ONLINE SOCIAL NETWOKS AND ADOLESCENTS LEARNING

Online Social Networks and Adolescents Learning Shahrzad Sadrpour California State University Long Beach

ONLINE SOCIAL NETWOKS AND ADOLESCENTS LEARNING Chapter I: Introduction In our todays society the use of social networks sites (SNS) has become a daily norm among the population from promoting businesses, campaigns, personal and professional networking, sharing information, finding friends, and communicating with others all around the globe. Due to the popularity and tools/features the SNS offer, adolescence in particular, has selected this form of communication as their main platform to interact with friends and explore personal interests. The main problem is that there is not many researches on ways SNS can be used as innovative way in an educational setting to engage adolescents and improve the learning outcomes. Unfortunately, many educators and parents dont see the positive impacts SNS can have on students achievement and learning. Most fear that using SNS can negatively distract adolescents from the academic content, thus many school districts limits their Internet usage by blocking variety of social media sites. One research study by Kirschner & Karpinski (2010) indicates that, when school assignments are done on SNS not only enforce students into multitasking and distraction, yet it also cause a decrease in the their overall academic performance. Another similar research by Rouis (2011) suggests students who are constantly using SNS tend to experience more distraction to non-academic material and take longer time to complete their academic task, which can cause inability to manage time efficiently. According to the National Survey back in 2010, 73% of the SNS users were shown to be adolescents. Thus, It is important to accept the fact that todays adolescents are among the first generation to grow entirely surrounded by technology; furthermore, it is crucial for todays educators to incorporate features and tools offered from various social media sites into their curriculum to advocate better learning.

ONLINE SOCIAL NETWOKS AND ADOLESCENTS LEARNING I chose to this research study because in the past decade most research studies that have been done on the influence of using SNS are mainly focused on the emotional consequences rather than the positive educational aspects of it. Thus, I believe this is a great opportunity to acknowledge the correlation between SNS usage and adolescents learning; and focus on the important role of SNS and academic performance as technology emerges rapidly in our schools and classrooms. The main goal of this research study is to evaluate the effectiveness of SNS on the adolescence-learning outcome. Through this research study assessment will be done by comparing two groups of adolescent groups to determine as to whether usage of SNS have a

positive impact on students learning outcome and therefore should schools develop a strategy to incorporate SNS in the academic activities during and after class sessions. The following questions will be addressed during the research study: 1. Is there a significant learning difference between students who use SNS for classroom activities and those who do not? Significance of the study The importance of this research study is to integrate the entertaining websites such as bloggers and Facebook that most adolescents are familiar with and enjoy using it on a daily basis into a learning platform to make the learning fun and more effective. In addition, other research studies related to this topic is presented in my research to better determine if educators should consider incorporating the SNS in their curriculum. Chapter II: Literature Review The purpose of the literature review is to better understand the relationship between the learning and using SNS in the educational environment. For my research, I mainly used PsycInfo

ONLINE SOCIAL NETWOKS AND ADOLESCENTS LEARNING and ERIC database to gather articles related to my research study. I found many articles that examined behavior development of young adult who are regular SNS users; however, I found a few studies that had a direct relationship between SNS and learning outcome. Thus, for my research, I consider several key words around teen participation in social media sites, education and SNS, and current studies that examined the impact of SNS use on the academic

development. In the literature review, studies and researches provided closely tie the relationship that exists between the SNS use and the academic achievement among the adolescents. Effect of Using SNS With the rising adolescents user base, sites such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and bloggers are among the top leading websites on the Internet. One of the main problems that exist in the educational system is that there is a great opportunity to engage students in a better learning method using websites that they enjoy and familiar with; yet teachers are not doing so due to lack of knowledge on ways these sites can be properly incorporated into the class activities (Akyildiz, & Argan, 2010). According to Nemetz (2012), many students have a interact and view social media sites differently when using for personal purposes, as opposed to using them for educational purposes. The idea behind SNSs popularity and rapid growth is the numerous applications and features offered in formal educational settings, such as learning management and sharing educational content which opens the opportunity to information discovery and creative forms of learning (Forkosh-Baruch, & Hershkovitz, 2012). Another positive impact of using online social networking sites is the capability of the social interaction, feedback, and learning autonomy that enhance language skills, teachers should recognize these core characteristic and consider SNS as an engaging and learning tool for their classrooms (Mahadi, & Ubaidullah, 2010).

