About one-fifth of students said they used eMail while studying. Eighteen percent said they search the web for items unrelated to their studies.
Taking time to send texts, scroll through Twitter feeds, and check on the latest Facebook updates–all while preparing for tests and quizzes–led to an “[overload] of their ability to process information and to engage in deeper learning.”
“Compared to 10 years ago, internet users are presented with more data than ever,” Junco and coauthor Shelia Cotten wrote in the study. “Unfortunately, humans are unable to take in and process all of this information and turn to engaging in multitasking as an information management strategy.”
Junco is a faculty member at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, and Cotten is an associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
They are scheduled to present their social media research findings this week at the Oxford Internet Institute’s Decade in Internet Time Symposium.
Junco said it could be a tough task for college students to wean themselves off of social media sites and text messaging–even during study sessions–since the information and communication technologies (ICTs) have become an integral part of academic and social life on campus.
“Their use of these technologies is a normal part of their everyday life,” the researchers wrote. “They have never known a time when it was not normal to use ICTs to perform daily activities, such as communicating, scheduling, coordinating, and finding information. They use ICTs at extremely high rates and also have to juggle classes, homework, work, and recreational activities.”
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