Can Spending More Time behind the Screen Really Affect a Student’s Educational Performance and Process?

Literature review

The internet has increasingly become the new social network which can connect people across the globe. The effects of social media affect a majority of the youths who are in schools, and they may have both positive and adverse effects on academic performance depending on the manner in which they use the social media platforms. 92% of the students across in the world have access to social media platforms either through phones or laptops making it a contributing factor to their academic performance (Hasnain et al., 2015). Technological improvement in modern society has made it easy for individuals at far distances to share ideas and provide solutions to problems without incurring expenses to meet and move from one region to the other. The Internet offers a chance for people to keep interconnected through the networks that serve the interests of approximately billions of people that use the internet. The use of social media among the youths is becoming popular among students as they can connect with friends on the campus and friends outside the institution’s compound. Its increasing popularity has drawn the interest of scholars to understand the effects of time spent by students on social media and their impact on academic performance. There is inadequate information about how each type of social media such as Facebook, Whatsapp, and Instagram affects students' academic performance.

Several researchers have investigated to identify the relationship between the increased rate of using internet among the students and its effects on their performance and entire education system. The scholars focused on conducting both quantitative and qualitative data from different regions comparing the rate and nature at which the participants used the internet thus comparing with their academic performance. They also focused on understanding the manner in which education institutions use social media platforms and their effects. The findings indicate that the increased use of technology such as the internet among students has both positive and adverse effects on the student’s performance and the entire education sector. The researchers made conclusions that students now spend at least 6 hours per daytime on the different Instagram, Twitter and Facebook leaving little time for study. 

Theme A

Impacts of social media on students’ academic performance

There are substantial factors that can be considered when examining the relationship between student’s access to the internet and the results in academic resources. Since social media and internet have various uses, there is a need for examining the purpose for which the student uses social media, time spends on social media and the time spent reading. When students use social media for a positive purpose, there is a possibility that the internet will be beneficial to students. From this view, effects of social; media on students’ academic performance has to distinct aspects.

Nature of Use

According to a study conducted by Hasnain et al., (2015), the findings indicate that adverse effects of social media on students depend on the purpose for which the student uses social media. The investigation focused on examining the impact of using social media among students in Pakistan and how they affected their performance. Questionnaires were used, and participants recorded the reasons as to why they like social media and their results. The findings revealed that social media has negative impacts on students’ academic performance. From this view, social media provides the knowledge necessary for students to improve their skills but the effects depend on the purpose for which they are used. Tess, (2013) conducted a research to identify the effects of social media on students. The results concluded that social media has positive effects on students’ academic scores irrespective of the purpose of use. The central argument is that social media equips students with essential skills that are required in both academics and future life. Ahn, (2011 ) researched in an attempt of understanding the impacts that social media may have on students. The research focused on a sample of 300 colleges, and university students and findings indicated that the nature of use does not affect student’s score in exams.

Time spent on social media and academic performance 

Time spent on social media appears to be an essential aspect in determining the effects of social media on academic achievement. Tamayo & deCruz (2014) investigated the relationship between social media and academic performance. The study focused on how time spends on social media affects class activities for those individual using sample students from Science in the information department at Centro Escolar University. The results indicated that students who spend too much of their time on social media performed poorly in academics. Tess, (2013) also focused on time as a fundamental aspect in determining the effects of social platforms on academic performance. The findings indicated that there was an adverse relation between the duration students spend on social media and their scores on exams. A similar study conducted by Ahn, (2011) considered time as a factor. The findings revealed that social media has positive effects on the student’s performance in class activities such as exams and also class attendance. 

Though the articles appear to be informative about the effects of social media platforms on academic performance, it is evident that each article has some strengths and weaknesses that affect their effectiveness in providing information required in the study. For example, Hasnain et al., (2015) appear to be biased because the nature of the questions would predetermine the kind of answers that respondents are going to give. Similarly, Tess (2013) focused on understanding the effects of social media platforms on education performance revealing that there was a positive relationship between the use of social media and academic performance. The collection of the information was biased because it focused on students who used social media platforms for academic purposes. Ahn, (2011 ) focused on college students and revealed that the nature of use had no relationship with academic performance. The differences experienced in the results presented in this section originate from the fact there is bias when selecting the sample population. 

Theme B

Effects of online teaching on social students’ academic performance

The emergence of the internet has created new technologies that are increasingly adopted by colleges and universities to teach and provide instructions to students. In most cases, professors use online teachings and even offer exams to students through social media. There has been an increasing concern by the public to understand the effects of social media on the education sector. Researchers have focused on understanding the effects of online learning on education and the use of multimedia in classroom teaching. 

