CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
The
world is to day celebrating the improvements in communication technologies
which has broadened the scope of communication through information and communication
technologies (ICTs). These (ICTs) includes: Internet, cable data transmission
and computer assisted equipment. Social network is a social structure made up
of individual or organization called “Nodes” which are tied (Connected) by one
or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common
interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships or relationship of
beliefs knowledge or prestige (Adeboye, 2012). Social network can also be
referred to as a map of specified tied, such as friendship, between the nodes being
studied. The nodes to which an individual is connected, are the social
contracts of that individual; the network can also be used to measure social
capital the value that an individual gets from the social network. Social
network sites include: Yahoo Messenger, Facebook Messenger, Blackberry
Messenger (BBM), Goggle talk, Goggle messenger, iPhone, androids and so on.
These networking sites are used by most people to interact with old and new
friends, physical or internet friends (Adeboye, 2012).
The
expansion in technology has affected internet software, leading to chatting
sites known by the name “Social media”. With social networking sites one can
send and receive messages almost immediately, however, lack of regulation of
the internet has led to its excessive use. One of the fundamental aspect of
information and communication technology that contribute interactions with
social media in different endeavour in small measure to the speedy development
of human society worldwide. Moreover, this type of technology that human race
develop various skills of creating, storing interactions and disseminating
information. General speaking, in this modern world of information and
technology no teacher or learner could function effectively without the
required skill of technological equipment used of social media. (Adeboye, 2012)
This
perhaps is what promotes Njoku et al (2006) to declare that in this current
information the teachers and learners roles functions have radically changed
from teacher as provider of knowledge
and schools were teachers and learners meet and now transforming into knowledge
infrastructure in which leaners are provided with laboratories, radio,
television, computer, internet and other resources to acquire knowledge under
guidance of teachers and those multimedia materials are now replacing textbook
and other learning materials. Social media usage by student is so rampant
recently because of easy access to devices such as smart phones, iPhones.
Blackberry, table’s I-pad and laptop which are connected to the
internet/addition to the usage of social media has extremely increased in
recent times. The perils of its effects on the academic performance of over
involved student are a great concern. Student that spend excessive time on
social media network become dependent on it and is believed that their academic
performance diminishes proportionately (Kubey, 2001).
Social
media is the use of Facebook, Twitter, and space and linked in for the purpose
of communication, sharing photos as well as Videos. However, for prosper of
this study social media is captured within the use of internet through
Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Skype, my space as well as yahoo messenger, for
communication sharing of photos and Videos by users. What started out as hobby
for some computer literate people has become social norm and way of life for
people from all over the world. Teenagers and young adults have especially
embraced these sites as a way to connect with their peers. They share
information, reinvent their personalities, and show case their social life which made them to spend excessive times on
social network sites have the same key aspect, the cultures and responses
around them that became apparent are varied, most sites help stranger connect
with other bases share personal interest, political and economic views, or
simply recreational activities. Some sites accommodate distinct viewers while
other attract people based on similarities such as common language, or shares
religious racial, nationality based identity. (Boyd, 2012).
Many
students always log into their account of Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Snap
chat, Viber, avocado chat etc., as part of their everyday routine. Could you
imagine the number of individuals’ students logging into the social networking
site, everyday? That would be mission of students logging. This is why many
students have been blaming various social network of their steady decreased in
grade point average. This lead to emergent of phenomenon around to look into
social networking sties and why they affect fellow student academic
performance. The study criticized seriously the obsessive attitude of Nigeria
youths towards social media it pointed out that the rate at which youths devote
their quality time chatting, calls for urgent attention. The study also
observed that some students always busy pinging and chatting while teaching
goes on. Time ought to be channelled towards learning, academic research and
innovations have been wasted by the passion of meeting friends and discussing
trivial issues, hence, most students faced academic setbacks. The issue of
social media and academic performance of senior secondary schools had raised
eyebrows on academic performance as a result of available opportunities to be
harnessed from social media students who had used social media study less and
generate lower grade. In the past years, social media website have become
common, giving people a new way to interact with each other and communicate
with world. Social networking become popular between 2004 and 2006, after
Facebook and my space were created. Facebook e.g. has over 500 million members
and it is still growing.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
This
study is about issue of social media and academic performance of public senior
secondary schools students of Kano state (A case study of Nassarawa Zone
Educational Area). The intention is to find out the solutions to the problems
of social media and academic performance. It will also look into the present
system of education. Also, there have been a lot of debates on various platform
and media statement that social media has this specific call effect on
education in every society. Some of these studies found a drop in student
grades and academic performance and lack of time for studies as consequences of
social media network participating, preliminary investigation and interviewer
with some teachers and students in Nassarawa Zonal Education with relation to
students’ participation on social media network. These includes: high addiction
rate among student which affects their time of study, through wrong usage of
grammar and spelling in social media as well as distracting students from their
studies. These poor performances have significantly affected the education
sector negatively. A major contributor to these poor performances could be well
as a result of the advent of the social media at it has unduly influenced the
Kano State both public senior secondary schools level. The problem facing by
students’ academic performance are followed by necessary investigation (Boyd
2012).
Many
student have total concentration for searching in social media not because of
the studies, students take more time and spending three – four hours in every
night for just social media, Parental attitudes causes or problems about the students,
by giving them handsets to allowed their children to engage in social media and
more playing of games in social media through handset while the lesson is
conducted by the teacher. Nowadays many students around the ages of 15 – 18
concentrate all their life using social media, even during the examination
time. Therefore, it is against this background that it has become necessary to
conduct this research aimed to investigate the effect of social media and
academic performance of public Senior Secondary Students of Kano State (A case
study of Nassarawa Zonal Education area).
