The impact of social media on teaching and learning in higher educational institutions in Lesotho.

Abstract

Manning (2014) defined social media as the term used to denote new methods of media that involve interactive participation. It allows individuals and groups to network, create and share information online. Information is shared by users in a form of photographs, audio files, text and videos. Commonly used social media platforms are WhatsApp, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus. The majority of respondents in this study were familiar with WhatsApp, YouTube, and Facebook. Social media leads to increased interaction and engagement between teachers and students and it enhances students’ learning experience and practice. Other than interaction, social media maintains existing contacts, keeps one up to date with the advances in different fields, and promotes an individual’s work to peer and outside communities such as practitioners and industry. Therefore, social media has converted a routine daily exercise in some user’s lives into something that attracts the attention of students, researchers and academics progressively. Advantages of social media for learning were identified as social media is being used for recreation purposes, academic activities, and information seeking. On the other hand, disadvantages were identified as cyber bullying, health-related issues, emotional detachment, privacy, and miscommunication. Students are however concerned about inappropriate language and unsubstantiated content in social media. Some also believe that computer support, training and skills are necessary in order to use social media effectively (Public Media Alliance & UNESCO, 2017). Furthermore, this research used the conceptual framework. The framework was adapted from Bexheti, Ismaili & Cico (2014) which specified social media effects as connection, collaboration, creativity, and communication. A quantitative research approach was adopted for this research. This approach helps researchers to solve difficult problems in time with much accuracy and in a cost-effective way (Mishra & Jaisankar, 2007). A convenient sampling was used as a sampling technique for this study. It is a type of nonprobability sampling where participants of the target population that meet a particular practical conditions. The study used both primary and secondary data to answer research questions. Data was collected by using a questionnaire that was distributed to the respondents. Data were analysed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 25. This research intended to examine the effect of social media on students learning, the degree to which students are familiar with different social media platforms, and factors that influence use of social media. The effects of the study were identified as connect, collaboration, communication and connectivity. The study discovered that students are familiar with different social media platforms for learning purposes. Factors included; computer skills, IT support, unclear content, computer training, reliability on social media, inappropriate language, and unclear content on social media.