The Internet has primed students to expect instant results. A 2010 study in "Psychological Record" finds that students who spend more time on the Internet are quicker to discount delayed rewards than students who spend less time on the Internet. Consider your students' expectations when designing assignments. For instance, assignments with several close deadlines along the way may be more effective than assignments with only one final deadline. (See Reference 4.)
A 2011 study in "Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice" concludes that students may shy away from financial, educational and relationship problems by spending time on the Internet rather than attempting to cope with the problems. The Internet as an escape tool can affect your college classroom because students may not feel urgency to correct educational issues when they first arise. Instead, they may avoid educational problems and allow the problems to grow worse, which can turn into a downward spiral for them. (See Reference 3.)
A 2004 article in "College Teaching" states that the Internet has impacted students' success at conducting research. Due to the immediacy and accessibility of the Internet, students spend little to no time in an actual library and possess minimal knowledge of the differences between scholarly and popular sources. To combat this problem, "College Teaching" recommends teaching students the specific language associated with library-based research, giving them time to practice conducting library-based research and teaching them to recognize the difference between academic and non-academic sources. (See Reference 2.)
A 2008 study in "Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education" discusses how the Internet has increased plagiarism within college classrooms. The Internet has put innumerable sources within easy access of students and it can be tempting for students to copy and paste information from the Internet. According to the study, plagiarism can be a result of students' lack of familiarity with how to properly cite sources or simply students' lack of willingness to complete the assignment themselves. You can attempt to combat this by creating course-specific assignments and collecting and responding to drafts of student papers throughout the writing process. (See Reference 1.)