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Social Networking and Education pp 145–163Cite as

Effects of Social Networking on Learning: The Opinions of Italian University Students

Part of the Lecture Notes in Social Networks book series (LNSN)

Abstract

While the use of social networks (SNs) and social media is increasingly permeating all sectors of the global society, in Italy there is an ongoing debate about its advantages and drawbacks for learning, especially within formal educational contexts. In order to contribute to such a debate, a study has been conducted, aimed to investigate the Italian university students’ beliefs about the positive and negative effects of social networking on their learning and to identify any correlation between such beliefs and the students’ characteristics. This chapter reports and discusses the results of the study, which was based on the data collected through a survey to 336 Italian university students (F = 63.6, 83.8 % aged below 32). Results revealed that Italian university students perceive social networks as useful tools for both improving their learning and connecting with their peers, but also that they are aware of their undesirable consequences, such as experiencing negative emotions, losing concentration and being prevented from engaging in extra-academic activities.

Keywords

  • Social networking
  • Social networks
  • Social media
  • Web 2.0
  • Learning
  • Perceived effect
  • University students
  • Higher education

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://statistica.miur.it/ustat/Statistiche/IU_home.asp.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto Per Le Tecnologie Didattiche, Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche, Genoa, Italy

    Donatella Persico, Maria Ferraris & Francesca Pozzi

  2. Dipartimento Di Scienze Della Formazione, Università Di Genova, Genoa, Italy

    Carlo Chiorri

Authors
  1. Donatella Persico
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  2. Carlo Chiorri
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  3. Maria Ferraris
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  4. Francesca Pozzi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Donatella Persico .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Curtin University, Perth, West Australia, Australia

    Tomayess Issa

  2. Universidade Aberta, Lisbon, Portugal

    Pedro Isaias

  3. Dept. of Media, Communication & Org., University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Piet Kommers

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Persico, D., Chiorri, C., Ferraris, M., Pozzi, F. (2016). Effects of Social Networking on Learning: The Opinions of Italian University Students. In: Issa, T., Isaias, P., Kommers, P. (eds) Social Networking and Education. Lecture Notes in Social Networks. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17716-8_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17716-8_10

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