Yes, it is possible to use Facebook to enhance your college experience and get better grades.
There is a little trick, though. You must connect with the people who can be of benefit academically, says Francesco Coda of Boston City Campus and Business College, and not merely socialise with your regular friends.
“Studying is very much a social activity,” he says. “It therefore makes sense to use a social network to get the information you need and plan group study sessions.”
According to Coda, there is a growing trend in SA to use Facebook as a learning tool.
“This is very much in keeping with trends in first-world countries that already do so, and our country can learn from their experiences,” he says.
“We’re still not on par with the international norms, where social networking is concerned.”
“While most of our current students have Facebook profiles and like our fan page, we still get queries about courses and queries about the free career assessment and guidance that we offer to our students.
“Many students use the fan page as a forum to find other students that have the same subjects, to share information like project and test dates, and to arrange study groups, while some students even use the fan page to find a textbook that they need, or to sell one that they no longer need to someone else that has enrolled for the same subject and needs a book.”
Coda advises students to invest a little time in discovering how to best leverage Facebook for learning purposes.
Look at the Facebook app called hoot.me for an idea of how much you can accomplish besides sharing information about test dates or exchanging books: tutoring; joining live study sessions without having to leave your room; finding answers to difficult questions in the archives of previous study sessions.
Or like the creator of the application Michael Koetting, getting help with an intricate math problem that you cannot text even if you knew someone who could possibly solve it.
“It’s cheap, it’s accessible, its fast and if you can use it for entertainment and distraction as well as for studying and collaborating on academic work – why not take full advantage?” asks Coda.
“I think more students and colleges will start jumping on the Facebook bandwagon as long as it continues to make people’s lives easier.”
l Boston City Campus & Business College has over 40 branches nationwide and offers some 80 dynamic career qualifications, including selected Unisa degrees.
Contact Boston on 011 551 2000, e-mail info@boston.co.za, or visit www.boston.co.za, or Facebook.
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