“I need to get off Facebook and write my paper”: Plenty of students have seen those statuses posted by friends on Facebook when they were supposed to be studying. Some students even posted that particular status themselves.
Facebook has become the biggest distraction for students when trying to get homework done. It has become more distracting than TV or video games.
The Daily Mail news research found that being on Facebook adding friends, playing games, joining groups and “chatting” with other users can take up hours of time that they should be studying. The good thing is that many students don’t feel that it really affects their grades.
“It doesn’t really affect my grades,” Justin Copeland, a senior majoring in Jazz Performance, said. “It just extends the amount of time it takes to study.”
Having classes online and typing papers has made it much easier to get distracted by things like Facebook. It is so easy when you are working on your computer to have Facebook up and keep checking it, especially now when friends’ statuses update instantaneously.
“Facebook is not really distracting when I am taking an online test because it is timed, but it definitely is when I am trying to type a paper,” Kristin Grottkau, a junior majoring in liberal studies, said. “I try to do most of my studying off of the computer to avoid the distraction, but even then I still get notifications and updates on my phone.”
Facebook may be the biggest distraction, but students still are able to get their work done. However, they may not get it done as quickly as they could.
“Homework takes five more hours than it should because I get on Facebook and get distracted,” Rosemary Soares, who is also a junior majoring in liberal studies, said.
The other major distraction Facebook causes that could affect students grades, is when taking notes in class. If a student is using their computer to take notes, how could they not be tempted to check Facebook?
But it has potentially harmful effects on their learning in class. Students might stop listening and may miss some important notes or the instructions to an assignment. This could affect their grades on tests and eventually their final grade in the class.
“I’ve seen it affect people I have classes with,” Grottkau said. “They spend the entire class on Facebook and then ask me what the assignment is or for notes they missed.”
Facebook may be distracting students from their homework, but to an extent does not seem to affect their grades.
Students could focus a little more in class instead of being on Facebook, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will end up not doing well in the class.
As far as study habits go, students may just need to account for the extra time that they know they will be spending on Facebook instead of studying.