Internet utilization: a case of connected rural and urban secondary schools

Abstract

The study looked at the utilization of the Internet among teachers and students in connected rural and urban secondary schools. The purpose of the study was to help policy makers, decision makers and investors make well informed decisions about public policy and investments in leT especially at the secondary schools by understanding how the Internet and its related components are utilized in these schools. A survey design was used to guide the research process and participants drawn from 11 secondary schools. Survey questionnaires were distributed to 11 principals, 132 teachers and 752 students. The response rates were 100% for principals (n=II), 74.2% for the teachers (n=98) and 91.9% for the students (n=691). Data generated was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS®). The main results has shown the extent to which the Internet is being utilized and has identified factors that enhance or impede Internet utilization at the secondary schools and which can be used to explain the integration of Internet into teaching and learning. The findings of the study has shown that the use of Internet and its integration in the teaching and learning in secondary education is getting more widespread; and its use more pervasive among students and teachers as a means of communication and for information searching being common. Access rates for teachers and students have been observed to be much higher in educational institutions that have made effective leT investments in education, translating into better utilization of KT related technologies. The study also found that most of the schools which are connected are -expending a substantial part of their annual budget on maintaining Internet connectivity, and this explains why it is estimated by the Ministry of Education that about 3% of the 6,566 secondary schools in Kenya have any form of Internet connectivity. Strategies have been suggested on how to utilize the Internet to improve educational outcomes as recommendations given on issues that touch on leT access and infrastructure; human resources and