Evaluating Students Attitude and their Academic Performance on Social Media: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Information and Communication technology has played a vital role in various aspects of our life. In our present study, we focus on the impact of ICT in communication, education and learning. ICT ushers with both negative and positive impacts on the life of humans. It influences students’ knowledge, attitude and skill. ICT promotes a learning environment, among teachers and students, by providing virtual space and experience, mediated through technology. Smart classroom induces interest, elicits students’ attention, elevates their understanding capacity, grasping skills and memory, with the help of multimedia teaching aids. It brings focus to the topic. In this fast-moving technology mediated world, usage of mobile phones and social media has become inexorable. The global phenomenon—anytime, anywhere learning—is made possible because of the ubiquity of smartphones. With traditional classroom learning on one side, social media platforms, on the other side, are providing virtual spaces for unconventional and collaborative learning. Students choose such technologies as supportive alternatives for their academic-intended communication with teachers and peers. Through this study, the researchers aim to measure the attitude of college students towards social media and the related influence on their academic performance, with reference to Coimbatore region. A survey was conducted among 507 college students from Coimbatore, chosen through a multistage stratified random sampling technique. The demographic variables—including age, gender and educational qualification and the dependent variables—included Academic performance, Time spent on social media per day, Time spent on social media during weekdays, Time spent on social media during weekends. Further result states that there is sizeable relationship between the employed social media attitude variables and the academic performance of the students, and no relationship with the time spent on social media. However, it was found that among social media attitudes, addictiveness and communication are the best predictors of academic performance.