Internet Use for School-Mandated and Self-Initiated Learning: Good, Bad, or Both?

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Internet Studies
• Motivation Science

Background:

• Internet use for learning is increasingly obligatory for high school students.
• Research on the effects of online learning is inconclusive, with both benefits and drawbacks cited.
• Existing studies lack a motivational perspective on the nuances of Internet engagement in education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between types of Internet use for learning and Internet passion (harmonious vs. obsessive) in high school students.
• To examine whether school-mandated and self-initiated Internet learning differentially impact harmonious and obsessive Internet passion.
• To compare these relationships across high school students in the United States and Russia.

Main Methods:

• Cross-cultural study involving high school students from the United States and Russia.
• Analysis of two distinct types of Internet use for learning: school-mandated and self-initiated.
• Assessment of the association between these Internet use patterns and levels of harmonious and obsessive Internet passion.

Main Results:

• School-mandated Internet learning positively correlated with both harmonious and obsessive Internet passion in both countries.
• Self-initiated Internet learning positively correlated with harmonious Internet passion in both the United States and Russia.
• Self-initiated Internet learning showed no significant relationship with obsessive Internet passion in either country.

Conclusions:

• The type of Internet use significantly influences the nature of students' passion for online learning.
• Educators can leverage self-initiated learning to foster positive, harmonious Internet passion.
• Strategies should be developed to mitigate obsessive Internet passion, particularly from school-mandated online activities.