

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 THE USE OF ICT BY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND THE
IMPACT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

María del Rocío Carranza Alcántar1, Claudia Islas Torres2, Juan Francisco
Caldera Montes3, Alma Azucena Jiménez Padilla4, Daisy Alcaraz Bran5

1Universidad of Guadalajara (México)

2
Universidad of Guadalajara (México)
3Universidad of Guadalajara (México)
4Universidad of Guadalajara (México)
5
Universidad of Guadalajara (México)

Abstract
Education has made a significant turnaround due to the inclusion of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT) in the classroom facilitating the execution of daily tasks,
however, it is necessary to consider that being in front of a device for a long time involves
neglecting the usual activities, promoting among the students of high school, the application of
the least effort, a situation that significantly influences their school performance. Based on this
premise, this investigation was conducted to learn about the influence that the use of ICT has on
the academic performance of students in a technological high school in the state of Jalisco,
Mexico. The general objective of this paper is to describe students' access to ICT and to identify
if there is an association between the use of these tools and academic performance, school
adjustment and their interest in attending university. The study was carried out under a
quantitative methodological approach, in which 988 students who are study the high school were
surveyed. The descriptive results show that who have internet access from home is related to the
daily hours dedicated to the use of internet or social networks, as well as their interest in attending
university; nevertheless, it is also shown that dedicating several hours a day on internet or social
networks has a negative relation with academic performance, from which inferred that among
more hours using technology school performance could be affected. That is why recommended
to carry out more extensive studies in which a greater number of variables and indicators could
be involved, especially in order to know in depth about the use of ICT by high school students,
how they use them, and the search for solutions that allow the Higher Education System to have
indicators to help make decisions regarding the best use of these tools in the educational field of
high school, projecting an improvement in technology-assisted learning.
Key Words: School Performance, Students, Education, Internet, Social Network.

1 INTRODUCTION
The current Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) revolution has had a direct
impact in the educational field and the Higher Secondary Education (HSE) is an example of this,
a space where it is considered relevant to carry out studies regarding the use of these tools and
on the influence that they represent to have respect in the academic development of the young
students.
According to [1], education has taken a significant turn due to the inclusion of ICT in the
classroom, facilitating the execution of daily tasks. In this sense, it should be considered that
talking about the internet and education is to express that there is a contemporary education since
it is far removed from the epistemological premises of a formal education and mass instruction.
Complementing the previous idea, the literature shows that ICT is a fundamental part of daily
life and in recent years considered basic tools in the educational field, so that it is relevant to study
the impact they can have on the Teaching learning process.
In particular, some contextual research related to performance, terminal efficiency and other
indicators of Higher Education relate the use of ICT as a variable associated with the low
academic performance of students at this level of studies. To support this, [3] presented studies
on this topic, concluding that high school students are currently adolescents between the ages of
15 and 18 born in the 1990s and who socialize through Messenger and Facebook, promoting a
process of acculturation; Similarly in their research they indicate that the decreases in their
performances related to the use and management of technologies such as the computer and the
internet.
Based on their research, these authors have also pointed out that the young high school student
perceives technology as an instrument of training and socialization, seeking to make friends
through the mass media and the use of the internet and although they recognize and generate
group styles and identities, This does not do it from an academic point of view, that is to say the
use that is given to the technology is only to socialize, without taking advantage of the pedagogical
benefits that can have.
On the other hand, it is necessary to point out that, because of the age at which the baccalaureate
is being taught, the students are going through a marked period with notable changes and psycho-
physical, cognitive, sexual, emotional and social alterations. Acquisition of self-esteem and
personal independence and social adaptation [4]; in such a way that the educational style
influenced by the ICT is also determinant to orient their coexistence and the resolution of the
possible conflicts that the young people can have.
In addition to this, it is necessary to recognize that the excessive use of ICT and their inadequate
use can encourage laziness and the copying of information, since there is no control of all
technologies, mainly access to the various programs that have Through the internet; So that the
good use made of them will depend on success or failure as a didactic and creative tool. That is
why it is important that both the teacher and the student become aware of good use, learn to
handle them efficiently and responsibly, as well as control the time in which they used. [5]
If we associate this with the fact that the adolescent is in a phase of psychological, biological and
emotional transformation and we also find that it is also in a moment of transition from one
educational stage to another, we can consider the risk of manifesting lack of motivation and
involvement in the study, school failure and risk of abandonment of the education system [4],
which may also be influenced by excessive use of the technologies.
From the previous premises is that in this research was sought to know and describe the access
to ICT by high school students, and to identify if there is an association between the use of these
tools and academic performance, school adjustment and their interest in attending college.

