Thanks for sharing this article. I read it and yet again was frustrated with the conclusions the researchers made....as if knowing "exactly" what students do on FB was going to legitimize the existence of a relationship between time spent on FB and GPA. What was also interesting and very true was what a blogger wrote as a comment beneath the article:
"It’s not an experiment, it’s a field study.
Did they control for social desirability response bias? Both current grades (if self-reported) as well as what they tell you in terms of their FB activity will be prone to this bias (and HS grades less so). Posting a lot of status updates isn’t positive, but lurking and sending links is….those that up-play the latter, are also more likely to report (but not necessarily have) higher grades.
Would be more ideal if one could build a behind the scenes program that recorded ones actual use of facebook and compared it to transcripts…both collected over time."
I definitely agree with Maria that the "study" was frustratingly filled with bias and faulty logic / assumptions. I also find suspect their distinction between the different activities done on FB as correlates to GPA.
On a related note, I just downloaded the "Stay Focused" extension for my Google Chrome browser. Though it's only the first day, I find I am much more productive already, since the "app" literally locks you out of the sites you waste time on after a certain amount of time. I gave myself two hours (a lot!) for my daily Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, CNET and news allotment and have been surprised by how quickly the time adds up in a day. I can definitely see how there could be a correlation between time spent on these sites and lowered GPAs, I'd just like to see a more well-defined and designed study before they make their conclusions. (Good thing I didn't add blogspot to my restricted sites, or I'd be in trouble for making this comment! LOL)
Thank you for bringing this issue to the class presentation. And it was a great presentation. Bravo!
Last year, I read an article, talking about Micheal Obama's viewpoint toward the use of Facebook. She said that she does not allow her children to create profiles on Facebook because they are too young.
This really draws people attentions toward the use of Facebook among children and it has raised two questions in my mind.
1) When should the young start using Facebook? - Wish they are mature enough to know how to use Facebook properly.
2) If we do not allow and coach children to use Facebook, they might break the rules and do it anyway (since it is one part of socialization). Are we losing the opportunity to coach them how to use properly, and become a smart online user?
Thanks for sharing this article. I read it and yet again was frustrated with the conclusions the researchers made....as if knowing "exactly" what students do on FB was going to legitimize the existence of a relationship between time spent on FB and GPA. What was also interesting and very true was what a blogger wrote as a comment beneath the article:
ReplyDelete"It’s not an experiment, it’s a field study.
Did they control for social desirability response bias? Both current grades (if self-reported) as well as what they tell you in terms of their FB activity will be prone to this bias (and HS grades less so). Posting a lot of status updates isn’t positive, but lurking and sending links is….those that up-play the latter, are also more likely to report (but not necessarily have) higher grades.
Would be more ideal if one could build a behind the scenes program that recorded ones actual use of facebook and compared it to transcripts…both collected over time."
I definitely agree with Maria that the "study" was frustratingly filled with bias and faulty logic / assumptions. I also find suspect their distinction between the different activities done on FB as correlates to GPA.
ReplyDeleteOn a related note, I just downloaded the "Stay Focused" extension for my Google Chrome browser. Though it's only the first day, I find I am much more productive already, since the "app" literally locks you out of the sites you waste time on after a certain amount of time. I gave myself two hours (a lot!) for my daily Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, CNET and news allotment and have been surprised by how quickly the time adds up in a day. I can definitely see how there could be a correlation between time spent on these sites and lowered GPAs, I'd just like to see a more well-defined and designed study before they make their conclusions. (Good thing I didn't add blogspot to my restricted sites, or I'd be in trouble for making this comment! LOL)
comment above "education4everyone" is me, Lindsey Dixon. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for bringing this issue to the class presentation. And it was a great presentation. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteLast year, I read an article, talking about Micheal Obama's viewpoint toward the use of Facebook. She said that she does not allow her children to create profiles on Facebook because they are too young.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/2011/02/facebook_obama_girls_too_young.html
This really draws people attentions toward the use of Facebook among children and it has raised two questions in my mind.
1) When should the young start using Facebook? - Wish they are mature enough to know how to use Facebook properly.
2) If we do not allow and coach children to use Facebook, they might break the rules and do it anyway (since it is one part of socialization). Are we losing the opportunity to coach them how to use properly, and become a smart online user?
What do you think?
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