IFRSA Business Review|Vol2|issue 4|Dec 2012 395 Impact of Internet Access and Usage on Student Activities on Computer-A study on Punjab University, India Dr Gunmala Suri * , Sneha Sharma ** * Associate Professor, University Business School, Panjab University, Chandigarh, ** Research Scholar, University Business School, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India, ABSTRACT The purpose of this research is to investigate and understand if access to internet and the weekly internet usage rate impacts the student’s activities on computer. The activities that a student undertakes with the help of computers can be academic as well as non academic in nature. These are of great significance as they can help in understanding the limitations and potential offered by the technology for use in the field of education. This paper brings out the three major kinds of activities that students undertake with computer; self –learning activities, Information collection task and communication and group activities. The study further brings out the impact that access to internet and weekly internet usage rate has on the students’ activities with computer. The results show that access to internet has no impact on the Self learning activities and Communication and group activities of students but significantly affects the Information collection tasks. The findings for the impact of weekly internet usage on student activities on computer show that significant relationship exists between weekly internet usage rate of students and the factors on self-learning activities, Communication and group activities and Information collection tasks. The findings from this research can be used in designing future e-learning initiatives and development e-learning modules at an educational setting. Keywords- student activities on computer, computer technology, ICT, internet access, weekly internet usage rate INTRODUCTION The use of the Internet for teaching and learning purposes has received increasing attention over the recent years. Students’ computer and Internet activities and rates of use are of interest for several reasons. The use of computer and internet has been linked with improvements in people’s education, and everyday lives. These technologies have the potential to upgrade various aspects varying from improvement in access to information and getting the tasks done better to assisting in communication. The academics increasingly depend on the Internet for educational purposes The use of computers helps students gain computer literacy which implies that the use rates and activities on computer can be of help in indicating how well prepared the generation of students are towards a computer literacy based workforce. Computer and communication technologies are producing changes. All the sectors of the society are directly or indirectly affected by the technology. The intentional use of networked information and communications technology in teaching and learning is commonly referred to as e-learning. The changes in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have revolutionized the business as well as the educational sector across the globe. The expansion of technology has also had a huge impact on students’ daily activities as well as on their interaction with technology. This research builds an approach to examine the activities of students on computers with reference to the access that they have for internet and their internet usage rate. This can be used as a stepping stone for understanding the students bent towards various internet activities and can be used as a basis for developing computer based curricula or projects for implementation of technology in academic or learning purposes. LITERATURE REVIEW A wide range of activities can be conducted online web surfing, e-mail, live chatting, wikis, blogging, and gaming can be among them and these activities can be social or solitary in nature [10]. The top five uses of the Internet by students were e-mailing friends, getting help IBR Journal homepage: www.ifrsa.org