1.3 Research Questions
This
study intends to answer the following questions.
1. What
are the available social media sites operating in Nassarawa Zonal Education
area?
2. Do
public senior secondary schools students of Nassarawa Zonal Education Area use
social media?
3. What
are the levels of access and extent to social media sites within Nassarawa
Zonal Education area?
4. What
are the effects of social media on academic performance of public senior
secondary schools students in Nassarawa Zonal Education area?
1.4 Objectives of the Study
The
study has the followings objectives:
1. To
find out the available social media sites operating in Nassarawa Zonal
Education area.
2. To
find out whether public senior secondary schools students of Nassarawa Zonal
Education area use social media.
3. To
find out the levels of access and extent to social media sites within Nassarawa
Zonal Education area.
4. To
find out the effects of social media on academic performance of public senior
secondary schools students in Nassarawa Zonal Education area.
1.5 Significance of the Study
In
this study, the social media and the academic performance of public senior
secondary school students of Nassarawa Zonal Education area, the study will be
immersed the importance to students, parents, school administrators, policy
makers and fellow researchers.
Students
will benefits with the study to know the negative effect of going too much time
and undue attention to social media to the detriment of academics. Parents will benefit also from finding with a
view to knowing their responsibilities towards arresting the problem of their
children engaged in social media sites for the betterment and society’s progress
and school administrators will benefit from the study in their tasks of
participation in educational objective and implementation.
Policy
makers have significantly benefits which could be as guide information for
decision making and the student’s progress, ministry of education though is
part of government but it would have benefit from the study in tackle the
in-efficient of the students’ performance toward the set goals. The outcome of
the study would also be of good benefits for researchers in education, who have
the similar issues (Under investigation) as a source of literature and
reference may also use it as a stepping stone in conducting further similar
researcher in other Zonal Education areas of the State or elsewhere.
1.6 Scope and Delimitation of the Study
The
research will focuses on the use of social media which constitute an emergency
approach towards enhancing academic performance of public senior secondary
school students in Nassarawa Zonal Education area. The research work was limited
to only School Secondary Students in some selected public senior secondary
schools in Nassarawa Zonal Education area.
Therefore,
Nursery Schools, Primary Schools, and Junior Secondary Schools will not be
included. In addition to this, private schools higher institutions, Adult
education and other community learning centres are not involved or delimited in
the study.
1.7 Operational Definition of Terms
Academic:
Can be described as things that relate to work done in schools, collages, and
universities, especially work which involves studying and reasoning rather than
practice or technical skills.
Performance:
Is the accomplishment of a given task measures against present known standards
of accuracy, completeness, cost, and speed in a contract, performance is deemed
to be the fulfilment of an obligation, in a manager that release the
performance from all liabilities under the contract.
Academic performance:
Is the extent to which a student, teacher or school has achieved their short or
long-term educational goals.
Social:
Can be describe as living organisms including human are social when they live
collectively in interacting populations, whether they are aware of it, or not.
Media:
Is a communication channels through which news, entertainment of Education,
data or promotional message are disseminated.
Social media:
Social media is a websites and applications which links many people whether
children, Adult, Female, Male, youth and old for sharing information and
communication, by sending through audio, visual, and messages. There are
internet application (Like Facebook, Whatsapp Twitter, U-tube, Link Estagram).
Internet:
The internet sometimes called simply “the net” is a worldwide system of
computer networks. A networks in which users at any one computer can, if they
have permission get information from any other computer (and sometimes talk
directly to users other computer).
Social Network:
Is an online platform people use to build social network or social relation
with other people who share similar personal or career interest, activities,
and background or real-life connections.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW
OF THE RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Introduction
This chapter present an overview of social media and
academic performance based primarily on findings from the literature review. It
includes a brief description of social media, highlights how public senior
secondary school students of Nassarawa zonal education area, presents the
demographics effect of social media and academic performance of public senior
secondary school of nassarawa zonal educationa area, and describe to measuring the effect of these
applications.
2.2 Conceptual frame work
The
advanced and improved usage of social media platforms such as Facebook has
become a worldwide phenomenon for quite some time. Though it all started has
been a hobby for several computer literates individual has changed to become a
social norm and existence-style for students around the world (Nicole, 2007).
According to Nicole, (2007), students and teenagers have especially recognized
these social media platforms to be able to contact their peers, share information,
reinvent their personal and showcase their social live.
Social
media users often experience poor academic performance in public senior
secondary schools of nassarawa zonal education area. Also Karpinski (2009)
stated that social media has a negative association with students’ academic
performance which is much greater than the advantages derived through the use
of social media platforms. Students around Nassarawa Zonal Area have been
addicted to the internet which has given rise to more students using social
media more often than before. Ayo, Aron (2008) advised and recommended that
those who are addicted users love to use the internet to set back their
personal and professional responsibilities in which the final outcome is poor
academic performance.
It
was highlighted in the finding of Karpinski (2009) that social media platforms
(Facebook, WhatsApp etc.) students usually devote lesser time to their studies
has to compared to nonstudents did and subsequently has lower Performance. It
was also mentioned by Dr. Wuro (2012), that among the major distraction of
current generation that social media platform (such Facebook, WhatsApp etc.)
remains a major distractions. According to Kubey, Lavin, and Barrows (2001),
there is a correlation between academic performance and the dependency on
social media platforms.
Researchers
have conducted different studies to find out the effect of social media and
academic performance among public senior secondary school of Nassarawa Zonal
education Area, for instance a study on ‘’effect of Social media on Students academic
performance’’, stated that social platforms have negative effect on students.
