The Impact of Home Internet Access on Test Scores By Steve Macho

The growth of Internet usage is likely to continue until nearly every American is online. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce (2002) “children and teenagers use computers and the Internet more than any other age group” (p. 1). They state that “Ninety percent of children between the ages of 5 and 17 (or 48 million) now use computers” (p. 1), “Seventy-five percent of 14–17 year olds and 65 percent of 10–13 year olds use the Internet” (p. 1), and “Family households with children under the age of 18 are more likely to access the Internet” (p. 1).

A survey of 754 students who were 12–17 year olds, performed by Lenhart et al. in 2001 for The Pew Internet & American Life Project, reports that 94% of the students who have Internet access say they have used it for school research and 78% say they believe the Internet helps them with schoolwork. Most students (71%) report that they have used the Internet as a “major source for their most recent major school project or report” (p. 2). About half (41%) use email for school purposes, and about one-third (34%) have downloaded a study guide. Roughly, three in five (58%) have used web sites made for one of their classes. About one in five (17%) have created web pages for school projects, and about one in five (18%) know of someone who has “used the Internet to cheat on a paper or test” (p. 2).

Further research by Rathbun et al., for the National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education indicates that “Public school children who had access to home computers used them on an average of three to four days a week. Over 85% of young children with home computers used them for educational purposes” (2003, p. 12).

Assumption that Technology in the Home has an Effect on Academic Standing

While access to the technology is available, and studies indicate that students are making use of both computers and Internet for schoolwork, what exactly does that mean? The factors and results of research on this issue, what is known about student use of the Internet for schoolwork , are presented in this section of the Literature review. Research on technology used by students did not include the effect that home Internet access may have on academic standing. In fact “large-scale research on school-related uses of the Internet—as distinguished from research on the use of computers and other technologies—has focused on access” (Levin & Arafeh, 2002, p. 2) and then not the assumed effect on academic performance.