Measuring Students' Attitudes toward Educational Use of the Internet

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to develop an instrument that would provide a quantitative measure of the attitudes of undergraduate college students toward educational use of the Internet and to study selected behavioral correlates of those attitudes. The development of pilot scales along with a social desirability response scale and the resulting 18-item Likert format “Attitude Toward Educational Use of the Internet” (ATEUI) scale are described. Several behavioral correlates were found to provide evidence for the scale's construct validity. For instance, favorable attitudes were associated with: (1) keeping track of valuable educational Internet sites; (2) sharing educational information found on the Internet with friends; (3) choosing classes that require Internet use; (4) greater frequency of Internet use, both in general and for educational purposes; (5) greater number of reasons for using the Internet for education; and (6) greater number of Internet features used. Some implications for future research are provided.