ED 359 ASSIGNMENT 3-

TOPIC: IMPACTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON

STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

IN FIJI

NAME: ZORINA ZOKIA BI

ID: s11143888
INTRODUCTION
Technologies and the use of social media has a lots of impacts on today’s society
especially on the student’s behavior towards their education. Basically, it has
become one of the important part of everyone’s life in this present day and is
mostly used nearly everywhere by elderlies and the youngsters. In this modern
society even small kids are also able to use social media and other electronic
devices for games and enjoyment. This increase in the use of social media brings a
huge impact on student’s education system as it tends to capture student’s
attention. Many Students get addicted to using the social media sites as they
endure to involve in one activity or another on the social media sites frequently.
Just because of this increasing attractiveness, there is a rising alarm over the likely
effects on student’s academic performances through the use of social media.

Moving on, social media provides a way for entertainment and communication
and it is becoming one of the main pathway for students to gain information and
news. Use of social media plays both the positive and the negative impacts on
student’s education but, it totally depends on how people use it. If it is misused
than it will definitely affects student’s behavior towards education. The Internet
and in more specifically the use of social media applications for example
Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, messenger and many others, are apparently
increasing all over the world.

To add on, this research assignment is mostly focusing on the bad impacts of
social media on student’s performance so it will be based on the negative effects
only. Students lack interest in the classrooms when they are exposed to social
media and electronic gadgets like mobile phones through which they access
Facebooks and u tubes. Therefore, students spend most of their time on social
networking forgetting about their studies which leads to poor academic
performance in the classroom.

PROBLEM AND WHY IS IT A PROBLEM

Even though social media plays some positive roles in education for example,
students are able to excess wide varieties of information regarding a particular
topic in a subject, but instead it also brings about many problems and issues
towards academic performance of students in the classroom as some people tend to
misuse which leads to more problems considering that it negatively affects
students’ attention, engagement, and accordingly their grades. Students lose their
focus on studies as they get more entertained by social networking. This problem
eventually tends to affect teaching and learning in the classroom as there will be no
effective learning taking place. Social media sometimes also affects student’s
education because it has been noted that more students and teenagers are using
social media and this gives them freedom to make new friends and share things
with each other and therefore, sometimes students tend to get harassed or bullied
by people either emotionally or physically which plays a huge impact on academic
performance of those students as they are mentally disturbed and not able to focus
in the class interfering their educational performance and even their future. A
better education can lead to a successful and a better future so as a result as a result
students need to concentrate more on their education.
AIM
The main aim of this research assignment is to evaluate the impacts of social
media on the academic performance of students in schools in Fiji.

OBJECTIVES
At the end of this report people under education system should be able to know:

 The different role social media plays in students’ academic performance in

schools.
 How social media impacts students’ performance academically.
 The ways in which students are affected by social media.
 The negative impacts of using social media towards academic performance
of students.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What are the different roles social media plays in students’ academic
performance in schools?
2. Problems caused by social media on students’ academic performance.
3. Some ways in which students are affected by social media.
4. What are the negative impacts of using social media towards academic
performance of students?

JUSTIFICATION
As we all know that in today’s century social media and use of other
technologies has developed interaction and communication worldwide. Internet
is now available universally and this has led to easy access to social networking
sites. Students devote lot of time in being online and on these social networking
sites. Valuable time which could have been spent on academic work is instead
used on the internet and social interacting sites such as Facebook, twitter
Instagram and many more. Therefore, it is being said that various use of social
media and internet has led students in losing their concentration on studies which
drops their academic results.
Furthermore, this study is very important for me as it will assist me with gaining
further evidence on the Impact of social media on the student’s academic
performance. It will be appropriate in supporting students in understanding the
effects of social media. Therefore, it will provide with significant material for
students and other researchers undertaking parallel research.

FOCUS AND LIMITATION

Some of the main focus and limitations of this research assignment includes:
 Finding the roles and impacts of social media in the academic performance
of the students.
 Evaluating ways in which the use of social media affects student’s
performance in the classroom.
 Evaluating some of the positive and the negative impacts of social media on
students’ academic performance.
 Students from rich families have well access to internet and gadgets and
therefore they are able to get more access than those from poor families.
 This study is limited to the students from schools in Fiji.