Negative impacts of social media & digital technology on students

• Social media & digital technologies have a huge influence on a student's education

• These 2 concepts may be beneficial at times but they can also negatively impact on a child’s education, health and communication skills.

• Students have become victims of social media more than anyone else because they get attracted to these sites to kill boredom during studying

• Devices that are used most with social media include, cell phones, laptops, computers, tablets, etc

Question # 1

• Has social networking influenced your education in a bad way? If so, how ?

• Some negative effects of social media include....

1. Multitasking

• Once students become addicted to these sites they attempt to muti-task while studying.

• This reduces their academic performance and their ability to concentrate on a task because of distractions brought by social media.

2. Time Wastage

• Several students are spending too much unnecessary time on social sites rather than doing their homework

• They tend not be prepared for class.

• Instead of taking time and trying to deeper analyze the task they rush through it.

3. Reduction in real life contact • Student’s ability to communicate face to

face has also been affected.

• Forget how to communicate with each other in person.

• They are not able to collaborate in discussions and this reduces their communication skills.

4. Health

• Their excessive time spent on these sites has an effect on their health as well because they are not getting enough physical activity due to their addiction on these sites.

• They don't eat proper meals and don't get proper rest.

Question #2

• If social networking sites were permanently cut out from your life, how would you be affected? Would it be something negative that would hold you back or would you eventually get over it ?

• A students learning and communication skills can also be affected by digital technologies.

Question #3

• How often do you check your phone?

• Some negative effects of digital gadgets include....

1. Reduced learning• Many students are dependent

on getting information off sites like Google.

• This has reduced their focus on learning and retaining information since they are reliant on the accessibility of information on social media.

2. Addiction and Distraction

• Many students have become addicted to these sites and digital gadgets and this results into many distractions while they are trying to study or prepare for a test.

• This has a negative impact on their academic performance.

• They start getting low grades in school due to the lack of studying and reduction in writing skills.

Question #4

• Have you ever struggled to concentrate on a task when you know you’ve got an unread text message or notification?

3. Poor grammar

• Many students writing skills have been affected.

• Rather than improving in their writing, they are doing worse in their spelling, grammar and communication skills due to the use of jargon and logo’s.

4. Dependency on spell check features

• Digital technologies and social sites both have spell check and this reduces several students’ ability to write without relying on a spell check feature.

Question #5

• What are some ways that students can manage their excessive time spent on social media sites and digital gadgets?

Helpful Tips

• Track your time - to make sure your not wasting any time.

• Limit your social site accounts - no need for many networks that do the same thing.

• Prioritize - check your phone & social media updates once your work has been done or during your breaks.

The End