Story highlights Video game-playing teens scored higher than average in math and science

Teens who used the internet to do homework scored higher in math

(CNN) Video games' bad reputation may be unfair. Teens who were regular gamers scored higher than average in math, reading and science on an international exam, a new study found.

On the other hand, teens who daily scanned their Facebook feeds or chatted with friends more than others tended to score 4% worse than average in math.

Based on these results, a little "research to uncover the different ways by which children learn from online games" might improve teaching methods, said Alberto Posso, author of the study and an associate professor at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology's School of Economics, Finance and Marketing.

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at age 15 but also look at their use of technology. How much time did kids spend on Instagram and how much time on "Grand Theft Auto"? The study, published recently in the International Journal of Communication , looked at the activities and test scores of 12,000 Australian teens. It's based on the 2012 results from the Program for International Student Assessment exams, which not only evaluate academic achievement and social environment for kidsat age 15 but also look at their use of technology. How much time did kids spend on Instagram and how much time on "Grand Theft Auto"?

Posso discovered that students who spent higher than average time social networking each day had below-average performance on the tests, while students who spent more than the usual time gaming achieved at levels above the average. He also found that students who used the internet daily for homework tested higher in all three subjects on the exam. In particular, their math scores outranked those of students who did not go online to finish their assignments.

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