Internet use among college students: tool or toy?

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between the grade performance of 128 students in an introductory micro‐economics course and the average number of hours per week these students report spending on the Internet. The literature review offers a priori arguments supporting both positive and negative relationships. However, the previous literature does not offer any empirical analysis of the link between the actual grade performance of college students and the number of hours that they spent online. The study finds a negative and statistically significant impact of Internet hours on grade performance, suggesting that the distractive dimensions of Internet use outweigh the productive dimensions.