Profile characteristics of agricultural university students in relation to internet utilization

Introduction

The introduction of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has transformed the way information is created, stored, transmitted, and used throughout the world. The Internet has developed as one of the most powerful and accessible information sources, allowing communication, knowledge exchange, education, research, and innovation. The Internet has revolutionized traditional learning systems by enabling quick access to massive volumes of knowledge and educational tools. It has evolved into an essential component of higher education, allowing students to access academic databases, e-books, online journals, digital libraries, e-learning platforms, and research networks. The fast development of internet technology has had a tremendous impact on the educational environment globally. Universities and educational institutions are progressively using digital technology into teaching and learning processes in order to improve student academic performance and learning outcomes. Internet-based educational tools allow for self-learning, collaborative learning, online communication, and access to global knowledge systems. As a result, internet access has become a must for students seeking higher education, particularly in professional subjects such as agriculture, engineering, medicine, and management (Mishra et al., 2005) [1] . Digital technologies have been embraced by higher education institutions worldwide in recent years to facilitate academic cooperation, teaching, and research. Online learning resources have made it possible for students to participate in collaborative learning, self-directed learning, and ongoing professional development. In order to access academic resources, prepare assignments, do research, and communicate with classmates and teachers, digital tools are now necessary. As a result, proficient internet use is now necessary to succeed academically in higher education (Smith and Storrs, 2023) [2] . In educational institutions, students are the most valuable human resource. Their learning habits, use of technology, academic achievement, and use of information resources are influenced by their socio-personal, economic, and educational traits. Policymakers, university administrators, and educational planners may create successful plans for student assistance and academic growth by having a thorough understanding of these traits. Even though a lot of study has been done on internet use and digital learning in higher education, there isn't much empirical data on the features of agricultural university students' internet usage profiles, especially in Maharashtra. Thus, the current study was conducted to look at the features of agricultural university students' profiles and to shed light on the background variables related to internet usage. It is anticipated that the study's conclusions would help agricultural institutions create successful ICT-enabled curricula and digital learning projects.

Objective

To study the profile characteristics of agricultural university students in relation to internet utilization.

Materials and Methods

The present study was conducted at Post Graduate Institute, Dr. PDKV, Akola and College of Agriculture, Nagpur (Maharashtra). For the present study "Ex-post facto" research design has been used to analyses the research, research methodology and to meet the requirements of objectives. A pre-tested, structured questionnaire was used to gather primary data. The respondents were personally interviewed in order to get pertinent data.

Results and Discussion Profile characteristics of the students 1. Gender

The Gender wise distribution of the respondents has been summarized in the form of table 2 and diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 1. The data presented in the table 2 indicates that out of 140 respondents half (50%) of the respondents were male category and remaining half (50%) of the respondents were female category.

Mother's education

It is said that mother is the first teacher of any child and she plays very important role in the development of her child. Thus, it is very commonly assumed that the level of education of the mother affects the degree of involvement of students in various developmental activities. The data regarding the educational status of the mothers of the respondents were collected and has been presented in the Table 3 and diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 2. The results showed that, mothers of 25.00 percent of the respondents had higher secondary school of education, followed by 21.43 percent were up to Under graduation, 20.72 percent of them were educated up to secondary school education, 15.00 percent of them with Post graduation and 7.85 percent of them were with middle school education, 6.43 percent of them are with primary school of education respectively. Only 3.57 percent of them reported illiterate about their mothers.

Father's education

It is presumed in general, that fathers with high level of education will have good understanding regarding modern ways of advancement meant for their sons or daughters. Keeping this in view, an attempt was made to know the educational background of the father of the respondents. Distribution of the respondents according to their father's education has been presented in Table 4 and diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 3. The results showed that, father's of 30.71 percent of the respondents had Under graduation level of education, followed by 25 percent of them were with up to Higher secondary school of education, 19.28 percent of them were with up to Post graduation education, and 17.85 percent of them with secondary school and 3.58 percent of them were with primary school education, 2.86 percent of them were with middle school of education respectively. Only 0.72 percent of them reported about their father' s being illiterate.