According
to the outcome, students’ academic performance is affected the more they use
social media, Social media platforms are mainly used by students for
socializing activities rather than academic purpose (Oye, 2012). In addition
(Oye, 2012) said that majority of students feel that social media platforms
have positive effect on academic growth. In a different research conducted by
Shana (2012) it was ascertain that students use social media platforms mainly
for chatting and making friends. ‘’The consequences of internet and social
media platforms on students’ academic growth’’ a study done by Young (2006) it
was seen that internet has spread its wings to reach teenager’s school life. It
was also observed by Young that students are more dependent on internet to
access information that pertain their academic life as well as entertainment.
Additionally, Young said that internet, though take a lot of time, and have
less effect on studies. It was observed by Wang (2011) that effect of social media
platforms rest on the degree of usage. Jeong (2005) observed that internet
addiction is significantly and negatively related to students’ academic growth,
as well as emotional attributes. Seo (2004) confirms Jeong statement when he
opined that the negative influence of internet is only on excessive students and
not on all students. Rather (2013, p. 69) avers that: the social media platforms
which are being used today with great desire and enthusiasm have altered the
way of using internets in this modern
age by defining online tools and utilities which allow students for
communication, participation and collaboration of information online. Today’s
young generation, especially teens and youth are using technology through
innovative ways due to which they are referred to as millennial and have
changed the way they think, work and communicate even though they are in
formative years of their life. Today’s youth because of social platforms have
become technology addicts and are quite withdrawn.
Figure 1: Conceptual framework
H1: There is a significant relationship between time
appropriateness and students’ academic performance.
H2: There is a significant relationship between time
duration and students’ academic performance.
H3: There is a significant relationship between
friends and people connection and students’ academic performance.
H4: There is a significant relationship between nature
of usage and students’ academic performance.
H5: There is a significant relationship between health
addiction and students’ academic performance.
H6: There is a significant relationship between
security/privacy problems and students’ academic performance.
2.2.1 Social Media
Social media is a 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. Users engage with
social media via computer, tablet or smartphone via web-based software or web
application, often utilizing it for messaging. Social media originated as a
tool that people used to interact with friends and family but was later adopted
by businesses that wanted to take advantage of a popular new communication
method to reach out to customers. The power of social media is the ability to
connect and share information with anyone on Earth (or multitudes of people) as
long as they also use social media.
2.2.1.1 Types of Social Media
Platforms
Social
media is everywhere these days: we see companies employing social media
advertising on commercials, radio, billboards, websites, and even on our cell
phones and other mobile devices. We see logos for Facebook, Twitter, and
Flickr at the bottom of hundreds of websites. We are asked to subscribe
to blogs, become fans, friends, share, and connect in countless ways, but how
is this social networking actually benefiting us, and are the companies using
these platforms seeing measurable results?
Since
the list of social media platforms and the variety of advantages and
disadvantages to using them can be overwhelming, we've decided to take a few
that we believe to be most advantageous and describe some of their pros and
cons from a business point of view. It is critical to remember that not
every industry should be spending their time and money on some of these
platforms, and it is best to analyze just what your desired outcomes are before
beginning a social media campaign. From there, weighing the costs and
possible profits of each platform should help narrow down which type of social
media program to begin.
Blogs - We begin here, as blogs are widely considered the
"base" of any social media campaign. Blogs can add personality
to your website and boost industry perception, educate others through the
demonstration of your knowledge of the market, create an emotional investment
in your company, build brand awareness, and more. Additionally, blogs can
be integrated with other types of social media platforms, and can even have
your Facebook posts or Twitter streams live on the blog itself.
One of the downsides to blogs is
that they need to be as real to their readers as you should be to your
customers. Readers will know if you are faking your industry knowledge,
if you have too much emphasis on yourself and not on them, and also whether or not
you are involved with the blog regularly. Along those lines, blogs should
be updated frequently, which can be difficult from a time perspective.
This factor must be taken into consideration before deciding to create a
company blog.
Facebook – One
of the most currently relevant and widespread platforms for social networking
is Facebook. Although trends come and go, Facebook should be the second
social media device used after blogging for the very reason that it takes brand
awareness to the next level by making your company logo very visible and
allowing people to easily share news about your business to all their
“friends”. People who become your fans are frequently reminded of
your presence by status updates, news, and other interactions. Additionally,
Facebook provides an analytics tool whereby companies can view weekly reports
detailing new fans, numbers of interactions, and types of actions taken on
their pages. Furthermore, Facebook allows for the creation of customized
tabs on which to link other platforms, such as Twitter or a blog, to a Facebook
profile.
The downside to Facebook is, like blogging, the time needed to maintain the
company page, although the time needed here is considerably less than on
platforms like Twitter.
Twitter – As mentioned above, much time and energy is required
to successfully manage a Twitter account. With 27.3 million tweets per
day, keeping track of who is talking about your company, your product, or who
might need to know about you can be overwhelming to say the least.
Additionally, one must keep in mind various factors such as the need to
“retweet” or reply quickly, maintain an appropriate “follower to following”
ratio to ensure better optimization, and a host of other variables.
On the upside, Twitter allows
users to use programs such as
TweetDeck
to monitor tweets or schedule tweets for distribution. Twitter can be an
extremely innovative and relevant way to reach customers, but this tool will
only work for certain industries, in certain instances, and must be maintained
regularly with a good strategy in place in order to be successful.