2 PROBLEMATIZATION
Given the importance of the use of technology in the daily lives of Mexicans, as well as the practice
of multitasking, they mean that Internet users spend more hours browsing in a social network or
in front of a Screen, however, this does not guarantee that accessibility is guaranteed, especially
in some sectors of society, including young students.
That is to say, although the new generations seem to be connected to the Internet or to a Social
Network all the time, the fact is that accessibility to ICT by a sector of society is still a gap to be
closed, Because in this sense the AMIPCI [6] reports show that there is still a serious problem to
access social networks/internet, mainly because there is little supply, connection is slow and costs
high.
However, it should note that the figures presented by AMIPCI [6] show that the average internet
connection time is currently 7 hours 14 minutes, which reveals the importance of studies that
recognize what and how they have used these tools in the educational field. According to the
previous data, it emphasized that the use of social networks is the main activity for users, that is
to say, about 80% surf in some place of this type, which marks a tendency to be connected with
others.
As regards Internet users, AMIPCI [6] assures that 19% of them are young people between the
ages of 13 and 18. It is the age range of those who study high school and indicates that the most
used device by the youth is the electronic tablet, although a few also ensure connect to the
network from your Smartphone.
In particular for Mexico, INEGI [7] reported that 80 percent of young people between the ages of
12 and 17 have access to digital technologies. Of the population surveyed, more than two-thirds
attended or were enrolled in high school and reported that they incorporate the use of the Internet
in their usual activities, among which the information search with 67.4%, followed by the access
to social networks with a 39.6 %, as a means of communication 38.5% and activities to support
education as entertainment with a similar proportion of 36%.
The previous data reveal that young people, especially those who are in high school, do have
access to the internet and social networks and in most cases they connect the internet from their
homes, however there are no studies that reveal with clarity in what way this activity is reflected
in the learning or in particular in the academic performance that these young people have in their
school.

3 THE PERFORMANCE AND SCHOOL ADJUSTMENT AND ITS

RELATIONSHIP WITH ICT
According to [8] the use of ICT has promoted new strategies in education and, therefore, new
roles of students and teachers, modifying their forms of communication and interaction in the
educational relationship and stimulating the development of competencies. Currently, there is a
predominant factor which is social networks, play an important role for interaction. In this sense,
ICT innovation induces more excessive use, develops a complex and autonomous thinking so
that students have free access to information by establishing their own conclusions and points of
view.
Regarding the performance and school adjustment that a bachelor has, it is necessary to
recognize, as it has been done in several investigations, that the family and the school are two
areas that are closely related to the psychosocial development of the adolescent, since both
contexts contribute to the acquisition of learning, values, and behaviors that underlie the process
of socialization and influence the well-being and school adjustment of the adolescent [9]. In
addition to the above, young people today reinforce their learning, both formally and informally,
through technology, which is an important indicator for the development and adjustment of
students.
Such adjustment is defined as the student's ability to adapt to this context and includes aspects
such as academic performance, adaptation to school rules, respect for the teacher as a figure of
authority, student's attitude towards school and participation in activities of school [10] are directly
affecting the school life of young people; So from this premise it is necessary to add the influence
that the ICT has in the adaptation of the students to the baccalaureate without leaving aside the
other factors, but considering the latter as one of the notable components that currently affect,
either positively or negatively to the high school graduates.
For their part [5] carried out studies in which they showed the importance of the balance in the
use of the technologies and the improvement in the school performance, assuring that it is
necessary to take care of the use of the ICT in the educational field, since it could provoke the
evil managing orthographic rules, encouraging laziness and copying information, which can
directly impact the academic development of young people. It also pointed out the need to review
the number of hours that young people spend on the Internet, as it could make them so much
addicted and they can have the risk of not having a life outside of social networks.
Based on the above, it is recognized that the impact that the new era of knowledge has, it is
importantly associated with the education and especially with the adaptation that upper secondary
students live, which represents an important relationship with school performance and this one in
turn with the intention of continuing their studies at the higher level.

