ABSTRACT
The study investigated Undergraduates’ perception
towards the use of social media for collaborative learning purposes. It was
conducted at the Nnamdi azikiwe university, Anambra State, Nigeria. Two
objectives and two null hypotheses was used to investigate the study. A sample
of 300 students were randomly selected from three Faculties. Simple random
stratified sampling techniques was used for the study and the instrument used
to collect data was a structured questionnaire entitled Undergraduates’
perception towards the use of social media for collaborative learning purposes
with 42 items. Mean score, ANOVA, Z-test and Scheffe’s model were the
statistical tools for the study. The Instrument was given to experts in the
field of educational technology to ensure its validity. Test retest was applied
to ensure reliability of the instrument and a reliability coefficient of 0.84
was obtained. It was found that social media are used for collaborative
learning in terms of quick growth in knowledge and information. It addition it
was found that undergraduates bound with close and prospective groups for
change. It is recommended that Universities should be acquainted with students
want and concern in the schools.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
to the Study
Education is at the
centre of a nation’s development; through education people are empowered both
academically and in skill acquisition. Research has also revealed that a nation
that has a strong stable and functional educational system invariably has not
only the powerful instrument to fight and eliminate poverty but also has a
solid foundation to build a sustainable economy upon. The benefit of a good
educational system to any nation is further emphasized when the United States
Embassy in Nigeria stated that education is the most “important way to approach
community (national) development. A sound educational system is considered to
be a prerequisite to achieving progress, from the individual to the society to
the economy.” Manu Goel (2008) corroborates this thought when he observed that:
“the quality of human resource of a nation is easily judged by the number of
literate population living in it.” This implies that education is fundamental
for a nation aspiring to achieve both human growth and sustainable development.
Perhaps the most captivating view of the role of education in the reformation
process is captured by Licuanan (2003).
The introduction of
social media to education has made it possible for students to learn adequately
with ease and convenience. Social media are fast becoming very popular means of
both interpersonal and public communication in Nigeria and the world at large.
Social media are modern ways for interactive communication channels through
which people connect to one another and share ideas. What distinguishes the
social media from the conventional means of communication is their interactive
nature which allows the audience to participate in it from any part of the
world they reside. McQuail (2010) differentiates the social media from the
traditional mass media when he noted that “traditional mass communication was
essentially one-directional, while the new forms of communication are
essentially interactive.” This interactive aura of the new media confers an
unprecedented popularity on them. The social media by their nature have the
capabilities of educating, informing, entertaining and „inflaming‟ the
audience. This capacity is possibly what Osahenye (2012) refers to as
“unstoppable power of the social media.” As a novel phenomenon, it is necessary
to examine how Nigerian students use the new means of communication. This is
because students‟ contribution as youths can make or mar any nation. Okolloh
cited by Essoungou (2010), explains that, “the new communication technology is
one of the few ways that young Africans can bypass the inefficiencies in the
system that allow the status quo to hold on. It lowers the barriers to entry
for everyone to get involved and be heard.” A study like this shall help to
ascertain whether students‟ use of the social media could be regulated or not.
This is obviously because the disposition of people of a given community could
shape the media in existence there, just like a cerebral media scholar Anim
(2007) aptly notes that “societies greatly influence the operations and
functions of the media that operate within those societies.” The manner in
which the social media were used and the role they played in the recent
uprising which rocked the Middle-East popularly referred to as Arab
Spring could be deciphered as credence to the above academic’s
observation. Now just like radio or television stations, social media sites
spread everywhere in Nigeria and are bound to be sprouting as technologies
continue to improve; however, the problem lies in the point that the purposes
which the users apply the new media for are still obscure. This is what
Folorunso, Vincent, Adekoya and Adewale (2010), observed when they argue
generally that, in Africa, social media networking site is becoming widely
spread than it has ever been before and it tends to be majorly accepted by the
youths. Yet the widespread adoption by users of these sites is not clear, as it
appears that people’s perception of this technology is diverse.”
