PERCEPTION OF STUDENTS TOWARD USING SOCIAL MEDIA FOR COLLABORATIVE LEARNING IN ENHANCING THEIR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

1.1 Introduction

Collaborative Learning is an educational approach to teaching and learning that involves groups of students working together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a product. 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 (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).

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 Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu-Ode where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to investigate the Perception of Students toward using Social Media for Collaborative Learning in Enhancing their Academic Performance.

1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that 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.

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).

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 Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, Nigeria, as a case study.

1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to investigate the Perception of Students toward using Social Media for Collaborative Learning in enhancing their Academic Performance using Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To study the attitudes of the undergraduate students toward the use of social media for collaborative learning to enhance their academic performance;
2. To identify the available social media for the undergraduate students for collaborative learning to enhance their academic performance;
3. To examine the effects of social media for collaborative learning on the academic performance of the undergraduate students;
4. To investigate the challenges facing the use of social media for collaborative learning among the undergraduate students; and
5. To proffer solutions to the challenges facing the use of social media for collaborative learning among the undergraduate students of Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.

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 platform have effect on the academic performance of students?
• What are the attitudes of the undergraduate students toward the use of social media for collaborative learning to enhance their academic performance?
• What are the available social media for the undergraduate students for collaborative learning to enhance their academic performance?
• What are effects of social media for collaborative learning on the academic performance of the undergraduate students?
• What are the challenges facing the use of social media for collaborative learning among the undergraduate students?
• What are the possible solutions to the challenges facing the use of social media for collaborative learning among the undergraduate students of Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State?

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 is no significance correlation between social media for collaborative learning and socioeconomic status of the students.
• H1: There is significance correlation between social media for collaborative learning and socioeconomic status of the students.

1.7 Significance of Study

The findings of this study will provide an idea about the available social media for academic excellence of the students in order to provide key information for further research work in such areas. In the same way, the study will provide knowledge and guidelines that may be of help to policymakers. The research will therefore be of a great importance for planners, and other social scientists. Also, this study provides an input to the students, teachers and researchers in the areas of e-learning.

Lastly, government will as well benefit from the study because it will show how the provision of adequate learning facilities can enhance better academic performance in our tertiary institutions all over the country.

1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of this research is focused on the Perception of Students toward using Social Media for Collaborative Learning in Enhancing their Academic Performance using Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State 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:

1. 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.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. 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: Computer-based technology that facilitates the sharing of ideas and information and the building of virtual networks and communities. By design, social media is internet based and offers users easy electronic communication of personal information and other content, such as videos and photos.

Academic Performance: The extent to which a student has achieved his/her short or long-term educational goals. Cumulative GPA and completion of educational degrees especially bachelor’s degrees represent academic achievement.

Collaborative Learning: Is an educational approach to teaching and learning that involves groups of students working together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a product.

Perception: The way in which something is regarded, understood, or interpreted.