THE USE OF INTERNET IN ENHANCING STUDENT’S ACADEMIC STUDIES: A CASE STUDY AT ADAMAWA STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE (ASCOA) GANYE

The adaptation of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) is growing across the state and the entire country. This study examines the use of the internet in enhancing studies in Adamawa State College of Agriculture (ASCOA) Ganye. The use of the internet is increasingly becoming an expectation for higher education students. In this paper, a range of case studies are described which illustrate methods of engaged students with technology enhanced learning and improve academic studies and students satisfaction. The sample was taken from five (5) departments in Adamawa State College of Agriculture namely, Animal Health Production (AHP), Agricultural Extension (AGT), Computer Science (CS), Agricultural Engineering technology (AET), and Forestry Technology (FOT). The aim of the study is to examined, the Bio-data characteristics of the internet users, the information on users of internet during studies and the effects of the internet. A sampling technique was used to select 101 students from Animal Health Production (AHP) Department, 66 students from Agricultural Extension (AGT) Department and 36 students from Computer Science (CS) Department; totaling 266 students. A survey questionnaire was employed to determine the use of internet, the researcher analysed the data collected using descriptive, percentages, frequency and influential statistics. The study shows that 78.2% of the students were between the ages of 25 – 29 years 13.2% (30 – 34 years), and only 8.6% were between the age of 18 – 24 years. 81.6% of the students were single while 24.8% were female. The finding also shows that 80.8% download material (e-book) from the internet, 89.5% got an e-mail account (address), 273 of the respondents across the department accept that the introduction of a course called GNS 211 Computer Appreciation makes students to have interest of surfing the internet, The first result of the chi-square shows that there is a significant relationship between the users of internet (respondents) and those who got e-mail account (address) at (chi-square = 3.898a, p = 0.297). The second result of the chi-square shows that there is a significant relationship between the departments and students who have interest in surfing the internet at (chi-square = 7.423a, p = 0.115). Finally, students were satisfied with the service of internet cafA© as library is neither networked nor connected to the internet; students patronize the cyber cafA© extension close to their lecture hall (school area).