The development of
social media network and web 2.0 technologies has been monumental (Lenhart et
al., 2010), where social media technology has managed to disseminate into the
every aspect of the users’ personal life in terms of contributing content,
sharing photos, liking comments or contents or game interaction. Such
dissemination is specifically evident in institutions of higher learning where
technology has changed students’ communication, collaboration and learning. In
this regard, social media can be described as the several technological systems
that are linked to both collaboration and community (Joosten, 2012). Despite
the fact that researchers have not reached a consensus on an accurate
definition of the term (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010), social media is often
viewed through examples like social networking sites, blogs, Wikis, multimedia
platforms and virtual social worlds (Barnes & Lescault, 2011). This study
focuses on the networking sites reflecting the permeating existence of social
media like Facebook, Myspace and LinkedIn. In fact social networking sites are
utilized similar to social networking or online social networks and are based
on the web allowing users to create their personal profiles, content, and share
messages by connecting with other uses of the system (Boyd & Ellison, 2007).
Other studies use a more up-to-date term called the web 2.0 when addressing
both social network and other social media (Gruzd, 2011). This study is aimed
to examining the relationship between intention to use social media for
collaborative learning and engagement among undergraduate students of Nnamdi
azikiwe university, Nigeria.
The potential of social
media to increase interactivity and collaboration to benefit learning was
recognised early (Desilets & Paquet, 2005; Knobel & Lankshear, 2006;
Richardson, 2006) and considerable research to date has been conducted in
higher institutions of learning. However, in the schooling sector, empirical
research literature is more limited, despite scholarly interest in the benefits
of social media applications (Bryant, 2007; Burnett & Merchant, 2011;
Lankshear & Knobel, 2011). This study on the perception of students in the
use of social media for collaborative learning by among the undergraduate
students of Nnamdi azikiwe university, Nigeria, will fill the loopholes on the
issue of social media for collaborative learning among undergraduate students
in Nigeria.
1.2
Statement of the Problem
The internet today is
unarguably the most important and reliable source upon which information is
derived. The growing dimensions of the use of social media by students and
other learned individuals to source for information cannot be underestimated.
Thus, students spend more time and pay more attention to social media than they
do for their studies and this affects their academic performance and if they do
not learn to balance the two, it will continue to have adverse effects on their
academic achievement (Osharive, 2015). In addition to this, the study conducted
by Maya (2015), revealed that media use brings about lower academic performance,
low self perceptions and less interest in educational oriented carriers.
Academic excellence plays an important role in the life of an individual;
whether in the family, social, workplace, in an institution or even among
peers. Much emphasis is laid on academic performance because of the role it
plays in the life of an individual as far as a successful life and respect is
concerned in every aspect of life. As a result of this, students must be
concerned with the ways they can improve their academic performance (Kyoshaba,
2009). Studies have also revealed that social media affects students’ command
use of English most especially when writing examinations. They tend to use
short- handwriting to chat (wot, wat instead of what, dz, ds instead of this, d
instead of the, urs, urz instead of yours) with friends and get used to it
thereby replicating the same errors during examinations (Obi, Bulus, Adamu and
Sala’at, 2012). Today students at all levels higher institutions level have
been engaged in the use of social media sites. This research therefore seeks to
investigate the perception of students in the use of social media for
collaborative learning by using the undergraduate students of Nnamdi azikiwe
university, Nigeria, as a case study.
1.3
Objectives of the Study
The main objective of
this study is to investigate the perception of students in the use of social
media for collaborative learning by using the undergraduate students of Nnamdi
azikiwe university, Nigeria, as a case study. However, the specific objectives
are:
1.
To ascertain the perception of
students towards the use of social media
To identify the
preferred social media sites used by students for collaborative learning....================================================================
Item Type: Project Material | Attribute: 52 pages | Chapters: 1-5
Format: MS Word | Price: N3,000 | Delivery: Within 30Mins.
================================================================
No comments:
Post a Comment