YouTube – Yes, YouTube is considered a social media
platform. What’s more, it is also the 2nd most-used search engine
following Google. Yes, we did say “search engine”. For the record,
YouTube is used in this fashion primarily by the younger generation, and not as
frequently as those who might actually have the resources to become a
customer. However, with a trend this large, companies should not be quick
to overlook a branding and informational tool such as YouTube, especially
considering the average time on site is 23 minutes. The benefits of
maintaining a YouTube presence include a potentially huge audience for companies
on a tight budget, and the ability to “tag” keywords to videos so that you will
have a good chance of being seen when your terms are searched. Of course,
as with the other platforms we have discussed, various factors play a role
here, but if your company has already produced video creative to be used on
your website or blog, it is easy to create a YouTube Channel and cast a much
wider net, especially considering YouTube’s time constraints are also much
lighter on company resources than with the other platforms.
As with all social media
platforms, what is hot today might not be in the future. Companies need
to be able to accurately determine what to allocate their time and resources in
to increase brand awareness and maintain a positive reputation on- and offline.
This conservative and well-thought-out approach will help prepare these
companies for the next phase of social media, or whatever type of media becomes
the “next big thing”.
Search
engine marketing companies and their clients must consider these factors
when making decisions about how and when to further marketing efforts.
2.1.2 Characteristic of
social media
The pace of change in social
media and its uses means that its definition can be a moving target. Generally,
however, all social media shares the following characteristics:
- It is interactive and Web
2.0 based.
- Features user-generated profiles.
- Content is generated by users. This
includes photos, videos, conversations, comments, etc.
- Connections between users are
facilitated by the platform.
2.2.2
Academic performance
Performance is defined as the observable or measurable
behavior of a person an animal in a particular situation usually experimental
situation (Simpson and Weiner. 2000). This means that performance measures the
aspect of behavior that can be observed at a specific period.
To determine performance, a performance test is
conducted. Singer (1981) defined performance test as the type of mental test in
which the subject is asked to do something rather than to say something. Performance test is the type of test which
throws light on the ability to deal with things rather than symbols (Drever,
1981). In relation to educational research, academic performance of a student
can be regarded as the observable and measurable behavior of a student in a
particular situation. For example, the academic performance of a student in
social studies includes observable and measurable behavior of a student at any
point in time during a course. In social studies students' academic performance
consists of his scores at any particular time obtained from a teacher- made
test. Therefore, we can equate academic performance with the observed behavior
or expectation of achieving a specific statement of or statement of educational
intention in a research. Academic performance of students consists of scores
obtained from teacher-made test, first term examination, and mid-semester test.
And so on.
Achievement is defined as measurable behavior in a standardized
series of tests (Simpson and Weiner. 1989). Achievement test is usually
constructed and standardized to measure proficiency in school subjects. In most
cases, according to them. "Accomplishment" is sometimes used in place
of "achievement". According to Bruce and Neville (1979) educational
achievement is measured by standardized achievement test developed for school
subjects. What this means is that academic achievement is measured in relation
to what is attained at the end of a course, since it is the accomplishment of
medium or long term objective of education. What is important is that the test
should be a standardized test to meet national norm. For a test to be standardized,
it must be valid for over a period of time Achievement is regarded as action of
completing or attaining by exertion. It subsumes anything won by exertion, a
feat, a distinguished and successful action.
Simpson and Weiner (1989) contended that achievement
test intends to measure systematic education and training in school occupation
towards a conventionally accepted pattern of skills or knowledge. Several
subjects may be combined into an achievement battery for measuring general
school proficiency either in point score or achievement age and perhaps
achievement quotient.
Studies have shown that outcome is a generic word
which can be used for both performance and attitude or achievement and
attitude. In other words, outcome measures the general statement which provides
for both academic performance/achievement and attitude Learning outcome also
provides for measurement of specific actions designed to achieve some future behavior.
2.2.2.1 Factors influencing academic
performance
The reading habits
of students have been washed down the drain as a result of the emergence of
technology and advent of social media. Reading is the essential factor that
forms the foundation of greatness in everyone’s life irrespective of gender,
status, and age. It helps to develop an individual and is also important when
trying to pass an examination (read
tips to pass an examination here). One of the
major reason for the dwindling rate at which students read is due to the
introduction of phones, computers, laptops and the wrong usage of all forms of
communication technology. Social media and its networks such as BBM, WHATSAPP,
Instagram, 2go, Facebook, Twitter, Badoo, YouTube and the use of the Internet
as a whole has been the major obsessions of most Nigerian youths. Despite the
fact that the social media is making student’s academics suffer, it also has
some positive contributions to education. in this article, we will be
discussing the effects and impacts social media has on education.
Negative Effects (Disadvantages) and Impacts of Social Media
Many students that have access
to the GSM waste their time on it by chatting and surfing the Internet for
non-educative information. They are glued to their phones all day making them
lose the sense of time. Some students are also seen pressing their phones
during classes, seminars and also in the libraries. They believe their
smartphones are catalysts for easy assimilation when reading. Some even plugged
in their earpieces and are seen humming out the songs they are listening to
when studying which reduce their rates of assimilation and act as a source of
disturbances to others around them.
Youths of nowadays search for
information that will not add values to their lives. In a bid to know what
is going on in the world and to be current with events, they are always seen on
the Internet reading, browsing and reading fashion and social blogs. There is a
great decline in student’s passion to read for pleasure and enjoyment but
instead prefer to seek pleasure from the media by streaming videos on Social
Medias and playing with their phones. The main reason why they now read is just
to pass an examination and not to gain knowledge. This has reduced the vast use
and development of the brain. Students are no more learning through reading.
Students who so much devote their times on networking (
read about networking here) have a great tendency of having
low grades, poor academic performance and become unsuccessful.
