HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF VALUES ON THE INTERNET

In a complex world filled with such a diversity of values, it is paramount to understand the relationship of undergraduates with the Internet, especially with regards to their perception on the promotion of values within the internet and the presence of such values when using the Internet to communicate with colleagues, friends and family. Therefore, the main aims of the study were to: determine whether the Internet promotes values of friendship, cooperation, creativity, honesty, equality, freedom, respect, responsibility and solidarity; find out if the weekly frequency of Internet use influences students' perceptions regarding the promotion of values on the Internet and the importance they give to them during online communication with colleagues, friends and relatives. This study follows a quantitative and exploratory approach with descriptive characteristics and experimental research procedures through survey. The main data collection technique used was the questionnaire. The data was obtained in the academic year of 2016/2017, from a sample of 724 higher education students belonging to two institutions, a Portuguese one and a Spanish one. The results obtained show that the majority of the respondents consider that the Internet frequently promotes the referred values. The application of statistical tests led to the conclusion that there are significant differences between groups in several situations associated with the promotion and the presence of values on the Internet, namely with regards to the promotion of friendship and cooperation and to the presence of values of friendship, cooperation, honesty, equality, freedom, respect and solidarity. The results show that the consideration given to those values increases according to the increase of the frequency of Internet use.