4 METHODOLOGY
The information presented refers to the treatment of data derived from research directed to
students of a technological baccalaureate in a municipality of the state of Jalisco, Mexico. The
general objective of this paper is to describe students' access to ICT and to identify if there is an
association between the use of these tools and academic performance, school adjustment and
their interest in attending university.
The approach answers the research question: How is access to ICT by high school students?
And is there an association between the use of these tools and academic achievement, school
adjustment, and their interest in attending college? In this sense, the research performed under
the quantitative approach with a non-experimental cross-sectional design, whose scope was
descriptive-correlational.
Research procedure
Participants
The study applied to a total of 988 students distributed in the specialties of administrative
management processes (495), electromechanical (262) and general nursing (231). Participants
attended class in morning shift (578) or evening (410).
Instrument
Once the population identified and how it could be approached, the School Adjustment Scale
(EBAE-10) applied. This scale is multidimensional and assesses the degree to which the
adolescent integrated into his school environment. [11] in factoring by principal components,
based on the Kaiser criterion, defined three factors that explain 59.597% of total variance (School
Integration Problems, School Performance, and Academic Expectation). The scale contemplates
diverse factors of psychosocial nature such as school performance and the academic
expectations of the students. It is a Likert-type with a response path from 1 to 6 that contains
options from completely disagrees to fully agree.
Process
For the application of the instrument, the students of the baccalaureate mentioned twice visited
during the month of February of 2016.
The application of the instrument considered all the ethical issues that should be envisaged during
the data collection process, and the objectives of the research explained in detail to the
participants.
The data obtained systematized in a spreadsheet with the purpose of exporting them to SPSS
software and thus performing the statistical treatments of the information. To assess the
association between variables, the Chi-Square statistical test used with a confidence level of 95%,
and the Student's T-test used to identify differences between groups.

5 RESULT
The following descriptive data characterize the population under study.
Of the 988 participants, 447 were male (45.2%) and 541 were female (54.8%). Their ages oscillate
between the 14 and 28 years, (average 17 years). Of the 988 students, 951 are single, 8 are
married, 17 live in free unions, 10 are single parents, one divorced and one widowed.
The socioeconomic levels recorded are presented in Table 1.

Socioeconomic level
Low 83
Medium 895
High 10
Table 1 Socioeconomic level of students
Regarding school variables, habits, and activities that describe their access to ICT, among other
things, the participants were questioned if they had a computer at home, 619 (63%) answered
yes and 369 (37%) answered no.
As for their internet access from home, 629 (64%) of the participants said to have the service,
while 359 (36%) said no.
Students were also asked to answer about the hours they spend on the internet (Table 2), from
which the following results obtained:

Hours on the Minimum Maximum Medium Standard Deviation

internet
0 18 3.63 2.620
Table 2 Number of hours dedicated to the use of internet or social networking per day.

Students' access to the computer and the internet associated with their socioeconomic level or if
they have work, as shown in table 3, note that the value of significance is below 0.05 indicating
that the expected association is valid and having a computer depends on the socioeconomic level
or whether they have work.

Association Proof Value Significance

Computer and Pearson's Chi-Square 38.908 .000
socioeconomic status
Have computer and work Pearson's Chi-Square 7.402 .007
Table 3 Association to have a computer - socioeconomic level and work.

Also having internet at home is associated with having a computer and the socioeconomic level,
as presented in table 4, however, having a job is not mean, that is to say, this is not a condition
to have this service, for which could be thought that access is not in function of its economic
contribution, because this expense can be in charge of who heads the economy of the family.

Association Proof Value Significance

Computer and Pearson's Chi-Square 242.666 .000
socioeconomic status
Have computer and work Pearson's Chi-Square 40.378 .000
Table 4 Internet at home.

Regarding the association between ICT use and school performance, the following were found
(Table 5):

Association Proof Value Significance

School performance and Pearson's Chi-Square 31.662 .007
computer skills
School performance and Pearson's Chi-Square 19.590 .188
internet at home
School performance and Pearson's Chi-Square 214.185 .970
hours devoted a day to use
the internet or social
networks
Table 5 School performance.
Note that the results of this study reflect that school performance is only associated with having
a computer, since the significance value of the Chi-square test is less than .05, in the case of
having the internet and use it is not significant So it can be inferred that this association is not
necessary for high school students at least these tools do not impact on their performance.
Regarding school adjustment, the results show that this is not associated with having a computer
or internet access at home and much less to use the internet or social networks a certain number
of hours a day, see table 6.