Medium of basic education

The responses regarding medium of instruction during school days of respondents was also considered as an important variable. Since, most of the Internet sites of computer can be operated in English language. Distribution of the respondents according to their Medium of basic education has been diagrammatically illustrated in figure 4 and the data in this www.extensionjournal.com regard were collected and presented in the Table 5. The results indicated that 61.43 percent of the respondents had their Mother tongue as medium of basic education, followed by 32.85 percent had English as their medium of basic instruction and 4.29 percent of the respondents had Hindi language as their medium of instruction and only 1.43 percent of respondents had other these languages as their medium of instruction during their schooling.

Family background

Family background of the respondents also happens to be an important variable. The data regarding this were collected and has been presented in Table 5 and diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 5. These findings are in From the Table 6 it could be drawn that majority (62.14%) of the respondents were belonging to rural background, followed by urban background (37.86%). This may be due to the reason that most of the students admitted in the university are from rural background.

Family occupation

The parents occupation of the respondents were categorized into Labourer, Agriculture+labour, Agriculture, Agriculture+Subsidiary occupation, Agriculture+ Services, Business and Others. The data pertaining to the family occupation of the respondents have been analyzed and presented as below Table 6 and diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 6. Table 7 indicates that 30.00 percent of the parents were engaged in agriculture, followed by 26.43 percent parents are were from agriculture + service sector, 14.28 percent parents were from Government jobs, 11.43 percent parents were from agriculture+subsidiary occupation, 9.28 percent of the parents were engaged in agriculture+labour activities, 5 percent of the parents were from business sector and 3.58 percent of the parents work as a labourer. This may be due to the reason that most of the respondents are from rural background and are engaged in agriculture.

Family income

The income (Rupees per anum) of all the family of the respondents was assumed to be an important variable, which may have relation with respondents' accessibility to modern technological advancements like computer, Internet facilities etc. With a view to analyze it, information was collected from the respondents and the data are presented in Table 8 and diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 7. The results from Table 8 reveals that 60 percent of the respondents were belonging to low income category followed by 17.86 percent of the respondents were belonging to low medium category, 10.71 percent of the respondents were belonging to medium category, 7.86 percent of the respondents were belonging to medium high category and only 3.57 percent of the respondents were belonging to high category respectively. This may be due to the reason that majority of the respondents family occupation was belonging to agriculture.

Percentage/ CGPA

The academic achievement of the respondents is also an important variable of the present study, which may have relationship with their internet exposure. To analyze this, information was collected in terms of Overall Grade Point Average (OGPA) and results have been presented in Table 9 and diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 8. From Table 9 it is observed that 75 percent of the respondents had passed with first class, 18.57 percent respondents had passed with distinction, followed by 6.43 percent respondents

Conclusion

According to the survey, agriculture university students had a variety of educational and socio-personal traits. Male and female students participated equally. The majority of responders were from agricultural families and rural backgrounds. A significant percentage of parents had completed secondary and higher education. Although most of the students came from low-income families, their academic achievement was good. The majority of respondents had medium levels of gadget access, which is indicative of agricultural students' growing digital penetration.

References

1. Mishra OP, Yadava N, Bhist K. Internet utilization pattern of undergraduate students. University News. 2005;43(13):8.
2. Smith EE, Storrs H. Digital literacies, social media, and undergraduate learning: What do students think they need to know? International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education. 2023;20:29.
3. Thakur PR. Utilization Pattern of ICTs by the Agriculture PG students of College of Agriculture, JNKVV Jabalpur (MP). Unpublished M. Sc. Thesis, JNKVV, Jabalpur. 2017.
4. Zamani-Miandashti N, Memarbashi P, Khalighzadeh P. The prediction of Internet utilization behavior of undergraduate agricultural students: An application of the theory of planned behavior. The International Information & Library Review. 2013 Sep 1;45(3-4):11426.