Summary
In this article, Williams analyzes whether or not the use of
social media in the classroom helps or hinders student productivity. Williams looks at both the younger generation
and the older generation while at work or at school and how they use technology
while at work or school. He mentions
that the older generation spends less time using technology at work than
younger generations do. Williams also
writes about the positive and negative beliefs about social media in the work
and school environments.
Williams
has found the negative image of social media users as those who lack
interpersonal communication, are shallow and are considered “serial time
wasters.” He also mentions that schools
are more likely to block various forms of social media as a way to increase
productivity. Williams also talks about
a university study that shows that the more time spent on Facebook, the worse
their study habits were and had lower grades as well.
Williams
offers support for social media users as well.
He cites studies that have shown that students and younger workers today
are better at multi-tasking. He says
that this is the case because this generation has made technology a part of
their lives. He then cites examples that
show that with a minimal amount of technology, workers have shown a higher
production level than those who use other “distractions” at work or school. He says that the level of productivity
increases as long as the user spends less than 20% of their time on the
internet (for non-work related activities).
The argument is made to say that this is an opportunity for a mental
break and has shown to increase productivity compared to those that either
spend too much time on the internet or those that find other ways to distract
themselves.
Reflection
Even before reading this article I had the opinion that
social media can only hinder student achievement in the classroom. However, I was shocked by the points that
were made in the article. I had only
thought of how easily I can get distracted and thought that this was the same
for my students. I did not take into consideration
the concept of today’s youth being so adept to multi-tasking. Based on the ideas that were presented in
this article, I have changed my opinion.
I think that using social media in the classroom can be a great benefit
in the classroom, as long as it is still monitored by the teacher. Relatively short mental breaks are good for
the students and will hopefully increase their production as the end
result. I understand that students can
multi-task, but it is still important for the students to be monitored to make
sure that they are spending more time on task rather than “surfing” the
net.
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