Furthermore, the
social media has disrupted the writing skills. Students no longer know
how to write long essays because they no more read novels and storybooks that
may educate them on writing. The Internet is full of short stories and
write-ups with lots of abbreviation and students reading all these will not
have the real skill needed for writing. Also, due to nature by which messages
and chats are written, students have inculcated the habit of writing in
shorthand, constructing incomplete sentences and few lines, and this has
affected their grammar, punctuation, communication(
read an interesting article about communicating with your
partner here) and writing skills. These acts affect many of them in classes
and during exams and tests. Abbreviations and incomplete sentences are being
written which may not make sense to the examiner and thus lead to failure.
Examples of such are ‘k’ instead of ‘okay’, ‘cs/cz/bcos’ instead of
‘because’ and so on. Some students even forget how to spell correctly due to
their constant use of shorthand when chatting.
Also, students no longer pay
attention to details and research since they know they can always
check up anything they need online. By doing this, the usage of libraries and
research institutes have reduced. The retentive memory is no more put into use.
Students are now lazy in keeping information like dates, notes, and key points
‘upstairs’. They know the information needed can be browsed up. If they are
asked any question or important events and dates, they will not think twice
before bringing their phones out to search for it instead of providing answers
off hand. Students are exposed to
vices (read an interesting article on social vices here) and dirty sites like
the pornography sites, in the course of browsing. Since children like
practicing what they see, they tend to practice all that they saw and read on
the net. They engage in all these things at the detriment of their education. These
are just a few out of the numerous negative impacts and disadvantages of social
media on education.
Positive Effects (Advantages) and Impacts of Social Media
The social media also have
numerous positive impacts and effects. Firstly, it enhances learning
and education. Students, with the help of the Internet, now have access to
all form of information. Nothing is strange to ‘google’. No matter how old the
information is, the Internet serves as searchlights to them. Some information
that cannot be found in the libraries and research centers are now available
online. The use of search engines such as Google and Google Scholar has helped
many students in their educational life. The world is now a small place where
there is circulation of knowledge and information. Educational problems
encountered by students are being discussed and solved online through the help
of online counselors.
Secondly, schools now teach
over the Internet. Distance learning is made possible by the use of
social media. Many universities are now offering online courses to the public.
The social media has brought education and learning to our doorsteps. No need
of traveling and risking lives just to study. Options of studying abroad when
in Nigeria are open to students who are not financially buoyant to travel out
of the country. Lecturers now prefer assignments and projects to be submitted
to their emails. Lecture notes, handouts and reading materials are made
available by the teachers online and downloaded by the students. This reduces
the cost of making photocopies and the risk of misplacing them thereby making
education easier.
The media also makes students meet
people from various parts of the world which expose them to lots of
ideas that might be useful to them. Students also have access to educational
groups on Facebook and other online Social Media where intellectual people
discuss education, social problems, and contemporary issues. Students are
versatile in knowledge by the help of the social media. Media houses such as
the radio and television stations also help in the dissemination of social
issues. It has also helped the
students to have access to their mentors and role models that are far away.
They are able to communicate with these people through the aid of the social
networks. Also, they have the opportunities of contracting industries and
companies of interest. Jobs are being sought and applied for online.
Furthermore, students
with the time spent on computers and mobile devices are exposed to
technology,
may develop an interest in it and pick it up as a career (read about choosing the right career here). Their
social lives help in socializing and building up confidence in the future. The
use of computer helps students to develop themselves in Web designs, artistic
skills, and other computer-related programs. This increases their creativity
and technology know-how.
2.2.2.2 Assessment of academic performance
Teachers most often use assessment to obtain
information that helps them improve their instruction. This in turn helps them
to bridge the gap between curriculum standards and student achievement.
Assessment is also used for accountability purposes, for both students and
teachers. Classrooms are made up of a diversity of learners and so to help them
make appropriate instructional decisions and to provide valid information for
accountability, teachers use a wide variety of assessments. This is evident in
all the literature reviewed by the writer as well as interviews of teachers
performed by the author.
Assessment information can be used in three different
ways: to give the teacher and student information that will allow them to
improve student learning, to help with selection decisions for educational
options, and to provide accountability at a number of levels. Although it seems
when reading a newspaper or watching the television news that the main role of
assessment is to judge how well a school is performing as a part of educational
reform, the more important use for assessment is to help the teacher improve
student learning (Diez 1997).
Feedback about student achievement can help the
teacher reflect on instructional methods used and help plan the next educational
steps to take. In fact, without the information gained from valid and reliable
assessments, an instructional program can not be responsive to the needs of the
students. Assessment information allows the teacher to find out whether their
instruction is helping students meet criteria of mastery or make acceptable
progress along academic continuums. Veteran first grade teacher Debbi Beckhorn
states "...(I have) seen many changes in the arena of assessment and
monitoring of student progress. More and more, it seems, we need to 'check in'
with students more frequently in order to carefully lead them in their next
step in the learning process. I use a variety of assessment tools to 'dip in'
to a student's progress..."(Beckhorn, 2000) For this first grade teacher,
the use of assessment information helps her make instructional decisions,
allowing her to guide her students' progress along academic continuums. This
use of assessment as information can be seen at all levels of the K-12 system.
Joanne Schmitt, a high school mathematics teacher uses formal assessments in
this way on a weekly basis. "At least once a week, I give a short quiz to
get a more formal assessment of (students') progress. From the results ... I
judge whether or not I need to reteach and/or give more practice on
concepts." (Schmitt, 2000)
While developing this paper, the author discovered
that including students in the instructional decision process through the use
of assessment information changes with the age of the students. The first grade
teacher quoted above made all the instructional decisions that were based on
the assessment information. The high school mathematics teacher on the other
hand provided frequent performance feedback directly to her students so that
they could modify their personal approach to learning the material. This shows
a sort of cooperative attitude between the students and the teacher when
negotiating curriculum. One of the most important aspects of my assessment is
that I give the students WEEKLY feedback on their grades, so that they have the
opportunity to see exactly where they are weak and can improve. Most of my
students feel this is very important and will "get on my case" if I
slack off on my record keeping. I also require that they keep a written,
running account of what they have turned in, because I freely admit that I am
human and can (and do) make mistakes when entering records into the computer.