Association Proof Value Significance

School adjustment and Pearson's Chi-Square 37.194 .507
computer
School adjustment and Pearson's Chi-Square 41.570 .318
internet at home
School adjustment and Pearson's Chi-Square 518.585 1.000
hours dedicated a day to
use the internet or social
networks
Table 6 School Adjustment.
In table 7 it can be seen that the interest of high school students to attend university associated
with having a computer, however, having the internet at home and using it a certain number of
hours a day has no direct influence on this association.

Association Proof Value Significance

Interest in attending college and Pearson's Chi- 30.570 .001
having a computer Square
Interest in attending college and Pearson's Chi- 15.721 .108
having internet at home Square
School adjustment and hours Pearson's Chi- 162.469 .647
dedicated a day to use the internet Square
or social networks
Table 7 Interest in attending the University.

To test these results, we also applied the Student's T-test for independent samples that helped
to confirm if the generalized values from the Chi-Square test could be observed in the marked
groups.

In the first place, it was assessed if there were differences regarding school adjustment and
performance and their interest in attending university from counting or not counting with a
computer (Table 8)

Specification Medium Value of T Significance

No Yes
Total school adjustment 48.35 49.17 -1.860 .063
School performance 12.52 13.15 -3.781 .000
Interest in attending college 10.21 10.64 -3.097 .002
Table 9 Student T test (independent samples) differences between who has a computer and
who does not.

The significance in the difference of groups is notorious for those who have a computer and the
issues of school performance and interest in attending college.

Table 10 presents the values obtained when assessing whether there is a difference between
groups considering internet access at home and their involvement in adjustment and school
performance and their interest in attending university.

Specification Medium Value of T Significance

No Yes
Total school adjustment 48.33 49.17 -1.884 .060
School performance 12.72 13.03 -1.792 .073
Interest in attending college 10.29 10.59 -2.197 .028
Table 10 Student's T test (independent samples) differences between who has access to the
internet and who does not.

Note that in this test the significance is only relevant in the third association which corroborates
what obtained in the Chi Square test. Finally, a correlation test performed to identify which factors
are associated; the results can be seen in table 11.

Correlations

Do you have Do you Hours on the

INTEREST TO
a computer? have internet or TOTAL SCHOOL SCHOOL
ATTEND THE
internet at social ADJUSTMENT PERFORMANCE
UNIVERSITY
home? networks

Correlation ,120
of Sig
1 ,496 ,171 ,059 ,098
Pearson
Do you have a (bilateral) N.
computer?
Sig (bilateral) ,000 ,063 ,063 ,000 ,002

N. 988 988 988 988 988 988

Correlation ,496 ,231 ,070

of Sig
1 ,060 ,057
Pearson
Do you have (bilateral) N.
internet at home?
Sig (bilateral) ,000 ,000 ,060 ,073 ,028

N. 988 988 988 988 988 988

Correlation ,231 ,077

of Sig
,171 1 ,014 ,031
Hours on the Pearson
internet or social (bilateral) N.
networks
Sig (bilateral) ,000 ,000 ,671 ,016 ,323

N. 988 988 988 988 988 988

Correlation
,615
of Sig
,059 ,060 ,014 1 ,686
Pearson
TOTAL SCHOOL (bilateral) N.
ADJUSTMENT
Sig (bilateral) ,063 ,060 ,671 ,000 ,000

N. 988 988 988 988 988 988

 Correlation ,120 ,077 ,688
of Sig
,057 1 ,445
Pearson
SCHOOL (bilateral) N.
PERFORMANCE
Sig (bilateral) ,000 ,073 ,016 ,000 ,000

N. 988 988 988 988 988 988

Correlation ,098 ,070 ,615 ,445

of Sig
,031 1
INTEREST TO Pearson
ATTEND THE (bilateral) N.
UNIVERSITY
Sig (bilateral) ,002 ,028 ,323 ,000 ,000

N. 988 988 988 988 988 988

Table 11 Correlations

This table shows that having a computer correlates significantly with having the internet at home,
also with dedicating daily hours on the internet or social networks, just as having a computer
correlates with school performance.

