University Assignment: Critical Thinking and Media Report

This report critically analyzes an article on critical thinking and media, specifically focusing on the 'Social Media Affinity Scale: Implications for Education.' The report summarizes the article's exploration of social media's growing influence and its impact on education, highlighting how technology has dramatically changed people's lives and communication methods. The article investigates social media's role in education, the usage of technology by different generations, and the implications of gender differences in internet and social media usage. The report critiques the article's strengths, such as its comprehensive survey and exploration of media consumption differences, while also pointing out its weaknesses, particularly its focus on gender differences rather than a direct focus on the use of technology in education. The report concludes by emphasizing the need for further research on the impact of social media on education and how it can be effectively utilized in teaching students.

Running head: CRITICAL THINKING AND MEDIA
Critical Thinking and Media
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1CRITICAL THINKING AND MEDIA
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Summary....................................................................................................................................3
Critique.......................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................7

2CRITICAL THINKING AND MEDIA
Referencing Details
Gerlich, R.N., Browning, L. and Westermann, L., 2010. The social media affinity scale:
Implications for education. Contemporary Issues in Education Research, 3(11), pp.35-42.
Introduction
The higher level of influence of social media in the changing synergy of society is an
impossible factor to be ignored. As examined with the help of the article named as the social
media affinity scale: Implications for education (2010) provides the readers with the
different segments of the social media that create an impact in the daily lives of the people. It
also provides with the knowledge of how dramatically the life of people have been impacted
by the increase in the use of newer and advanced technologies. Take, for example; the social
media terminology is used in the context by the students of the high school for the national
conferences, the reunion news via the platform of Facebook as well as Twitter. These
platforms of social media are considered to be mandatory, as well as an essential part of the
process of communication. The students at the present date are so accustomed towards the
use of the technology that their physical presence in the classroom seems to be vacant. This,
in turn, results in a disconnection between the student, the educators and the education.
Therefore, this chasm created by the students is in a great need to be evaluated. The given
article is focused on providing the outcomes that prove the importance of adopting the use of
technological advancements in the classrooms while educating the children. The article, in
this connection, has used the aspect of Social Media Affinity Scale for examining the modern
usage as well as the beliefs people have in the respect of social media and also to discern the
implications of the same for the aspect of education.

3CRITICAL THINKING AND MEDIA
Summary
The purpose of the author(s) of the given article, throughout remains in persuading the
readers about the importance of using social media in the concept of leveraging education to
the society. Concerning this, Gerlich, Browning and Westermann (2010), provides us with
the visual way of examining the rise in the synergy of social media. Thus, for supporting the
argument presented by the authors of the article, the same provides us with different reviewed
articles which shows the importance of social media in education.
In the article, Gerlich, Browning and Westermann (2010), addresses that new and
advanced technologies of media can be used as a powerful tool of learning and education.
The statement was proved by stating that the increase in social media is more dramatically
raised in the group of the baby boomers, generation X and the millennials. It was noted in the
article that the use of the technologies has not only grown but the tenants of the learning
procedure, as well as the productivity of work, has both improved as concerned with the
mentioned target groups. The notion of social media is not just bounded to education but has
also moved to the world of business. The potential of social media in the operations of the
business are virtually impossible to ignore as investigated by the authors. The primary reason
behind the same is considered to be the fact that the engulfing of social media in the
population of the society is at its phenomenal rates. This is because, where the concept of TV
and radio took 13 years and 38 years to reach the view of 50 million users respectively, the
platform of Facebook reached to 100 million users in just a period of nine months. The
applications of the iPhone even reached 1 billion in only nine months.
The author also stated with the help of the past article reviewed that the concept of
electronic technologies that have accelerated the pace of the encroachment in each aspect of
the daily lives of the people, the educational communities still continues to struggle in the
establishment of the role the innovations can play in the aspect of effective teaching and

4CRITICAL THINKING AND MEDIA
learning. It was examined that the division that exists between the educators and the children
is added with the inherent differences that occur between the genders. Studies have found that
the use of technology differs amongst the male and the female population. The concept of
internet access differs fundamentally as per gender. The synergy of internet usage appeals
differently to both the genders of men and women. This is because of the stereotype that
exists that technology that is used in the modern generation is more of a male nature than a
female. However, it was also examined by the article that in the region of the United States
and Australia, the use of the internet is equal amongst the population of male as well as
female. In lieu of this, some studies proved that the use of the internet is more amongst the
population of women, and the use of the web is more amongst the male population.
In the article, the authors used the earlier research, which is focused on the use of the
technology of mobile phones. The empirical study conducted in the given study was based on
the connection that exists between the consumption patterns and the usage of mobile phones.
The enthusiasm in the technology, as well as the trend-consciousness, is directly linked to the
impulsive consumption and the hard values that are most prevalent amongst the male
population. In lieu of this, an addictive, trendy, as well as spontaneous consumption style of
mobile phones, was investigated amongst the women population. The gender division that
traditionally exists in the use system and style of the mobile phone is observed to be engaging
in the light of the estimations that both the genders are turning to be more likely to the use of
the new and the advanced technology. It was also examined as per the research taken over by
the Life Project of Pew Internet and American that the teenagers are recorded to use the
platform of social media in a specific manner. In this connection, it was investigated that 65%
of the teenagers are online active as they have generates an online profile in the different
platforms of social media such as Facebook, Twitter as well as WhatsApp.

5CRITICAL THINKING AND MEDIA
Critique
Based on the examination of the given article, it was investigated that the article had
both strengths and weaknesses. In respect to the strengths of the article, it was examined that
a practical survey concept of paper-and-pencil was taken into consideration. The sample size
of the survey was accepted as the college students of a Divisional II school at a regional level
in the year of February 2010. The survey was termed to be comprehensive in nature as the
same indulged with the usage of the online media, the owning of smartphone as well as
applications downloading, the demographic queries and also the beliefs the people have about
the online communication media. The sample size of the research survey was recorded as 141
students who were undergraduate, and the age group of the same was recognised between 18
and 40. Also that the male and female respondents were nearly equivalent in the survey.
Moreover, it was also examined that the significant part of the article was extensively
exploratory and was conducted in a manner that ascertained the issues of the vitality of social
media in an effective way. The article critically stated the aspect of gender differences that
have existed since the history of media consumption as well as the usage of technology. The
explanation of these differences formed the base of the hypothesised relationship presented in
the survey of the article. The hypotheses presented in the survey was recorded as the
differences between the male and the female in concern to the use of the online media and the
internet. The outcome received out of the same was recorded as an alpha of 0.77, which
determined that both the genders are equivalent in the use of the same.
However, the weakness of the article was recorded to be that the article should have
mainly remained focused on the aspect of education, rather than the variance in the synergy
of using of the social media amongst the male and female population. This is because the
nature of the article stated the affinity scale of the online media that is implicated to
education. The survey underwent in the article; this should have focused on the hypotheses of

6CRITICAL THINKING AND MEDIA
whether the students are in need of use of technology in their educational background and
how the same would prove effective. This would have provided a more favourable result to
the article.
Conclusion
Hence, on an overall approach, it can be stated that the article is a well-argued one
which explains the different segments of the importance of social media. However, better
research on education and social media, as well as the survey, would have been done in the
article that would have provided a better result to make the readers understand about the
importance the use of online and social media has in the aspect of teaching the students.

7CRITICAL THINKING AND MEDIA
References
Gerlich, R.N., Browning, L. and Westermann, L., 2010. The social media affinity scale:
Implications for education. Contemporary Issues in Education Research, 3(11), pp.35-42.