This gives them a feeling of empowerment and helps to make them understand that
in the long run, they are responsible for the grades they earn (Schmitt, 2000).
The last portion of the statement also shows that
teachers use assessment for more than just getting sound information in order
to make instructional decisions. Teachers also use assessment for accountability
reasons, to help students be accountable for their learning. Apart from guiding
instructional decisions, a newer role that is forming for assessment is that of
determining instruction. State high-stakes test results are doing this because teachers
feel "...administrative pressure to teach to the test..." (Bol,
Stephenson, & Nunnery, 1998) Whether this improves student achievement has
yet to be established. Assessments can be placed in two categories, alternative
assessments and traditional assessments. Alternative assessments include
observations, performance assessments, student self-assessments, and
portfolios. Traditional assessments include both standardized and classroom
achievement tests with predominately selection type questions (Bol, Stephenson,
& Nunnery, 1998). Classrooms are diverse collections of children and
learning is a complex process. In order to provide valid and usable
information, assessment needs to be given in a variety of ways, using both
traditional and alternative methods. A fourth grade teacher, Fred Akins, is
representative of this. The assessments he uses for both instructional decision
making and accountability include both paper-and-pencil tests and performance
assessments. The assessment tools he uses include observations, rubrics,
text-book unit assessments, analytical reading inventories, timed tests,
reading interviews, and the Washington Assessment of Student Learning
standardized test(Akins, 2000). Both the first grade and the high school
teacher interviewed by the author also included a wide variety of assessment
tools that include traditional and alternative assessments. This is also
reflective of what Mertler (1999), Bol, Stephenson, and Nunnery (1998).
The frequency with which teachers used traditional
methods of assessments was not associated with the frequency with which they
used alternative assessments. The absence of a negative correlation between the
variables implies that teachers tend to use both methods of assessment in their
classrooms, rather than using traditional or alternative methods as their
dominant means of student assessment (Bol, Stephenson, & Nunnery, 1998).
This makes sense because, as has been written,
"Given the diversity of achievement
targets ... it becomes obvious that no single assessment method is capable of
reflecting them all." (Stiggins, 1995) In other words, student
achievements such as the memorization of multiplication facts are best measured
by assessment methods such as a traditional paper-and-pencil achievement test,
it doesn't make sense to create a portfolio based entirely on math facts
mastered (although it could be done). With other modes of learning, alternative
assessment methods provide better information. For instance a writing product
can be assessed through the use of a scoring rubric, likely providing more
valid information for both instructional and accountability purposes than a
multiple choice test would. In fact, "...performance-based assessment
provides teachers with information about how the student understands and
applies knowledge" and this can't be done as well with most traditional
forms of testing (Brualdi, 1999).
Students attend school to learn and teachers' main
purpose is to guide them in this endeavor. Because of this, although there are
other legitimate reasons for assessment, obtaining information about student
achievement in order to guide instruction is the most important one. When used
in this way, instruction improves and more closely meets the needs of the
individual child, student learning is enhanced, and teachers will be better
able to bridge that gap between student achievement and curriculum standards.
The learning process is complex and educational targets are diverse, so that a
wide variety of assessment tools are needed to get the appropriate information.
If we truly believe that all children have a right and an ability to learn,
then we need to keep the most important use of assessment in its place.
Information to better meet the learning needs of our children must be the top
priority of assessment (Airasian p 364, 1997).
2.3 Theoretical
Framework
The theories considered most appropriate for
this study are: social media and academic performance theory. Social media processing
theory explains online information. The theory was developed in 1992 by Joseph
Waither (Asemah 2011:219). Social media processing theory is an interpersonal
communication theory which suggests that online interpersonal relationship
development might require more time to develop than face-to-face relationships,
but when developed, it has the same influence as face-to-face communication.
This means, the more students use social media, the more they influence their
disposition to studies, given the fact that friends from social media will
begin to exert influence on each other.
Media
equation theory, as noted by Griffin (2000), cited in Asemah and Edegoh (2012)
was propounded by Byron Reeves and Clifford Nass. The theory proposes that
media are equal to real life and that electronic media in particular are being
given human attributes. In most cases, people talk to computer as if they were
talking to human beings. More so, in most cases, you talk to your television as
if you are discussing with human beings, hence you talk to television sets as
if you are discussing with people. That is, people have personalised the media
of mass communication to the extent that they now see them, just the way they
see human beings. Thus, Griffin (2000, p. 273), cited in Asemah and Edegoh
(2012) notes that media are equal to real life. He further noted that what
Reeves and Nass’s equation suggests is that we respond to communication media
as if they were alive. This theory says that people now treat computers, television
and the new media like real people and places. Going by the media equation
theory, we tend to give human attributes to inanimate objects in our homes.
According to Griffin (2000,p. 373):
The practical implication of the
media equation is that once we turn on a television or boot up on computer, we
follow all the rules of interpersonal interaction that we have précised
throughout life. Thus, the word interface is particularly action when
describing human media relations. This natural social response goes way beyond
occasional words yelled at the television set or our frantic play for the
computer to retrieve lost data. Reeves and Nass maintain that the media
equation is so basic that it applies to everyone; it applies often and it is
highly consequential. The above
assertion optionally captures how the audience members now tend to engage the
media in a discussion as they do to human beings. The relevance of the theory
to the paper cannot be overemphasised. People treat the media like human
beings, so whatever people see in the media, they tend to believe because they
respond to the new media, the way they will respond to human beings.
