8
1.6 Definition of Terms 1.6.1 Perception
According to Robbins 2001, perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their
environment. Lahey 2009: 124 defines that “the process of receiving information from the outside world, translating it, and transmitting it to the brain is called
sensation. The process of interpreting that information and forming images of the world is called perception”. People have different perceptions toward the world,
things, problems and happenings around them. Different perceptions of reality are influenced by different individual expectations, cultural learning experiences, and
needs. In this study, perception refers to how the students perceive, translate, and interpret the use of Internet in improving their academic achievements.
1.6.2 The Level of Internet Access
The level of Internet access of this study refers to the background information of the respondents on Internet access, its usage and frequency of use. Wasserman and
Abbott 2005: 253 examined differences in the use of the Internet by gender, with a consideration of access to the web, use of communication facilities related to email
and chat rooms, frequency of use, and types of websites used. They stated that “in considering the gender gap on the Internet, it is necessary to define three aspects of
9
this gap: 1 access to the Internet, 2 frequency of use of the Internet, and 3 scope of use of the Internet”.
Access refers to the opportunity for individuals to use the web because they can utilize a computer in a public or private setting and have connections to
the Internet. The frequency of use refers to the amount of time that an individual devotes to the use of the Internet. The scope of use refers to the
variety of websites e.g., financial, health, hobby, commercial used by an individual. With regard to scope of use, it is necessary to determine whether
some sets of sites are more likely to be utilized by certain categories of Internet users Wasserman and Abbott, 2005: 254.
Ajuwon and Rhine 2008 carried out a study that assessed Internet access level, use of electronic resources and ICT training among health information
professionals in Sub-Saharan Africa which was published in Health Information and Libraries Journal. The results were:
a total of 121 respondents participated in the study and, of those, 68 lived in their countries’ capital. The majority 85.1 had Internet access at work
and 40.8 used cybercafés as alternative access points. Slightly less than two- thirds 61.2 first learned to use ICT through self-teaching, whilst 70.2
had not received any formal training in the previous year. Eighty-eight per cent of respondents required further ICT training Ajuwon and Rhine, 2008:
175. Hence, in this study, the level of Internet access would identify the students’
access points or place of Internet use, frequency and time spent on using Internet, the use of Internet facilities or purpose of Internet use, such as using Internet for social-
networking web e.g. Facebook, Friendster, Twitter, etc, for communication purposes e-mail, for private interests or entertainment, for academic purposes, and
the on-line activities for academic purposes.
10
1.6.3 Academic Purposes
