Examining the Relationship Between Social Media and Student Academic (Essay Sample)

Examining the Relationship between Social Media and Student Academic
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Abstract
The use of blog, Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp in and out of the learning environment has been on the rise in the modern-day society. Students are currently spending most of their time surfing social media sites compared to reading. It is speculated that the use of social media will continue to advance as a result of the rapidly changing technology. Academic performance is vital since it influences the economy by providing the required skills and expertise to serve in different sectors. Despite the benefits associated with exemplary performance in academics, an extensive study and analysis in relation to the influence social media has on students is absent. The study aims at examining the relationship between the time spent in these sites and general academic performance. The resulting work inclines towards identifying all social network sites, evaluating how students surf and participate in each of the network, time spent by learners in surfing these sites, and the impacts of social networks on the overall academic performance of the students. Social media is a powerful tool that impacts academics in positive and negative ways.
Benefits of surfing social networks among students are well depicted with weight given to sharing of learning contents. To attain this objective, the study reviews archival data . The information obtained from the scholarly articles is used as a benchmark to affirm the correlation that exists between social media and academic performance. The study gives an insight of the social sites commonly used by students for chatting and making new friends. It concludes that consequences such as late submission of class assignments, less time devoted to study, and poor performance are associated with addiction to social networks among students. Despite the setbacks linked to active participation in these sites, the review of the literature depicted cases of improvement skills especially in reading with continuous use of the social media.
Keywords: Students, Academic Performance, Surfing, Addiction, Social Media Networks, and Social Media.
Examining the Relationship Between Social Media and Student Academic
Introduction
In the current society, social networking has rampantly increased as a result of advancement in technology. The emergence of smartphones is linked to heavy use and addiction by individuals to social networks. These platforms provide a base over which one can connect and share with friends globally. Human beings are social animals and tend to use these sites to satisfy their psychological needs. Students use social media to connect with friends and the community as well both inside and outside the environs of learning. The rapidly advancing rate of use of social networks by college students is developing concerns among educators, parents, and social leaders. These concerns are linked to the academic performance of students quantified by grade point average (GPAs) and the overall social life of the students. The focus of this review thus, is to evaluate the if there is any relationship between the time spent in surfing across social sites and student academic.
Over the past, there have been debates on the media and varied platforms concerning the influence that social media surfing has on education and the society in general. The debates present evidence on how students struggle in balancing social media and education. Most of the students record a drop in grades as a result of minimal time dedicated to studies. However, use of social networks by students fails to guarantee poor performance in certain situations. Social network sites promote student-teacher interactions, enhancing content delivery to the learners. Therefore, social networks can be considered to have both negative and positive impacts on the academic journey of a student. Striking a good balance between social networks and reading guarantees enhanced performance of students especially in social-related subjects. Addiction is the biggest challenge in the use of social networks by the students.
Rationale for Investigation
Since the launch of various social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, sufficient research has not been done in the field of social networks and how it impacts on the performance of the student. Education is vital in any economy. Most third-world countries are associated with high illiteracy levels. Thence, states put up measures to better their schools and ensure quality education is attained amongst its population. Desirable academic performance guarantees skills and knowledge that offer the required workforce in sectors such as health, engineering, and manufacturing, which are critical in attaining economic progress.
Educators’ Rationale
Institutions of learning develop interventions aimed at bettering student’s performance. Educators experience vast challenges in identifying some of the challenges that attribute to poor performance, especially among gifted students. According to Junco, Heiberger, and Loken (2011), advancements in technology lead institutions of learning into adopting measures that disseminate content to the students in a more advanced and easier way. Social media-based platforms have been developed by various institutions that permit students and their instructors to interact in a comprehensive manner thus, bettering content delivery. The results from this study will aid institutions and educators to resolve performance issues linked to social network use. Additionally, the results can give schools an insight into the probable use of social platforms, such as Facebook, for content dissemination and teaching purposes with an aim of enhancing learning thus bettering academic performance (Kittinger, Correia, & Irons, 2012).
Government and Stakeholders’ Rationale
According to Paul, Baker, and Cochran (2012), various countries have established rules governing the use of social networks. The regulations dictate the content that should be posted on social sites. Student addiction to social networks can be traced to materials present in these sites, especially images and videos alluding to pornographic content. The results of the study will aid the government in establishing rules that are student’s performance-oriented. In addition, the implications of the study will give the government an insight into the advantages students obtain from social networks. This will guide budget allocations to schools for purposes of investing in technology to enhance content delivery and student-instructor interactions to obtain the desired quality of education. Additionally, the findings of this review will fill the literature gap present in the field of social network and academic performance (Junco, 2012).
Literature Review
Social Network Sites
According to Kirschner and Karpinski (2010), social networking sites are platforms that offer services based on the web permitting individuals to create a semi-public or public profiles restricted within a comprehensive system and articulating a list of other people. The networks allow users to view, traverse, and share a connection with other individuals connected to the platforms. Al-rahmi and Othman (2013) regard online social networks as communities with no physical form which gives individuals an opportunity to connect and interact with an objective at hand or for the sake of spending time online. Social networks offer users valid options of interacting with each other globally. Gossips, games, chats, and entertainment are the common ways through which people interact online. Through these web-based platforms, learners are in a position to interact with each other and share ideas on valid topics which interest them.
According to DeAndrea et al. (2012), social media technology represents all web-based platforms and mobile applications that give organizations, individuals, and institutions an opportunity to generate, engage, and share content that may be existing or generated by new users. The technology permits multi-way sharing of information. The commonly used social network platforms among students can be accessed thrrough mobile phones, tablets, and personal computers. According to Junco, Heiberger, and Loken (2011), the web-based platforms include Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Google plus among others. Each of this platform is designed to perform specific functions although their roles relate. They communicate through various models. Al-rahmi and Othman (2013) define social media as a collection of internet -based platforms that are designed based on the technology and ideas generated from the web that permits generation and exchange of contents generated by various users. Smith and Caruso (2010) sum up the description of social sites by referring to these networks as platforms whereby individuals from varied environs can connect and interrelate with each other for various reasons.
Social Network and Education
According to Tess (2013), social networks have been transformed into integral constituents of learner’s social life. Students use these sites to relate and interact with their peers and at times, with their instructors. These networks are thus vital in a student’s life. Various communities use social platforms as learning tools through engagement. Learning institutions apply these sites to compliment content learned in the normal classroom setting. According to Salmon (2013), social networks can be effectively used to better student performance and life in general.
Results from a number of studies have affirmed substantial positive impacts obtained from online community participation among learners and their peers. A study by Smith and Caruso (2010) depicted that communication in writ...