ONLINE SOCIAL NETWOKS AND ADOLESCENTS LEARNING It is important to clearly understand the connection between adolescents level of engagement when it comes to the academic content and their performance. In a study examined by Yu and Tian (2010) they determined that not only the online social networking can help improve students psychological well-being, yet it can also help them develop new skills and meet the desired learning outcomes. Similarly, Bradly (2010), in support to the educational benefits of SNS, conduct a research study where he closely observed numbers of adolescent students complete their class activities using online social networking sites. The founding was

that most social media websites are designed to mainly focus on the individual, rather than group and/or a classroom, thus these sites have the potential to increase student involvement in educational content and most importantly can improve academic performance. Same researcher also noted that the majority of his participants reported positive and much higher learning outcome as they completed their academic tasks using variety of online social networking websites. Various information-sharing social network websites such as Twitter and bloggers are great platforms for the educational settings to endorse academic achievements, engagement, and better learning. (Wise, 2009). Another similar research supporting the positive effect of social media sites is by Paul and Baker (2012) when they suggest sites such as Twitter is a useful tool in education because the layout and characteristics of this site increases students interaction which can increase their involvement and help improve grades in educationally relevant ways. As mentioned previously, educational systems must find new innovative ways to better engage instructors and students in the academic content. While SNSs are not often incorporated in the classrooms activities, yet many research studies have reported positive impacts on students performance once they get involved in online social networking sites. Furthermore, in

ONLINE SOCIAL NETWOKS AND ADOLESCENTS LEARNING relation to the influence of social networking sites, Hoffman (2009) argues that, Among the positive attributes of social networking are impacts on affective aspects of the learning environment, as well impacts on motivation and students engagement. Whether through selfreporting or independent research, student engagement and performance can be impacted positively through use of SNS. Areas of Improvement Most articles I researched promote SNS use in the educational environment. There are

many ways educators can take advantage of SNSs to make the learning more effective, yet due to lack of knowledge and research, teachers avoid using these sites. Within the educational system, there are many areas for improvements, one is changing the teaching and learning strategies. Educators must learn that use of SNS not only help them to better teach their subjects, yet it also engage students into a fun and effective method of learning. Thus, studies need to be done to mainly focus on the educational aspects of SNS use and ways it can be properly used in the classroom to improve teaching and learning outcomes. Conclusion Many researchers have argued that incorporating online social networking sites have the potential to engage adolescents in a more meaningful learning method while improving their knowledge and skills. Yet, its up to the educators and curriculum developers to take advantage of SNS to create a better learning and teaching experience in the classrooms. Chapter III: Methodology Procedure This study will take place at a local high school in the city of Redondo Beach. The school is included of ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades and has a student body of

ONLINE SOCIAL NETWOKS AND ADOLESCENTS LEARNING

approximately 2,300. The racial breakdown of the school consists of 52% White, 26% Hispanic, 12% Asian, 8% Black, and 2% other. For this research study a total of 30 students are selected to meet 2-hour required research participation associated with a Language Arts class. All selected students in this study are enrolled in general education courses and will not receive special education assistance. During the 2-hour research study, participants are divided into two groups of 15. Group A contains individuals who have a computer with an access to the Internet; group B contains individuals who have a computer with no Internet access yet are only limited to the Microsoft Office software. In this study, participants will be engaged in a creative writing assignment based on the prompt given to them. Group A is required to use Blogger to write their creative writing and group B is required to use either PowerPoint or Word document to write theirs. Once both groups completed their pages, individuals in group A required to comment on three of their group members page; and individuals in group B are required to print out their page and swap their page with three of their group members. Each student will be graded from scale 1 to 10, 1 indicating inadequate and 10 indicating excellent. The first 15-minute of the class session, participants will be required to complete a short survey (Appendix A) containing 10 questions. Once the surveys are received, two focused groups will be created. The instructor will take 15 minutes to introduce the topic and present the assignment to the participants. Each group will have 90 minutes to create their page and comment on their peers page. Subject The sampling method for this research study would be the probability simple random sampling to make sure everyone has an equal and positive chance to be selected thus the study

