Academic use of internet by secondary school students: a case study of Mbeya city, Tanzania

The study was conducted in Mbeya region to four secondary schools located in Mbeya City. The study examined the use of the Internet by secondary school students in their academic studies. The study was aimed at determining how students use Internet in their academic studies and the challenges they face in the use of this new technology in secondary schools. A sample of 284 comprising of 176 students, 104 teachers and four Internet supervisors from the four secondary schools was used to generate the required information. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches in investigating the experiences of students in the use of Internet for academic purposes. The tools used to collect data were the questionnaire, interviews and observations. The study findings show that the secondary school students were able to use Internet for academic activities but in rather limited ways as they lacked essential skills and basic knowledge on how to use the Internet effectively in their academic activities. The study recommends that, all education stakeholders in the country should give special priority to Internet use for academic purposes in all secondary schools in Tanzania and prepare the students for even more challenging use of ICT in academics at the higher levels.