Dr. Ayesha Afsana

Faculty, Department of Law

Assam University, Silchar - 788 011, India

The integration of ICTs is the most striking innovation in thefield of education. The learning process is based on the fourkey roles of the computer – a tool, a tutor, a topic and athought provider. The communication is a process by whichan individual, the communicator, transmits to modify thebehaviour of other individuals. It is a purposeful process,which involves sources, messages, channels and receivers.

ICTs are the catchall term used to describe a range oftechnologies for gathering, storing, retrieving, processing,analyzing and transmitting information. The technologiesinclude radio and the newer digital technologies likecomputers, satellite, mobile phone and Internet.

The Internet is a global information system that usesnetworks of computers to enable people all over the world tointeract with one another, and to share a vast and diversifiedbody of information (Aggarwal 2004: 50-53).

According to Internet World Stats, there were 2,267,233,742Internet users worldwide upto 31 December, 2011representing 32.7% of the world’s population. India has theworld’s third largest Internet user-base with over 22.86millions on 31 March, 2012 (World Internet usage statisticsnews and population stats 2011 & Annual Report, 2011-12,Telecom Regularity Authority of India).

In a study conducted by the Software and Information

Industry Association, Sivin-Kachala and Bialo (2000)

reviewed 311 research studies on the effectiveness of

technology on the achievement of students. It revealed

positive and consistent patterns when students were

engaged in technology-rich environments including

significant gains and achievement in all subject areas

and improved attitudes towards learning and increased

self-esteem.

Roschelle, Pea, Hoadley, Gordin, & Means (2000) exploredvarious ways of using computer technology to improve howand what children learn in the classroom by supporting fourfundamental characteristics of learning: (i) activeengagement, (ii) participation in groups, (iii) frequentinteraction and feedback, and (iv) connections to real-worldcontexts. Their study also signalled that the insertion of theInternet in teacher development programmes could be of aparamount profit for the whole teaching/ learning process.

It is evident from the review of the literature that Internet

has had a great impact on the academic environment.

However, it is also revealed that Internet technology can

visualise the positive impact on the society given there is

equal access to the people of diverse social background.

Hence, a question is arising here: What social impact

patterns of Internet are perceived among the rural

Muslim students in India, especially in Assam?

The main objective of the study is to explain the social

impact patterns of Internet on rural students on the

basis of the data mainly collected from the field, the

Silchar town in Cachar district of Assam, where the

Muslim students in the higher educational institutions

of Silchar town constituted units of the study.

The primary data from the field of the study were collectedthrough a structured interview schedule during 2011-2012. Itwas administered to 273 rural Muslim students (149 male and124 female students) in six colleges, a national institute oftechnology and a university of the town. The sample wasselected by using the stratified random sampling techniqueto represent the universe of the study, i.e., Silchar town. Datawere analysed by applying bi-variate tables and percentagesso that different patterns of social impact of the Internetamong the rural Muslim students can be understood.

Of the sampled rural Muslim students in higher educational institutions ofthe Silchar town, out of which 62.28% are from the degree colleges,consisting of 51.01% males and 75.81% females respectively, and 37.72% arefrom two national institutions; namely, Assam University and NationalInstitute of Technology, 44.96% and 4.03% of the males and 23.38% and0.81% of the females respectively. Most (90.84%) of the students belong tothe age bracket of 18-23; a few belong to the age group of 23+ and aninsignificant fraction belongs to the age group of below 18 years. Majority(87.91%) of both male and female students belongs to the GeneralCategory. By their linguistic community, 91.21% of the students belong toBengali community and the rest belong to Assamese, Hindi and Manipurilinguistic groups. By family occupation, over a half of the students havebusiness, followed by service-jobs, while an insignificant fraction hasagriculture as occupation and non-workers. Their annual family income isranging from Rs 50000/- to above Rs 400000/-, out of which the bracket ofRs 150001/-to Rs 200000/- covers near about one third (30.4%) of theirfamilies.

Table 1: Educational uses of Internet among the respondents by gender (Percentage in parentheses)

Kind of Educational

Use

No. of Respondents (%) Total (%) (N=273)

Male (%) (N=149) Female (%) (N=124)

Preparing lessons 15 (10.07) 13 (10.48) 28 (10.26)

Project preparing 27 (18.12) 16 (12.9) 43 (15.75)

Writing notes 69 (46.31) 55 (44.35) 124 (45.42)

Downloading study

materials

107 (71.81) 98 (79.03) 205 (75.09)

Downloading

educational software

8 (5.37) 5 (4.03) 13 (4.76)

Sending e-mails to

teachers and friends

52 (34.9) 45 (36.29) 97 (35.53)

Online discussion

with teachers and

friends

10 (6.71) 10 (8.06) 20 (7.33)

Video-conferencing

with teachers and

friends

5 (3.36) 2 (1.61) 7 (2.56)

The social impact of Internet on the students from diverseeconomic background is affected by the factors, such as rural-urban location, age, occupation, household income andeducational level. At the beginning of the study, a stratifiedrandom sample 152 male and 145 female students was drawnfrom the rural Muslim students. Of these, 3 male and 21 femalestudents did not have access to Internet and they reported ofnot accessing to Internet. Among 273 students who usedInternet, impact of Internet on gender relations was found on95 male and 90 female students whereas advantages anddisadvantages of Internet in education and views for solvingproblems in using Internet were found among 149 male and 124female students.

