Facebook Changes Education

Facebook is at the center of every students’ social life.  Its influence on society, the Internet and the world is vast and undeniable. It has also had a profound affect on education – and it isn’t all negative.

            Is it true that students waste their time on Facebook? Of course it is.

            “Any student that doesn’t spend too much time on Facebook is living under a rock,” said sophomore business major Evan Seraypheap. “But that doesn’t mean it’s all bad.”

            It certainly doesn’t. According to Neil Selwyn, a sociologist working at the University of London, social networks like Facebook allow students to learn through unconventional channels.

            “It has been suggested that social networking offers the opportunity to re-engage individuals with learning and education,” Selwyn said in his journal article Faceworking: exploring students’ education-related use of Facebook. “Students will often use Facebook to exchange information and opinions on their classes.”

Farmville is one of many
distracting Facebook apps

            Facebook has garnered as reputation of being a major hindrance to education, and more specifically, the completion of homework.  With apps like Farmville, Mafia Wars and ESPNU Collegetown, there are plenty of addicting options available to students who are easily susceptible to distractions.

            “It used to be that when I got home I would immediately start doing homework,” said engineering major Edwin Almeida. “Since I got a Facebook, that has stopped.  I mean I still get my work done, but having that distraction there certainly doesn’t speed things up.”

            Almeida does see the academic benefits of Facebook though.         

            “When you need to confirm something or ask a question about an assignment, Facebook can be very helpful. It’s also a great way to get your work edited and reviewed.”

            Sophomore Jelani Crear uses Facebook in a similar way.

            “If you can friend one or two of your classmates, it’s really helpful,” he said. “I try as hard as possible to avoid sending mass emails to the class asking questions that could easily be answered by, say, a Facebook friend.”

University of London

            Selwyn’s study backs up the viewpoints of these students.  In 2006 and 2007, he analyzed the Facebook activity of 909 students studying in the United Kingdom.  He specifically investigated how the students’ Facebook interactions were related to their education.  Another research question of his asked if Facebook contributed to increased disengagement between the students and their studies.

            The results of the study showed that students generally followed one of five themes while posting.  These five themes were reflection on the experience of college, exchanging of practical information, exchanging of academic information, displays of disengagement and exchanges of humor and nonsense.

            While a lot of the posting has to do with socializing or complaining about classes, a fair amount also furthered their academic pursuit by posting information on just that – academics.

            “There were instances of students using Facebook to assist each other’s educational endeavors in more inventive ways,” Selwyn said. “For instance, students would recommend journal articles and books to each other.”

            One posting read: “I’ve finally found a use for Facebook that isn’t detrimental to my degree!!”

Sites like Beachboard may be great for
posting grades and assignments,
but they lack options for efficient communication.

            This is the approach that many students and teachers alike are seeing from Facebook.  Teachers and school organizations regularly create Facebook groups to stay in contact with their members.  While classes generally have their own pages on school websites, few of them offer the opportunity for communication that Facebook does.  With group walls, classmates can post questions that are easily accessible and easy to reply to – a far cry from the “shot in the dark” mass emails that are sent around just hours before projects are due.

            “Facebook makes a lot of things easier,” Seraypheap said. “It’s easier to keep track of what’s going on in my social circles, it’s easier to find out about events and it’s also easier to get things clarified for school. You can ask for an opinion or advice on something and will be able to get an immediate response.  It’s as close to being in class as you can get when you’re online.”

            Facebook may be garnering a reputation of idiotic and pointless statuses, but beyond the junk on the surface is a world of help for education. It can be used as a tool or as a distraction. But that  is up to the students themselves. The ones who write the papers and status updates,  the ones who take exams and get Facebook report cards – the ones who study flash cards and play Farmville. The students are the only people who can take advantage of Facebook academically in addition to socially.  Let’s hope that they will.