A study on the use of the Internet in Senior High Schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the utilization of the Internet in senior high schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis in the Central Region of Ghana. The sample consisted of 100 students and 25 teachers in three Senior High Schools. The stratified random sampling technique was used to select the three schools to represent the school types (co-ed, girls, boys, schools) with one school in each stratum, respectively. For each stratum, respondents were selected using the simple random technique. Structured questionnaires consisting of closed items were used to collect the data from the sample. Three sets of questionnaires were designed and administered to the three groups of respondents; teachers, students and administrators. Descriptive statistical method was employed concurrently to analyze the data using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The major findings of the study include the following: 1. A greater percentage of the students have access to the internet at school, but the majority of students with access to the Internet hardly use it. 2. Majority of teachers have access to the Internet in their schools but hardly use it. The few who use it do that mainly for their personal development. 3. A majority of schools are undecided on having ICT budget whiles a majority of schools have ICT policy but do not have a budget to implement it. From the findings, some recommendations we have advanced to enhance the use of the Internet in senior high schools. These include: 1. the need for ICT departments to introduce browsing sessions in their computer laboratories for students while taking steps to monitor usage to ensure that students use the Internet for educational and prevent possible internet abuse.teachers should be given ICT training to enhance their knowledge in the use of the Internet and school administrators should prepare budgets for ICT implementation.