Online teaching

Tamayo & de la Cruz (2014) also focused on examining the effects of online instruction in the education system focusing on understanding the impact of social media on teaching. The study focused on colleges and universities where online teaching has been adopted across the globe. The findings showed that this method has many positive and adverse effects on the teachers and students. Al-Mukhaini et al., (2014) researched the impact of online teaching on the education system. The research focused on examining the number of institutions that have adopted online instruction because of the increased level of technology. The findings revealed that the many of the higher education institutions had taken this technology. Based on the evaluation of the effectiveness of online teaching in the education sector, Almuktaini et al. concluded that online instruction has both positive impacts on both lectures and students. Raut & Patil (2016) also tried to understand the effects of social media on the education system focusing on the impact of online learning. These researchers discovered that most education institutions have adopted online teaching and have positive and negative effects on the education system. 

Multimedia classroom teaching

Scholars have developed an interest in understanding the effects of multimedia learning used in classrooms. According to Al-Mukhaini et al., (2014) social networks have transformed the teaching process from plain lectures to a multimedia presentation in classes. The central idea presented by this investigation is that social networking has provided an easy way of teaching that is beneficial to the students and tutors. Tamayo & Cruz (2014) also added that there are both positive and negative impacts on classroom teaching using social multimedia presentations. Sometimes students may concentrate on the images and not the content thus making it difficult to focus on the main points of the lecture. In the case of classroom multimedia presentation, Raut & Patil (2016) finding indicated that there are positive and negative effects associated with multimedia teaching because the process does not cater for the learning abilities of all students. 

The authors who attempted to explain the effects of online teaching tried to reach consensus. Though the information was collected from different settings, the scholars avoided possible errors that would result from sampling the population to be included in the study. The population constituted of both teachers and students from universities and colleges that had enacted that had implemented online teaching approach. Both to Al-Mukhaini et al., (2014) and Raut & Patil (2016) agreed that there were both positive and adverse impacts of multimedia teaching approach. 

Conclusion

The current literature provides adequate information regarding the aspects that need to be considered in investigating the effects of social media platforms on students’ academic performance and the entire education system. Though they are informative about the factors that determine the effects of using social media, they differ on in their findings concerning the manner in which social media impacts student’s performance and learning process. For example, some researchers argue that the nature of the use of social media has a positive impact on student performance while others do not find a significant relationship. The studies focused on Youtube, Whatsapp, and Instagram as the fundamental social media platforms that affect students’ academic performance. When it comes to the effects of social media platforms on the teaching process, there is significant disagreement. Some scholars find a positive relationship while others record both positive and negative effects. Despite the weaknesses and strengths, these sources provide the starting point of the research because it provides possible sources of errors and the gaps that need to be addressed. In this investigation, there will be a focus on understanding the effects of social media platforms such as Whatsapp, Instagram, and Facebook on academic performance among students thus providing solutions that can be applied to reduce the negative impacts of social media on student’s performance and teaching process. Therefore, the research will focus on understanding what are the possible solutions for reducing the adverse effects of social media on students’ academic performance? 

References

Ahn, J. (2011). The effect of social network sites on adolescents' social and academic development: Current theories and controversies.  Journal of the American Society for information Science and Technology ,  62 (8), 1435-1445. Vol 5 Issue 4 PP—22-29 www.ijbmi.org

Al-Mukhaini, E. M., Al-Qayoudhi, W. S., & Al-Badi, A. H. (2014). Adoption of social networking in education: A study of the use of social networks by higher education students in Oman.  Journal of International Education Research ,  10 (2), 143.

Hasnain, H., Nasreen, A., & Ijaz, H. (2015). Impact of social media usage on academic performance of university students. In  Proceedings of the 2nd International Research Management and Innovation conference, Langkawi .

Raut, V., & Patil, P. (2016). Use of Social Media in Education: Positive and Negative impact on the students.  International Journal on Recent and Innovation Trends in Computing and Communication ,  4 (1), 281-285.

Tamayo, J. D., & dela Cruz, G. S. G. (2014). The Relationship of Social Media with the Academic Performance of Bachelor of Science in Information Technology Students of Centro Escolar UniversityMalolos. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 4(5), 1-10.

Tess, P. A. (2013). The role of social media in higher education classes (real and virtual)–A literature review.  Computers in Human Behavior ,  29 (5), A60-A68.