Last modified: 2016-11-07
Abstract
The trend in recent decade, is to use the online form of e-learning especially at universities. Internet serves as the virtual classroom and a source of information and means of communication among students and teachers. In this paper, we will focus on the other face of internet usage. While the positive aspects are celebrated, concerns continue to rise regarding the perils of internet usage on human behavior and cognitive skills. One of the concerns is the growing number of cases of internet overuse resulting in internet addiction. Another concern is related to the negative impacts on cognitive functions such as memory, problem solving and ability to concentrate. In our research, we have looked at the impact of internet use intensity on ability to memorize random words and pictures. The internet use intensity was measured by standardized Internet addiction test and the ability to memorize was measured by original memory test. We have administered the test to 108 university students of psychology and social work out of which 13 were men (age am=24.29, SD=8.7).We have found that higher internet use has negative impact on the memory skills in both of lexical items (r=-2.09, p<0.05, n=107) and pictures (r=-0.18, p<0.1, n=107). The findings indicate that educators need to be careful with using online learning environments. We recommend to combine it with face to face. We should not accept technology based teaching just because everyone else does it and it is fashionable.