Benefits of Facebook for Students

Social networking sites like Facebook can help students to interact socially and academically, which ultimately improve learning outcomes. This conclusion is drawn from a study conducted by researchers from China and Hong Kong. A group of researchers from University of Science and Technology of China and City University of Hong Kong said their findings contradict the understanding all along that the social networking site is a bully who divert the concentration studied. Their findings, published in International Journal of Networking and Visual Organizations, it was revealed that online social networking directly influences social learning and can positively influence academic learning. “Patterns of social networks on Facebook are generally in the form of core and edge modes. Each individual has close ties with friends and relations nuclei far with many other friends, “said one researcher, as quoted by the media UPI, May 14, 2011. To that end, social networking applications like Facebook offer an efficient platform for students to expand the activities of social skills of friendship networks and maintain intimate relationships. In a survey conducted, it is known that Facebook allows students getting along with teachers and other students. They provide a platform to interact and share knowledge. Facebook also provides a facility for the students join the group and discuss various topics, collaborate and use of educational applications to manage learning activities. “In the future, educational institutions may need to adopt an active (but still controlled) like this to take advantage of social networking applications like Facebook for teaching and learning process,” said the study authors

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