Factors related to the academic use of the internet in higher education

Abstract

The following article aims to establish what academic activities higher education students carry out with the internet and determine which factors explain the differences in the use of internet for these activities. In order to carry out the research, a survey was applied to 435 higher education students in Temuco, La Araucanía, Chile. The results show that students use the internet frequently for activities associated with their studies. Among these, the most frequent are collaborative activities, such as the preparation of group reports, asking classmates for study materials, or requesting help to solve exercises or understand some activity. On the other hand, the variables that best explain the gaps in the academic use of the internet are cultural capital and the type of higher education institution that students attend.