© Australian Associated PressStudents admitted using social networking sites are a distraction
And it makes no difference if the site is on in the background - exam results were 20 per cent lower than for non-users.
Study author Prof. Paul Kirschner said the research countered the trendy view that children can multi-task and education systems should keep up with the times.
"The problem is that most people have Facebook or other social networking sites, their emails and maybe instant messaging constantly running in the background while they are carrying out other tasks," he said.
Student Brittany, 17, from Melbourne's Strathcona Baptist Girls Grammar school said Facebook was useful when doing group study tasks, but could also be a distraction.
Fellow student Sarah, 18, said most of her peers could multi-task well, but using sites like Facebook was a question of balance.
"If you have it on for half an hour a night there's nothing really wrong with that if you've got all your work done," she said.
Strathcona IT teacher Dr Tim Kitchen said having distractions like Facebook, TV and music was bad for students who needed to remember a lot of things for exams.
Many schools have introduced policies to deal with the internet age, but regulating behaviour at home is another issue.
Mazenod College deputy principal Tony Coghlan said sites like Facebook were interfering with parenting.
"We try to support parents, but it's hard enough running a school let alone worrying about what students are doing at home each night," he said.
Prof Kirschner's study of 219 US students aged 19-54 revealed that non-users of Facebook spent on average 88 per cent longer studying outside class.
Three-quarters of the Facebook users said they didn't believe spending time on the site affected their academic performance.
Prof Kirschner, from Holland's Open University, said he expected to see similar results in younger pupils.
From the article:
"Strathcona IT teacher Dr Tim Kitchen said having distractions like Facebook, TV and music was bad for students who needed to remember a lot of things for exams."
Yes, that may be the problem but, as usual, the "solution" shows the disconnect from reality in those responsible for educating the young, I think.
Requiring kids to rote memorize knowledge packets due to fear of consequences (a failing grade) is not quite the same as promoting "understanding", is it now?
Just wondering.