ONLINE SOCIAL NETWOKS AND ADOLESCENTS LEARNING can represent the overall population. With the help of administrators a total of 30 students

enrolled in 11th and 12th grades are selected as the focused group. The participants range from 16 to 18 years old; therefore, for ones under the legal age, a consent form was sent to parents requiring them to sign the form if they didnt want their child to participate in the study. In addition, a request was sent to all English teachers who would be interested in volunteering in this research study. Instrument In this research study, a survey (Appendix A) and in-class activity (Appendix B) are used. I choose to use both the activity and the survey, because I thought it is the best ways to determine if using SNS for academic purposes have any impact on students learning and performance. The survey, Appendix A, is a pilot study to gather demographic information about the students and to record and assess the amount of time participants spend on SNS. The activity, Appendix B, is a pilot study to determine the relationship/impact between the students learning and SNS. Data Analysis From this study, the scores and the information will be collected from participants for assessment. The questions on the survey will help to measure and assess the importance of SNS in the adolescents lives along with the amount each spend on a daily basis. The scores from the activity would be measured using t-test. Since I am comparing the means of two groups, t-test method would be best to appropriately compare the means of two groups rather than Anova in which is best to use when there are more than two means.

ONLINE SOCIAL NETWOKS AND ADOLESCENTS LEARNING Reference Akyildz, M. & Argan, M. (2010). Using online social networking. Technology Research, 21, 145-158. Retrieved from ERIC database. Bradly, K. (2010). The use of alternative social networking sites in higher educational settings: Interactive Online Learning, 9(2), 151-170. Retrieved from ERIC database. Forkosh-Baruch, A., & Hershkovitz, A. (2012). A Sharing scholarly information with the community via social networks. Internet and Higher Education. Retrieved from: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? %20direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ947868&site=ehost-live&scope=site; Hoffman, E. (2009). Evaluating social networking tools for distance learning. Retrieved from: http://etec.hawaii.edu/proceedings/2009/hoffman.pdf Kirschner, P., & Karpinski, A. (2010). Facebook and academic performance. Learning, Media and Technology. 34(2), 141-160. Retrieved from ERIC database. Mahadi, N., & Ubaidullah, N. (2010). Social networking sites: Opportunities for Language Teachers. 20(1), 19-28. Retrieved from ERIC database. Nemetz. P. (2012). Should faculty use social networks to engage with students? Journal, for

ONLINE SOCIAL NETWOKS AND ADOLESCENTS LEARNING Advancement of Marketing Education, 20 (1), 19-28. Retrieved from ERIC database. Paul, J., & Baker,H. (2012). Effect of social networking on student academic performance. Computers in Human Behavior. 2(2), 24-29. Retrieved from PsycInfo database. Research center publication: Youth and the Internet Survey. Retrieved from: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/?Year=2010 Rouis, S. (2011). Role of self-regulation and trust. Impact of Facebook Usage on Students Academic Achievement, 9(3), 961-994. Retrieved from PsycInfo database.

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Yu, A, Tian, S.(2010). Can learning be virtually boosted? An investigation of online social networking impact. Computers and Education. 55, 1494-1503. Retrieved from ERIC database. Wise, B. (2009). Adolescent literacy: The cornerstone of student success. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 52, 369-375. Retrieved from ERIC database.

Appendix A

ONLINE SOCIAL NETWOKS AND ADOLESCENTS LEARNING 1. What is your gender Male ________ Female________

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2. What grade are you and what is your current GPA? 3. After school do you use computer for personal purposes? Yes ______No ______ 4. Please select a social networking websites that you are currently a member? MySpace____ Twitter ______Facebook ______ Blogger None _______ 5. Have you ever accessed a social networking website at school? Yes ____No _____ Other: ______

6. How often do you visit a social networking website? More than 7 times a day ______ Once a week _____ Less than once a month______ Once a day ______ Once a month _______ Never ________

7. How often spending time on a social networking website interfered with your school assignments? Numerous times _____More than two time _____ One time _____ Never _____ 7. Have you ever completed school assignment on a social networking site? Yes _____ No _____

8. Do you feel using social networking sites help you better learn and complete your school assignments? Yes _____ No _____

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9. Do you feel your activities done on a social networking website is more important than school assignments? Yes _____No _____ 10. Please select how important social networking website(s) is to you? Very Important _____Important _____ Somewhat Important ____ Not Important _____

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Appendix B 1. Using your imagination, Write a short story about an adventurous day from the point of view of your shoes. This creative writing should be between 350 to 500 words.