Some 52pc of Leaving Cert students never use their laptops or PCs to help with their homework, an easyschoolbooks.ie survey has revealed.
The survey of 200 senior cycle students in Ireland showed that 121 respondents either owned their own personal laptops or PCs or had access to a family or school computer.
While 52pc never used computers to help with their homework, 31pc used did use PCs for these purposes two or three times a week.
Eighty-nine per cent of respondents had Facebook accounts and on average, they spend 1-2 hours a day engaging with these accounts.
A small percentage suspended these accounts in the run up to the Leaving Cert exams, which begins tomorrow. However, many other students didn’t suspend their accounts, relying on Facebook as a primary method of communication with their peers.
“With classes breaking up and students studying from home, Facebook is a major vehicle for communication and peer support in the countdown to next Wednesday. This can actually be a very positive thing,” said Maura Donohoe from easyschoolbooks.ie.
“A worry, though, is that the media richness of Facebook will distract students unduly away from their studies.”
Facebook advertising proved ineffective for most survey respondents, as 127 of them did not pay any attention to them.
