Internet and electronic data transmission : its influence on teenage girls in St. Helen's School

Abstract

This study was an empirical analysis of a particular girl's secondary school in Malta to whom the pseudo-name St. Helen's has been attached. (This pseudo name was employed so as to respect the confidentiality of both the students and staff of the school). Its aim was that of showing how the usage of such information technology as WWW, e-mails, chat-rooms, and other similar means of electronic data transmission, influenced the teenage girls attending this school (in both the academic and the non-academic aspects of their lives). The research methodology used employed both qualitative and quantitative research tools in its ethnographic orientation. It included an exhaustive bibliographic review of pertinent relevant literature, an extensive browsing of "the net" for pertinent information, interviews of pertinent teaching staff at St. Helen's School, and detailed case studies and interviews of a number of students. It is assumed that this research will be a practical contribution to existing research since it will serve to explore in a detailed way whether computer technology serves as a tool that further incites curiosity for learning in the girls and enhances their fostering of social contacts with others.