1.1 Introduction
Social media is the connection of friends or family together which allows one to communicate easily. With media one can have a long chain of friends chat, or share information or ideal with. According to Boyd & Ellison (2008), Social networking sites can be defined as web-based services that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. It is difficult to imagine a young man who at least once a day did not check for updates in social networks and did not leaf through the news lines. When social media such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter appeared, our world was divided into online and offline (Shensa et al., 2015).
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of 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 Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, 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).
Therefore, in Ansarudeen College Offa where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to determine the Impact of Social Media Use on Students Perception of Academic Performance.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Students’ addictiveness to social networks, students’ frequency of exposure to social network, social media network that the students are more exposed to and the influence of social media as a medium of interaction between students has been part of discussion in recent times and which have imparted on their academic performance. Instead of students reading their books, they spend their time chatting and making friends via the social media and this might definitely have influence on their academic performance, because when you do not read, there is no way you can perform well academically. It is a common sight to see a student chatting in sensitive and highly organized places like church, mosque and lecture venues. Some are so carried away that even as they are walking along the high way, they keep chatting.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to determine the Impact of Social Media Use on Students Perception of Academic Performance. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To discover the reasons why the Ansarudeen College Offa students use the social networking sites
- To determine the ways social media can be used as a platform for educational learning among students of Ansarudeen College Offa
- To establish the uses and gratifications drawn from social media and its effects of learning among students of Ansarudeen College Offa.
- To ascertain how the use of social media has effect the academic performance among students of Ansarudeen College Offa.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- Does social media have effect on the academic performance of students in Ansarudeen College Offa?
- What are the reasons why the Ansarudeen College Offa students use the social networking sites?
- What are the ways social media can be used as a platform for educational learning among students of Ansarudeen College Offa?
- What are the uses and gratifications drawn from social media and its effects of learning among students of Ansarudeen College Offa?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
Hypothesis One
- H0: There is no significant relationship between social media and academic performance of students.
- H1: There is a significant relationship between social media and academic performance of students.
Hypothesis Two
- H0: There will be no significant influence of social media towards the academic performance of students in Ansarudeen College Offa.
- H1: There will be a significant influence of social media towards the academic performance of students in Ansarudeen College Offa.
1.7 Significance of Study
This study is significant to the teachers, parents and students. This study will help the teachers of the school to know the influence that social media has on their students, so as to assist them to enlighten and create awareness to the students on the possible influence it has on them.
The study is of significant to parents in the sense that they will know the possible effects these social media usage has on their children, so as to serve as watch-dog to their children on the usage of the social networking site.
The findings from this research will hopefully create awareness among Nigerian students who access social media. The findings will also help students to use social media appropriately.
1.8 Scope of Study
The study focuses on the Impact of Social Media Use on Students Perception of Academic Performance in Nigeria using Ansarudeen College Offa as a case study.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
1.10 Operational Definition of Terms
The following terms were used in the course of this study:
Social Media: This refers to computer-mediated technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks.
Academic Performance: This refers to the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved their short or long-term educational goals. Cumulative GPA and completion of educational degrees such as High School and Bachelor’s degrees represent academic achievement.