2.4 Imperial
review
Different researchers have conducted
research to ascertain the influence of social media on users; for example, Moon
(2011) in a study on “effect of social media on students’ academic
performance”, averred that social media have negative effect on students.
According to the result, the more students use Facebook, the more it affects
their academic performance. Similarly, Oye (2012) notes that most of the
younger students use social networking sites mainly for socialising activities,
rather than for academic purpose. Oye (2012) further observed that most of the
students do feel that social networking sites have more positive effect on
their academic performance. In another study conducted by Shana (2012), it was
revealed that students use social network mainly for making friends and
chatting. The result showed that only 26 percent of the students (respondents)
indicated that they use social media for academic purpose.
Young (2006) in a study titled “the
effect of internet use and social capital on the academic performance of
students” observed that the internet expands its reach to teenagers’ school
life. Young noted that students are more reliant on the internet to access
information that is involved in school life as well as entertainment. The
researcher further added that internet, though consumes time, and has less
effect on studies. Yang (2003) notes the effect of social media depends large
on the degree of usage.
Yoon (2000) observed that the type of
social media or network subscribed to by a teenager exerts influence on him or
her to visit the internet. Jeong (2005)
noted that internet addiction is significantly and negatively related to
students’ academic performance, as well as emotional attributes. Seo (2004)
corroborates Jong’s assertion when he opined that the negative influence of
internet is only on excessive users and not on all users. Rather (2013, p. 69)
The Social networking sites and blogs which
are being used today with tremendous passion and zeal have transformed the way
of using internet in recent years by describing online tools and utilities which
allow users for communication, participation and collaboration of information
online. Today’s young generation, especially teens and youth are using
technology through innovative ways due to which they are referred to as
Millennials and have changed the ways we think, work and communicate even
though they are in formative years of their life. Today’s youth because of
these social networking sites have become technology addicts and are quite
introverted (Carls, 2011).
A new research study finds that widespread use
of media among freshman college students may compromise academic performance.
The study is one of the first to explore mechanisms of media effects on
academic outcomes. Investigators determined that use of media, from texting to
chatting on cell phones to posting status updates on Facebook may lower grades
for freshman female students (Nauert, 2007).
2.3
Theoretical framework
Canadian psychologist Albert Bandura
proposed one of the most influential theories of learning and development the
‘social learning theory’ (Bandura, 2007, p.69). Bandura stated that “most human
behaviour is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others
one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions
this coded information serves as a guide for action” (Bandura, 1977). The
incorporated social aspect of this theory is known as “observational learning
(or modeling)” as people have the ability to learn by simply watching others
(Social Learning Theory: Understanding Bandura's Theory of Learning, n.d.).
Found within the social learning theory lies three main concepts. First, as
previously mentioned is the notion that individuals have the ability to learn
through observation, second- that mental states are a fundamental part of this
process and thirdly, the theory alleges that when something is learned this
does not always follow by a change in behavior. As external, environmental
reinforcement was not the only influence to learning and behavior, intrinsic
reinforcement was also considered to play a part in forming the learned
response of an individual. As it is perceived as a form of “internal reward”,
such examples include “pride, satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment”
(Social Learning Theory: Understanding Bandura's Theory of Learning, n.d.). It
is evident that internal thoughts and cognitions assist to connect learning
theories with cognitive developmental theories. Bandura suggested that his
concept surrounding the social learning theory could be considered as a “social
cognitive theory” (Social Learning Theory: Understanding Bandura's Theory of
Learning, n.d.). Observational learning considers that individuals are
able to learn without demonstrating new behaviors. Yet it is suggested that not
all observed behaviors are learned adequately. Specific factors influence the
success of learning and it is the following steps that determine the
observational learning and modeling process:
Attention:
For behaviors to be successfully learned, the individual must pay sufficient
attention.
Retention:
Storing this information so that it may be used at a later date is crucial to
the observational learning process.
Reproduction:
Following attention and retention comes the time to reproduce the observed
behaviour. Practice of this behaviour assists with the improvement of skills.
Motivation:
The
individual must be motivated to repeat the learned behaviour. Reinforcement and
punishment influence assist to influence this step as it acts to either
encourage or deter the individual from having the motivation to repeat the
modeled behaviour.
Kaplan’s experiment (1972) shows a similar association
to Bandura as the experiment focuses on “the effects of vicarious reinforcement
and model’s behaviour on subjects’ imitation of the model’s performance and
learning to give critical responses” (p. 448).
Social learning theory combines cognitive learning theory (which posits that
learning is influenced by psychological factors) and behavioral learning theory
(which assumes that learning is based on responses to environmental stimuli).
Psychologist Albert Bandura integrated these two theories and came up with four
requirements for learning: observation (environmental), retention (cognitive),
reproduction (cognitive), and motivation (both). This integrative approach to
learning was called social learning theory.
Bandura developed what famously became known
as the Bobo Doll experiments. In these studies, children watched adults
model either violent or passive behavior towards a toy called Bobo Doll,
and what they saw influenced how they subsequently interacted with the dolls.
Children who observed violent behavior imitated this behavior and were verbally
and physically aggressive toward the doll. Children who witnessed
nonviolent behavior behaved less aggressively toward the doll. Bandura
concluded that children learn aggression, violence, and other social
behaviors through observation learning, or watching the behaviors of others.
