Abstract

During the last decade, the use of social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, has proliferated. The aim of this study was to examine the use of social networking in school among Norwegian 9th graders and to identify factors to predict use of social networking sites at school. The sample consisted of 918 students from 51 schools. Results showed that when students use social networking at home, use computers in student-led activities, and use computers at school, their use of social networking at school increased. Students with high prior achievements and a mastery orientation to learning used social networking at school to a lesser extent than those without. To facilitate students’ uses of computers at school, our results suggest that more attention should be given to developing students’ orientations towards the mastery of learning and to providing students with training in how to conduct student-led activities using computers.