It could be thought that as access to the internet and social networks made possible by other
types of devices, for students these means go unnoticed as an influential factor in their daily
action.

The tests applied helped to corroborate the results obtained in each of them, showing that access
to ICT in this case represented by having a computer and internet access at home are aspects
that are present in the formation of high school students, however, are not completely
determinants

6 CONCLUSIONS

From the results presented is that it inferred that young high school students have access to the
Internet and mainly to social networks, however, in this study shows that of the number of high
school students surveyed only one-third do not have a computer, which corroborates the figures
presented by the AMIPCI [6]. Moreover, as is to be expected, this situation is directly related to
the socioeconomic level of the student, but not to the number of hours spent on the internet.

On the other hand, due to the fact that there is still a significant percentage (37%) of students who
do not have a computer, it is considered that this situation may affect their learning actions,
possibly impacting their academic performance, since it is assumed that by incorporating
technologies into educational institutions as part of practice all students would be able to access
them.

It is noteworthy that, although the percentage of students who have access to the Internet is in a
very similar order to having a computer at home, the number of hours they spend per day to use
the internet or social networks is on average 3.63hrs, So it is inferred that they have another type
of devices that facilitates this access such as smart phones, tablets, or others; this premise also
co-exists with the data presented by both AMIPCI and INEGI.

Based on the above, it is necessary to deepen further studies that allow relating what and how
these tools are used in the educational field, and especially the number of hours that are
connected to the Internet and how much time they devote to academic issues, hence it would be
worth investigating also if social networks are being used for pedagogical purposes, since as
shown in the results, students who use the internet do so, mostly to connect to a social network.
On the other hand, dedicating daily hours to the internet or social networks correlates negatively
with school performance, from which it inferred that the more hours of dedication in this medium
the school performance can be affected. The above corroborates what was expressed by [3] in
their studies, concluding that the decreases in the school performance of high school students
are related to the use and management of technologies such as the computer and the internet.

In this sense it can be considered that excessive and improper use of ICT damages the school
performance of high school students, this because it can cause laziness and copy of information,
since the access they make to the internet is not necessarily for questions which support the
studies presented by [5] where they indicate that the use of technologies depends on success or
failure as a didactic and creative tool.

On the other hand, school adjustment has a high correlation with the school performance and the
interest to attend the university, from which it is deduced that while a student has a high school
performance the better will be his adjustment to the environment and will show a greater interest
in entering university; as can be seen, the results show that having internet access from home
correlated, albeit weakly, with daily hours dedicated to the use of the internet or social networks
and with their interest in attending university.

The use of ICT in young high school students is a premise that requires more depth in the
research, because as shown in this article, students of the higher middle level frequently use the
technologies in order to connect to the internet and especially to make use of a social networks,
which makes it necessary for educational institutions to commit themselves to implementing
strategies that allow them to attract their students towards learning through ICT.

It is important to recognize the importance of balancing the use of technologies in terms of

improving school performance, making sure that ICT can also be used in education so that
students can improve their academic performance. Although this should not be considered the
ideal solution to the obvious shortcomings of institutions or educational practices of the 21st
century since we know the fact that it does not automatically produce more committed or more
motivated students. [2]

However, given that most Mexican households have web search tools, and this study
corroborates, it is necessary to take into consideration that being in front of a device for a great
amount of time, involves neglecting daily activities, in addition to especially among high school
students, to make the least effort, because their creativity and interest in information searches
can decrease and stay only with what the Internet offers them [12]. In such a way that it is
necessary that both educational authorities and teachers know what impact it is having on their
students, as well as the number of hours they devote to technology, and in this way can channel
sometimes in favor of learning.

Finally it is possible to conclude that it is necessary to continue with this type of studies, especially
with the purpose of knowing in depth about ICT's use with the high school students, how they use
them, and the search for solutions that allow them to the system of average education superior
to have indicators that help improve the use of technologies in the educational field, seeking also
the training of teachers in strategies that support the management and motivation of young people
in the use of the internet and social networks for educational purposes.

7. REFERENCES

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