Pattern of Internet Usage in Planning after-School Programs

The present research studies the pattern of the Internet usage by the third grade students of middle schools in the school year 2012-13 in Tehran. For this purpose, the needs of Iranian teenagers in virtual and cyber space have been identified and studied through an interdisciplinary approach. A researcher-made questionnaire and interviews with specialists and scholars in the fields of curriculum planning, educational technology, educational planning, information technology and communication were used based on an interdisciplinary approach. Finally, the needs of the students were divided and categorized into two factors of knowledge and skill, and individual and social characteristics on the basis of factor analysis method; the pattern of the Internet usage, including leisure factors and accessibility to information and sources, was designed and presented. Also, the results indicate that these factors have no direct effect on the network features and this effect occurs in relation to leisure factors through the location of the programs. Students’ interest in the Internet was mainly for the purposes of downloading videos and music and also playing online games and entertainment programs. This implies the necessity of attention on the part of planners to preparing and providing videos, games and educational, scientific and entertaining programs.