Social Media and Education by Kaden

Social Media and Education by Kaden - March 2022 Scholarship Essay

Like many teens today, I spend my fair share of time on various platforms of social media. Social media is an avenue for me to keep in touch with my friends, follow people and organizations of interest to me, and feel like I am still part of something, especially during the lockdown of the pandemic. During my 1 year of at home/online learning, I connected with my school peers through social media. We were able to use various platforms to connect on tests, projects, homework assignments, and checking in on assignment status with each other. While it sounds like social media may have been helpful during our online learning, I don’t think it helped me learn, but more helped me to be resourceful in my ability to get things done. I personally believe, and it’s backed by studies, that social media can have both positive and negative impacts on your life. The education system and social media are an example. There are both advantages (communication, literacy, and helpful information) and disadvantages (distractions, mental health issues, and sleep) to social media as part of education.

From my use of various social media platforms, I would say I used them very little for academic purposes. For me it is mainly used as a tool to connect with my friends. As previously mentions, I did use this more during my online pandemic school year, however I did not use it to necessarily “learn”. My main use was to connect with my class peers to help each other on assignments, share the execution of assignments, or to connect on tests for better and collaboration on completion. It was really used as a tool of connection and not “learning”. I did find a study done on 300 full time university students that found that less than 1% use it for academic purposes. Overall findings show the main use of social media platforms was for chatting or sharing information.

Social media does provide some advantages when we discuss it as a tool for education purposes. First, it does help with communication and collaboration. It allows you the ability to connect with peers and classmates much quicker than waiting for a teacher. It allows an avenue for file sharing and following educational system groups. Social media can promote literacy as well. Often students get board of reading, however social media can promote plenty of online information that students are more likely to read. Social media sites are for the most part interactive which keeps the students involved. Finally, social media can provide some helpful information. Social media networks are providing plenty of information that can be helpful to students via feeds, making it easier to find websites and information they are looking for.

There are also plenty of disadvantages in education because of social media. Students, particularly high school and college students are the highest population to use social media platforms. They are inclined to spend more time on these sites NOT for educational purposes. They were more likely to use such technologies to have fun and pass time rather than for learning purposes. This seems to cause distractions from their learning environment, thus affecting their academic progress. Social media also has a proven impact to mental health that can lead to depression and anxiety, directly impacting their education. Sound sleep is associated with improved attention, behavior, learning, memory, emotional regulation, quality of life, and mental and physical health. Sleeping fewer hours has a direct influence on all of these, studies show that late night social media use decreases adequate sleep leading to several issues including poor attention during lectures or during homework studies.

While social media does have positive outcomes, it is important to recognize the negative impacts that can also be associated. Overuse can have an adverse impact on your education. Finding ways to use social media in moderation, and for the right things are important when we analysis it from an education standpoint. Social media use for learning, reading, and communication will be key. Pay attention to when you use it to avoid sleep issues and distractions. As I researched advantages and disadvantages for this essay; I found this information helpful for me especially as I look to college next year. I will keep these in mind the where social media can help and hurt me as I navigate my college career. I want to ensure I set myself up the best way possible for my future.

Cited Sources: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1319562X21000103#:~:text=Past%20studies%20have%20found%20that,sites%20instead%20of%20reading%20books.

https://elearningindustry.com/social-media-in-education-improve-learning