Current research on higher education reveals that students who multitask with Facebook and texting do not stay well engaged in learning. When these students find they have not learned well, they believe they don't have the capacity to succeed and experience lower levels of academic self-efficacy (Junco, 2012).
A recent study examined college students' use of social media and academic self-efficacy beliefs. This study concluded that "students who spend a lot of time on social media also have lower academic self-efficacy beliefs, GPAs, and satisfaction with life" (Hassell & Sukalich, 2015).
What is your experience? How do you handle social media usage with your students? What interventions can be used to address the negative relationship between social media usage, academic performance and self-efficacy?
Hassell, M.D. & Sukalich, M.F. (2015). Digging deeper into the outcomes of social media use among college students: The mediating effect of academic self-efficacy. Twenty-First Americas Conference on Information Systems, Puerto Rico.
Junco, R. (2012). The relationship between frequency of facebook use, participation in facebook activities, and student engagement. Computers & Education, 58 (1), 162-171.