Researchers want to know if facebook and other sites have some educational impact.
EAST LANSING (AP) -- A new study will focus on whether social media is helping high school students hone their college knowledge.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is financing a Michigan State University study of how low-income middle and high school students use new media and how social networks might help them get ready for college.
The lead researcher is associate professor Nicole Ellison from the department of telecommunication, information studies and media.
Ellison and her team will use the $253,000 grant to gather data on how students now use social media, and how their use of social media might be used to shape their access to higher education.
The university says in a statement that the researchers also will study how youth use new media "and its implications for social capital, social relationships, psychological well-being and college-readiness."
Ellison also is working on two online games being developed by the University of Southern California to help students prepare for college.
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