Impact of Internet on Gender RelationsTable 2: Impact of Internet on gender relations among the respondents by gender

(Percentage in parentheses)

Kind of Impacts No. of Respondents (%) Total (%)

Male Female

Shared study

materials via Internet/

e-mail

36 (37.89) 30 (33.33) 66 (35.68)

Shared study

materials with

male/female friends,

teachers, etc.

9 (9.48) 11 (12.22) 20 (10.81)

Made and connected

with new male/

female friends

through social

networking sites to

expand educational

understanding

15 (15.79) 13 (14.45) 28 (15.13)

Improved gender

relations with

female/male friends

through e-mail, online

discussion, etc./

Reduced gender gap

35 (36.84) 36 (40) 71 (38.38)

Total (%) 95 (100) 90 (100) 185 (100)

Advantages of Internet in Education

Table 3: Advantages of Internet among the respondents by gender (Percentage in parentheses)

Advantages of

Internet in Education

No. of Respondents (%) Total (%)

Male Female

Knowledge of products

from Internet

advertising

7 (4.7) 8 (6.45) 15 (5.49)

Less time consuming

technology

28 (18.79) 27 (21.77) 55 (20.14)

Availability of online

information and services

in Internet

-- 6 (4.85) 6 (2.21)

Ability to communicate

with friends, people, etc.

and places within a short

time

6 (4.03) 2 (1.61) 8 (2.93)

Cheap and cost effective 38 (25.5) 26 (20.97) 64 (23.45)

Getting references on

Internet to complete

home assignments,

project preparation, etc.

70 (46.98) 55 (44.35) 125 (45.78)

Total (%) 149 (100) 124 (100) 273 (100)

Disadvantages of Internet in EducationTable 4: Disadvantages of Internet in education among the respondents by gender (Percentage in parentheses)

Disadvantage of Internet

in Education

No. of Respondents (%) Total (%)

Male Female

Excessive dependent on

Internet

37 (24.83) 28 (22.58) 65 (23.81)

Discouragement to use

books, printed materials, etc.

31 (20.81) 35 (28.23) 66 (24.18)

Lack of authenticity of

materials

17 (11.41) 11 (8.87) 28 (10.26)

Unwanted advertisements on

Internet

-- 2 (1.61) 2 (0.73)

Spending excess time on

Internet

13 (8.72) 9 (7.26) 22 (8.06)

Pornographic sites and

pictures/ Accessing illegal

information

10 (6.71) 14 (11.29) 24 (8.79)

Using Internet via computer

is injurious to health/ eyes

-- 6 (4.84) 6 (2.2)

Addiction towards Internet -- 5 (4.03) 5 (1.83)

Social disconnect/

Psychological effect

17 (11.41) 7 (5.65) 24 (8.79)

Not always reliable source 15 (10.07) 3 (2.42) 18 (6.59)

Hacking 5 (3.36) 2 (1.61) 7 (2.56)

Lack of access to mobile

Internet

4 (2.68) 2 (1.61) 6 (2.2)

Total (%) 149 (100) 124 (100) 273 (100)

Views for Solving Problems of InternetTable 5: Views of the students for solving problems in Internet using among the respondents by

gender (Percentage in parentheses)

Views for Solving Problems in Internet

Using

No. of Respondents (%) Total (%)

Male Female

Signing out whenever enter into new websites

with e-mail ID

15 (10.07) 17 (13.71) 32 (11.72)

Looking after the server problem by ISPs 44 (29.53) 38 (30.65) 82 (30.04)

Less posting of unwanted advertisements on

Internet

17 (11.41) 15 (12.1) 32 (11.72)

Sound mind to work honestly on Internet 6 (4.03) 4 (3.23) 10 (3.66)

Providing digital environment in colleges/

universities

12 (8.05) 16 (12.9) 28 (10.26)

Using Inverter 5 (3.36) 8 (6.45) 13 (4.76)

Comparing incorrect data with published data 11 (7.38) 5 (4.03) 16 (5.86)

Installation of anti-virus program 13 (8.72) 11 (8.87) 24 (8.79)

Opening government-aided cyber cafes 9 (6.04) 4 (3.23) 13 (4.76)

Using reference books on technical terms 4 (2.68) -- 4 (1.47)

Copy and paste of webpage in MS-Word 7 (4.7) -- 7 (2.56)

Visiting only good websites set for

educational purpose

6 (4.03) 6 (4.83) 12 (4.4)

Total (%) 149 (100) 124 (100) 273 (100)

Internet is a very important and useful source of information to fulfil the

requirements of the society in this era of information. The Internet has

positive impact on the students as they share study materials via Internet or e-

mail. Internet has improved the gender relations among male and female

students through e-mail, online discussion, etc. and consequently, it has also

reduced the gender gap. The rural males use Internet in cyber cafes but the

rural females cannot often go to the cyber cafes and use it at home. Hence,

there is the need to aware the students about the potentialities of ICTs and to

use these ICTs in education which will bridge the gap of digital divide across

their categories of gender.