http://www.care2.com/causes/education/blog/facebook-use-lowers-GPA/Facebook, the ultimate time-suck, is also a GPA saboteur, according to a recent study. Students who study with their Facebook pages open, even just as background "noise," receive lower grades and have GPA's that are 20% lower than their non-multitasking peers.
Research Says
Researchers sampled 216 students between the ages of 19 and 54. They discovered that Facebook users averaged grade points of 3.06 while non-users posted GPA's of 3.82 on average.
Netherlands's psychologist Paul A. Kirschnera of the Centre conducted the study for Learning Sciences and Technologies at the Open University of the Netherlands with Aryn C. Karpinskib of Ohio State University. Their findings are set to be published soon by Computers in Human Behavior.
The Multi-tasking Myth
Kirschnera is quick to point out that Facebook is not necessarily to blame as much as is the myth that young people are good at multi-tasking.
Young people today are portrayed as fluent multi-taskers much more capable of actions like texting, listening to music and reading at the same time than their elders.
According to the research, however, this is nonsense. Kirschnera contends that performing multiple tasks takes more time, which leads to more mistakes, and that schools should "resist the fashionable views of educational gurus that children can multi-task, and that we should adapt our education systems accordingly to keep up with the times."
Social networks are not the only danger to learning. Educators should also keep an eye on increasing dependence on computers for information and research.
What Do You Think?
Is multi-tasking a myth? Are we too dependent on computers and the Internet? Share your stories.
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