SOCIAL MEDIA IN EDUCATION

A number of people argue that Social media prevents many from doing what they are meant to do, whether it be studying, working and/or the likes. Others argue that Social media contributes to greater effort and deeper knowledge of a lot of different things.

Greg Toppo, an education reporter, writes in an article published in USA TODAY (25 July 2011) “Principle Eric Sheninger is one of a growing number of educators who don't just tolerate social networking in school — he encourages it, often for educational purposes. He says sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube — long banned and roundly derided by many peers — actually push kids to do better work and pay attention to important issues such as audience, quality research and copyright laws.”

In Conan O’Brien’s Mashable, it is published: “Students who use Facebook and hit the books simultaneously found their multitasking led to 20% lower grades than those of their more focused peers. Facebook-using students also made less money during school from part-time work, putting in around five hours per week as opposed to 16 hours per week for a typical, unplugged counterpart. Not only do grades and finances suffer, but students might actually end up feeling more depressed or lonely. Almost half of students believe they are sadder than their friends on Facebook, and 25% of college students have shown signs of severe depression in their status updates at one time or another.”

When Social media is combined with education, is this detrimental?

I would love to hear your views on the matter.