Abstract:

Can Facebook use help students achieve good grades? This work-in-progress paper reports on discussion of a proposed model linking use of online social networking (OSN) and academic performance at the university level, as moderated by computer self-efficacy (CSE). Since college students have widely adopted use of OSN, there is significant interest in the relationship between OSN use and scholastic performance. Several previous studies have demonstrated that Facebook use is strongly negatively related to academic performance. It has also been shown that time on Facebook detracts from time spent preparing for class. In studies that control for time spent preparing for class, there is still a negative relationship between Facebook use and academic performance. However, the literature suggests that academic self-efficacy beliefs account to some extent for the positive variance in university level academic performance beyond standardized test scores. It has been further demonstrated that there is a strong positive relationship between OSN use and CSE. It can therefore be argued that there may be a positive relationship between OSN use and academic performance when moderated by CSE. When controlled for time spent preparing for class, this would suggest that for the population of students combining OSN use with high CSE, academic performance is enhanced. It is therefore submitted that use of online social networking, moderated by CSE, may be a valid positive predictor of academic performance. This paper describes a model and proposed research to validate the relationship.

Keywords:

Computer Self-Efficacy, Online Social Networking, Academic Performance.