Research Paper
However, SINS, like everything else, can have positive as well as negative effects. Socializing online has become synonymous to “time-pass” activity as more and more students are engaging themselves in Online social media rather than in-person and outdoor activities. Hence, the intention of this research is to understand the standing of SINS usage on academic performance of college/university students . Literature Review and Discussion There have been a number of studies analyzing the impacts of Social Networking on students’ academic performance and grades.
Furthermore, mongo all the SINS, Backbone has been targeted the most since it is the most popular site of all the SINS and has maximum impact on the majority of the population exposed to SINS. For the purpose of this research, various academic journals researching different angles of the question in hand were analyzed. This was done to ensure the inclusion and consideration of as many perspectives of the topic as possible and to keep the research multi-faceted. The research was conducted in an unbiased way to form a well-informed conclusion.
The academic journals were: Related, directly and/or indirectly, to the topic of research Targeted different ND diverse sample sizes utilized various research tools and methods, and Focused on a range of controlled measures like age, gender, personality traits, ethnicity, academic major and/or study level (freshmen, senior, undergraduate, graduate etc. ), nationality and socio-economic status. Although Roués, S. (2012) failed to prove the hypothesis that Backbone usage adversely affect the academic performance of the students, majority of articles were found to be in favor of it.
Colloidal, M. , Costing, D. , & Morris, J. (201 1) found a negative relationship between the number of Backbone rinds and Grades. As per Kirsches, P. A, & Sharkskin, A. C. (2010), students with Backbone account had significantly lower Grade Point Average and spent much less time studying, as compared to the students without a Backbone account. Stool’s, M. J. , Vandenberg, A. , Berglund, A.. & Weiss, S. (2011) also found that the more the students used Backbone, the lower their GAP was. In a self-reported analysis of impact of Backbone on academic performance in research by LU Has, A. & Chain, S. (2012), 61% of the students reported a negative impact of the Son’s usage on their studies and hence grades. According to Paul, J. A, Baker, H. M. , & Cochran, J. D. (2012) as well, there is a negative relationship between the time spent on Online Social Networking (ONES) and academic performance. Rosen, L. D. , Carrier, L. M. , & Cheaper, N. A. (2012) also showed that the subjects who engaged in Backbone while under-observation had lower Spas as compared to other subjects.
However, on further analysis of the online activities students engaged in while on Backbone, it was found that certain activities had more direct or indirect harming impacts on the grades as compared to others. The Junco, R. (2012) found that students spending time on the activity of ‘Chatting on Backbone’ had significant negative impact on the GAP while frequency or number of times the student checked their account did not have any significant impact on the grades. Junco, R. 2012) also dwelled into analyzing individual activities rather than simply comparing the time spent and concluded that Backbone usage had no impact on the students’ time spent on preparation for class except when the activity they engaged in was “Chatting”, in case of which, the impact was indeed negative. Academic journals investigating the usage and practicality of SINS as an educational and knowledge gathering tool were also a part of this research, in order to understand if, and how, SINS can enhance the students’ academic prowess and hence their grades.
Even though in the academic research Green, T. , & Bailey, 8. (2010), 28 out of 30 teachers deemed the SINS to be unfit to be used as educational tool and Gaffing, R. , & Deride, M. (2012) found that most academic Backbone pages are not active and up-to-date; Din, N. , Yah, S. , & Harmon, S. (2012) concluded that Backbone can be a “very useful” educational LOL if the users are efficient and exhibit control over the activities they perform when online. Junco, R, Hibernia, G. , & Looked, E. 2011) conducted an experiment with students in controlled group and experimental group with extremely clear results showing that the experimental group, that used Twitter as an educational tool, was much more interactive and responsive throughout the semester, providing credibility to SINS as academic tools. Sanchez, R. A, Cortile, V. , & Saved, U. (2014) also supported the belief of SINS as an educational tool where students showed positive attitude towards using Backbone for academic purposes. Academic Journals focusing on gender based analysis had mixed results. LU Has, A. , & Chain, S. 2012) showed that females were less affected by the impact of SINS on grades (53%) as compared to male students (68%). On the contrary, Gable, H. G, & Kumar, G. (2012), with sample of students from Accounting Major, showed that multitasking with Backbone was directly proportional to the stress levels and that females were more likely to be stressed and hence get lower grades. Hence, it could be concluded that there is an indirect negative relationship between Backbone usage and grades; although, this could simply be due to the stressful and demanding coursework of Accounting Major.
