Study: Most students find Web indispensible for research

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by David Lake

(IDG) -- For many students worldwide, the Internet has become as indispensable as the public library for conducting research, according to new data released by the Angus Reid Group.

The study, which polled 10,000 youths ages 12-24 in 16 countries, found that Sweden and Canada have the largest percentage of students who surf the Web at their schools. About 3 out of 4 students in these countries have used the Web during the school day.

Those figures are quite different from corresponding ones for American youths. Although most U.S. schools offer Net access either in the classroom or in some other instructional facility, only 59 percent of U.S. youths said they surf the Web at school. Most young Americans -- 68 percent -- say they go online at home.

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The number of students who use the Net at school in Sweden and Canada almost mirror student use at home in those countries. But this is not the case in areas such as Taiwan or the U.K., where a much larger percentage of students go online at school than at home. For example, 63 percent of students polled in Taiwan said they use the Net at school, while only 45 percent said they access the Web from home.

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Regardless of whether they go online at school, home or in both, students worldwide are utilizing the Net for school-related research. According to Angus Reid, 9 out of 10 students in Australia, the U.S., Canada and Sweden go online to perform class-related research. In fact, more than two-thirds of the students in 15 of the 16 countries studied say they have used the Web for research and to complete school projects.

Students in urban China, however, lag significantly behind the rest of the world in their use of the Internet, according to the study. Just more than one-fourth of urban Chinese students said they have used the Web to complete school assignments. Also, only 13 percent of these students say they have access to the Web at school, and even less -- 9 percent -- can access the Web at home.

Schools in urban China appear to be addressing this deficiency. More than half of the students in these areas say their schools offer some type of course instruction related to the Internet. Taiwan is the leader in Internet-course instruction among the countries studied, with 75 percent of students saying their schools teach about the Net. By comparison, 72 percent of U.S. students say their schools offer similar curriculum.

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Angus Reid Group

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