The impact of wireless fidelity on students? academic performance in a developing economy

A wireless technology recently has become our life saver in the communication process and also in sharing of information. Private and public institutions, individuals, businesses, non-profit organisations, government agencies and other corporate have already invested heavily and grown the wireless technology operations. Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), is the common term in the process of connection local area network (LAN) with high frequency wireless. Wi-Fi allows electronic devices to connect to LAN and enables Internet access to devices such as the laptops, smartphone and tablets. Institutions in developing countries already make it possible to connect the LAN and also enable the Wi-Fi to allow the individual to connect their personal devices. However, the better Wi-Fi speed of upload and download provided by the institution, also increase opportunities to achieve their teaching and learning objectives, while the poor infrastructure of Wi-Fi limits the opportunities of achieving learning objectives. This study was conducted from the North-West University (NWU) Mafikeng Campus, with the aim to determine the impact of Wi-Fi (as new connectivity designation) in the academic performance of the students in a developing country. The study also determines how many students? use this technology for school related matter and how many use it more for personal reasons than academic. For the purpose of this study, data was collected using quantitative research method through questionnaire. The sample size for this research involved 370 participants. The findings indicate that majority of students find Wi-Fi beneficially to their studies, since it enables them to access Internet in different spot around campus and allow them to submits academic work on time and also enable communication with classmates and lecturers.