Colloidal, M. , Costing, D. , & Morris, J. (2011), Kirsches, p. A. , & Sharkskin, A. C. (2010) and Gaffing, R. , & Deride, M. (2012) also show that the negative impact of Backbone usage is seen more in undergraduate students as compared to graduate students. Chin, S. , & Dozen, J. (2010) concluded that positive or negative impact of Internet usage on grades is based upon whether the students use it for social networking purposes or for academic purposes. Jacobsen, W. C. , & Forest, R. 2010) showed that higher use of electronic media results in lower grades.
Junco, R. (2012) results show that the higher the frequency of using Backbone and testing in the class, the lower is the Semester GAP for the students. Focusing on behavioral factors, Glass, R. , Pritchard, J. , Elaborate, A, & Schwab, N. (2013) analyzed the impact Of subjects’ personality on Backbone usage. The results show that extrovert students spend more time on Backbone, which, in turn, results in lower grades. Hong, F. , & Chic, S. (2014) research results showed that higher Backbone usage leads to higher addictive tendencies.
In other words, the more the subjects use Backbone, the more addicted they become to it. Conclusion The conclusion of this research is that SINS usage can have positive, negative or no impacts on students’ grades based on how the students use the sites and their activities while online. One well-supported conclusion is that “Chatting” activities are much more engaging and definitely result in negative impact on academic performance and hence the grades. It was also found that SINS have the potential to be used as academic tools as well, provided the users are experienced and use the site efficiently.
This factor also depends on the Structure of individual sites and how supportive they can be Of an educational endeavor. Limitations Quite a few academic journals were based on a specific SINS, most of them focusing on Backbone since it is the most popular and most used site of all the SINS. Some academic journals, while giving an insight into the topic, were not directly related to the SINS usage and it’s impact on grades. Also, a few academic journals did not have SINS as the only measured factor and included other factors’ impact on academic performance (emails, testing, TV etc. ) Future Research
Further research needs to occur in comparing various Social Nonworking Sites side-by-side to analyze: Which SINS has worse impact on grades compared to the others Which SINS has the most potential to be used as an academic tool Additional research at a National as well as International level is also recommended, as this will give the researchers the ability to conclude omnipresent and generalized results. References: 1. Chin, S. , & Dozen,J. (2010). College Female and Male Heavy Internet Users’ Profiles of Practices and Their Academic Grades and Psychosocial Adjustment. Psychobiology, Behavior, and Social Networking , 1 3(3), 57-262.
Retrieved October 10, 2014, from the Trenton database. 2. Colloidal. M. , Costing, D. , & Morris, J. (2011). The Relationship Between Backbone and the Well-Being of Undergraduate College Students. Psychobiology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14(4), 183-189. Retrieved October 10, 2014, from the Trenton database. 3. Roués, S. (2012). Impact of Cognitive Absorption on Backbone on Students’ Achievement. Cyber psychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(6), 296-303. 4. Junco, R. (2012). Too Much Face And Not Enough Books: The Relationship Between Multiple Indices Of Backbone Use
And Academic Performance. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(1), 187. Retrieved October 10, 2014, from the Elsevier database. 5. Kirsches, P. A. , & Sharkskin, A. C. (2010). Backbone@ and academic performance. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(6), 1237-1245. Retrieved October 10, 2014, from the Science Direct database. 6. Rosen, L. D. , Carrier, L. M. , & Cheaper, N. A. (2012). Backbone and testing made me do it: Media-induced task-switching while studying. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(3), 948-958. Retrieved October 10, 2014, from the Science direct database. 7. Jacobsen, W. C. , & Forest, R. (2010).
