According to Gloucestershire College, in England, Facebook and other social-networking Web sites can do more than provide a platform for vacation photos, favorite quotes, and status updates; they can help reduce dropout rates, the BBC reports.
The media-curriculum manager at the college, Perry Perrott, says that with the advent of social media, students have been better at keeping in touch with faculty members, which has lead to a “significant improvement in retention.”
After seeing how popular social-networking sites were with students, Mr. Perry says the college decided to embrace the technology as a cost-free way to further engage the campus.
The BBC also points out that the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency says sites like Facebook have a “positive effect on motivation.”
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2 Responses to At One English College, Facebook Serves as a Retention Tool
tjoo1691 - October 13, 2009 at 4:22 pm
What were the variables? How were they measured? What was the degree of signficance?
oioioi - October 13, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Gloucestershire College is not a ‘college’ in the American sense: most students are 18 or younger.