Role of internet on overall development of knowledge and attitude among undergraduate, postgraduate students, and staff members in a dental institution – A questionnaire-based study

Abstract

Introduction: Everyone nowadays needs access to the Internet for recreational and educational purposes. The goal of this study was to find out how undergraduate, postgraduate, and college faculty members use the Internet for various purposes. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted by preparing 18 questions in 240 participants with the help of a semi-structured, pretested questionnaire, 7 closed-ended and the rest multiple-choice questionnaire containing demographic information, information related to Internet addiction test questions, undergraduate, postgraduate, and faculty members of the college were selected and evaluated. Results and Observations: This study revealed that the Internet was used as a source of learning for all the groups. Mainly undergraduates use the Internet for entertainment and educational purposes both. Postgraduates, apart from these, also used the Internet for their research work. Staff members used it for all the reasons mentioned above and used email, learning exercises, and teaching purposes. Conclusion: The Internet not only provides a great source of entertainment and information, but it is also essential for the exchange of information, social communication, education, banking, business, shopping, administration, and proper evaluation of data sources. It is a constantly changing phenomenon that is getting more and more ingrained into our daily life.