University students' Internet attitudes and Internet self-efficacy: A study at three universities in Taiwan

Abstract

This study was conducted to explore university students' attitudes and self-efficacy toward the Internet. Moreover, the relationships between their attitudes and self- efficacy toward the Internet were also investigated. The sample of this study included 1,313 students, coming from three universities in Taiwan. It was found that male students expressed significantly more positive attitudes than females on their "perceived control" of the Internet. The male students also revealed better Internet self-efficacy than their female counterparts. Moreover, students having more on-line hours per week, in general, displayed more positive Internet attitudes and Internet self- efficacy. In addition, students' grade level also played an important role in their Internet attitudes; graduate students tended to possess more positive Internet attitudes. More importantly, students' Internet attitudes were highly correlated with their Internet self- efficacy. The results in this study seemed to reveal that students' attitudes toward the Internet could be viewed as one of the important indicators for predicting their Internet self- efficacy. It is also suggested that some training programs or courses may be helpful in improving university students' attitudes and self- efficacy toward the Internet.