Social Media Use and Media Literacy in Relation to Adolescents\u27 Understanding of the Internet

Digital media has permeated American culture among users of all ages. By early adolescence, youth are using and consuming media at unprecedented rates. While the majority of content consumed remains largely television and movies, often streamed through new channels like Amazon and YouTube, video games and apps also comprise a portion of the media diet. As youth enter adolescence, their usage of social media, defined as any platform that allows interactive communication in response to online posting, becomes more prevalent. In this study, I explore Internet and social media use and its impact on adolescents’ understanding of media in three areas: media literacy, understanding of the technical (functional) complexity of the Internet, and understanding of the social complexity of the Internet. Media literacy research and education has been approached from protectionist or empowerment perspectives subsuming three core domains: 1) authors and audiences, 2) messages and meanings, and 3) representation and reality (Hobbs, 2006). Research as to how well children and adolescents understand the technical complexity of the Internet has shown that children have a limited understanding of how the Internet works and the complex interconnectedness of the network system (Yan, 2006). Research as to how children and adolescents understand the social complexity of the Internet shows that they are able to develop and maintain social relationships through digital media and navigate the social complexity in sophisticated ways (Livingstone et al., 2011). The current study builds on Yan’s works and captures snapshots of children’s understanding of the complexity of the Internet in relation to the current digital landscape. Students were recruited and interviewed at a rural middle school (N=78, range 11-15 years). They were given a survey with questions about their Internet and social media use and media literacy. In an interview students were asked to produce drawings and respond to vignettes to explain what the Internet looked like, how files traveled through the Internet, and potential real world consequences of online actions. In a second session, small groups of students were shown an animated instructional video about how files are shared and saved on the Internet. They were given time to update their drawings of the Internet to include newly learned information. Results suggest that media literacy is not a well-structured conceptual domain for children. The media literacy scale showed only moderate internal validity with factor analyses revealing three distinct clusters of questions, suggesting that media literacy may be domain specific rather than a specific variable. Media literacy correlates with self-reported grades; both media literacy and grades were negatively associated with multi-tasking. Students’ drawings of the Internet indicated a lack of knowledge of the technical complexity of the Internet. Additionally how adolescents depicted the technical complexity of the Internet and their depictions and explanations of how files are transferred through the Internet were highly context specific. Responses to vignette questions about the social complexity of the Internet showed that most students were aware of potential risks to putting things online; however, how they characterized the risk was largely context specific. Analysis of student drawings after they were revised showed a significant shift to a more sophisticated level of understanding of the technical complexity of the Internet. From these findings, I conclude that adolescents do benefit from explicit instruction but do not learn about the technical complexity of the Internet through experience with social media and the Internet alone

Assessing and fostering college students’ algorithm awareness across online contexts

Internet users may fail to recognize how algorithms filter and personalize information. Two studies explored college students’ algorithm awareness across varying contexts. Study 1 examined Facebook users’ awareness of its algorithms (N = 222). Only about half recognized that Facebook does not show all their friends’ posts. These students more often reported making adjustments to News Feed settings than students lacking algorithm awareness. Study 2 compared students’ (N = 244) algorithm awareness for online shopping and search, and the efficacy of video instruction to increase awareness. Students were more algorithm aware for online shopping. Compared to those who watched a video on Internet storage, students who watched a video on Internet algorithms showed greater understanding of how search results are personalized. Across studies, students demonstrated high media literacy knowledge, yet knowledge was inconsistently related to algorithm awareness. This suggests the need to incorporate instruction about algorithms into media literacy curricula

Statistical Learning in Specific Language Impairment and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-Analysis

Impairments in statistical learning might be a common deficit among individuals with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Using metaanalysis, we examined statistical learning in SLI (14 studies, 15 comparisons) and ASD (13 studies, 20 comparisons) to evaluate this hypothesis. Effect sizes were examined as a function of diagnosis across multiple statistical learning tasks (Serial Reaction Time, Contextual Cueing, Artificial Grammar Learning, Speech Stream, Observational Learning, and Probabilistic Classification). Individuals with SLI showed deficits in statistical learning relative to age-matched controls. In contrast, statistical learning was intact in individuals with ASD relative to controls. Effect sizes did not vary as a function of task modality or participant age. Our findings inform debates about overlapping socialcommunicative difficulties in children with SLI and ASD by suggesting distinct underlying mechanisms. In line with the procedural deficit hypothesis (Ullman and Pierpont, 2005), impaired statistical learning may account for phonological and syntactic difficulties associated with SLI. In contrast, impaired statistical learning fails to account for the social-pragmatic difficulties associated with ASD

Testing the Efficacy of MyPsychLab to Replace Traditional Instruction in a Hybrid Course

Online course-packs are marketed as improving grades in introductory-level coursework, yet it is unknown whether these course-packs can effectively replace, as opposed to supplement, in-class instruction. This study compared learning outcomes for Introductory Psychology students in hybrid and traditional sections, with hybrid sections replacing 30% of in-class time with online homework using the MyPsychLab course-pack and Blackboard course management system. Data collected over two semesters (N = 730 students in six hybrid and nine traditional sections of ∼50 students) indicated equivalent final-grade averages and rates of class attrition. Although exam averages did not differ by class format, exam grades in hybrid sections decreased to a significantly greater extent over the course of the semester than in traditional sections. MyPsychLab homework grades in hybrid sections correlated with exam grades, but were relatively low (66.4%) due to incomplete work—suggesting that hybrid students may have engaged with course materials less than traditional students. Faculty who taught in both formats noted positive features of hybrid teaching, but preferred traditional classes, citing challenges in time management and student usage of instructional technology. Although hybrid students often reported difficulties or displeasure in working online about half of them indicated interest in taking other hybrid classes

Statistical Learning in Specific Language Impairment and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-Analysis

Impairments in statistical learning might be a common deficit among individuals with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Using meta-analysis, we examined statistical learning in SLI (14 studies, 15 comparisons) and ASD (13 studies, 20 comparisons) to evaluate this hypothesis. Effect sizes were examined as a function of diagnosis across multiple statistical learning tasks (Serial Reaction Time, Contextual Cueing, Artificial Grammar Learning, Speech Stream, Observational Learning, Probabilistic Classification). Individuals with SLI showed deficits in statistical learning relative to age-matched controls g = .47, 95% CI [.28, .66], p < .001. In contrast, statistical learning was intact in individuals with ASD relative to controls, g = –.13, 95% CI [–.34, .08], p = .22. Effect sizes did not vary as a function of task modality or participant age. Our findings inform debates about overlapping social-communicative difficulties in children with SLI and ASD by suggesting distinct underlying mechanisms. In line with the procedural deficit hypothesis (Ullman & Pierpont, 2005), impaired statistical learning may account for phonological and syntactic difficulties associated with SLI. In contrast, impaired statistical learning fails to account for the social-pragmatic difficulties associated with ASD