Use of Educational Websites by Students of Higher Secondary Schools: a case study

The present educational system is such that students have to acquire knowledge and skills beyond classroom learning. For this, Internet and educational websites play an important role. This study aims at ascertaining the awareness of educational websites among higher secondary school students, emphasising the need for orientation programmes among students, highlighting the role of librarians in imparting information on the various information sources available on the Net and guiding the students on use of educational websites. The study also tries to find out the educational websites most used by the students and the purpose for which they are used. The questionnaire method was used for the study. Questionnaires were distributed equally among the male and female students of higher secondary schools in and around Kottayam. It was found that students access the Internet for academic purposes, social networking, games and entertainment. The students used the educational websites mainly for their project works and assignments. The librarians were found to play a negligible role in acquainting the students with the educational websites and their proper use