Sample selection
and http://www.ibusiness.de/rankings/2547084935.html) . By
selecting the highest grossing online stores, we assume a high degree of
maturity for the chosen online stores. Furthermore, we consider these online
stores relevant, because we assume that the number of sales goes hand in hand
with the number of customers. Although we cannot prove this correlation, we
assume that the conducted online stores have an impact on a variety of
customers.
For our sample, we combined the two top 100 lists from
the years 2010 and 2011. Many of the top 100 online stores from the year 2010
were also present in the top 100 from the year 2011, which gave a total number
of 117 distinct online stores for these two years. After the exclusion of the
two online stores from Neckermann and Schlecker, which did not exist anymore at
the time of our study, the final sample comprised 115 online stores. A listing
of these stores can be found in Table1, which displays the domain names of the
conducted stores. The last access to the listed websites above was made during
our observation period, as described in the next section.
Table 1. Listing of the 115 conducted online stores
(ordered by domain name)
adobe.com/downloads/ alternate.de amazon.de
apodiscounter.de atu.de baby-walz.de
bader.de baur.de bonprix.de
brands4friends.de buch.de buecher.de
buy.norton.com c-and-a.com channel21.de
computeruniverse.net comtech.de conrad.de
cyberport.de deichmann.com dell.de
docmorris.de douglas.de dress-for-less.de
drucker-guenstiger.de druckerzubehoer.de emp.de
esprit.de fab.de fernseher-guenstiger.de
fressnapf.de frontlineshop.de galeria-kaufhof.de
getgoods.de globetrotter.de goertz.de
International Journal of Advanced Information
Technology (IJAIT) Vol. 3, No. 5, October 2013
hagebau.de handyshop.de hardwareversand.de
heine.de hm.com/de hoh.de
hornbach.de hse24.de ikea.com/de
imwalking.de innova24.biz itunes.apple.com/de
jako-o.de kapersky.com/de karstadt.de
kfzteile24-shop.de kidoh.de klingel.de
landsend.de libri.de lidl.de
limango.de logitech.com louis.de
medion.com medpex.de mindfactory.de
mirapodo.de moebel-profi.de musicload.de
mytoys.de nero.com/deu/store.html notebooksbilliger.de
obi.de office-discount.de otto.de
pearl.de planet-sports.de plus.de
promarkt.de qvc.dereal-onlineshop.de redcoon.de
reichelt.de reifen.comreifendirekt.de roller.de
rossmannversand.de sanicare.de schuhtempel24.de
schwab.de sheego.de shop.haufe.de
shop-apotheke.comsoftware-
download.mediamarkt.de
soliver.de
sportscheck.com
staples.de
store.apple.com/de
tchibo.de
telekom.de
thalia.de
thomann.de
tomtom.com
t
-
online
-
shop.de
toysrus.de
unimall.de
vente
-
privee.com
viking.de
voelkner.d
e
walbusch.de
weltbild.de
wenz.de
westfalia.de
westwing.de
www8.hp.com/de/de
yves
-
rocher.de
zalando.de
zooplus.de
Because the assortments of the conducted online stores
are very heterogeneous, we grouped them
into 10 categories, which allows a more
detailed segmentation of the results later. The
assortments and their total occurrences are shown in
Figure 2. Assortments that occurred at least
five times were grouped together, while every other
assortment was put in the category
Miscellaneous. The thre
e most often occurred assortments are: "Full
range of products",
"Clothing, textiles, shoes" and
"Computer, consumer electronics, cellphones, accessories". Well
known representatives of these assortments include for
example amazon.de, notebooksbilliger.de
or esprit.de.
International Journal of Advanced Information
Technology (IJAIT) Vol. 3, No. 5, October 2013
6
Figure
2
.
Distribution of the assortment for the conducted
online stores
3.2. Observation and data collection
The observation for our study started on October 15,
2012 and ended on November 6, 2012. We
used the web browser Mozilla Firef
ox (version 16.0.2) to observe the social media
features of the
conducted online stores. We observed the websites in a
standardized way to achieve
reproducibility. For each online store, we carried out
the following steps, which are explained
below:
1.
Open
website of online store and create a user account (if
possible)
2.
Observe start page and user profile page
3.
Observe product pages
When visiting an online store for the first time, we
looked for a possibility to create a user
account for that store. This was
done to make sure that all social media features can
be observed,
even the features that are only available for
registered users. For five online stores, the creation
of
a user account was not possible, because they either
required sensitive information th
at we did not
want to provide (for example a credit card number) or
they only allowed a registration as part of
an order process. Therefore it is possible that not
all social media features were observed for thes
e
online stores.
After the creation of a us
er account, we looked at the start page to find
possible indicators for
social media features, for example links to blogs or
discussion boards. We followed these links to
inspect the characteristics of the social media
features. If we found a link to a sit
e map on the start
page, we also analyzed the links on the site map for
possible social media features. We then
looked at our user profile page (if a registration was
possible), to find interaction or identity
features.
Finally, we observed the product pa
ges of the online store. As the central element of
every online
store, a product page is suitable for providing
interaction features, like customer reviews or other
sharing features. Based on the assumption that the
structure and the interaction features o
f product
pages are identical for every product, we chose to
observe random product pages. When the start
page of the online store provided links to categories
like "top
-
seller" or "best
-
seller", we chose to
International Journal of Advanced Information
Technology (IJAIT) Vol. 3, No. 5, October 2013
7
select a random product from these categories, b
ecause we assumed a higher customer interaction
for these products, for example more customer reviews
or comments.
During our observation we collected and noted all
social media features that were found. Every
feature was modeled as a dichotomous attribut
e, i.e. a feature is either present or not present in
an
online store. We later categorized the social media
features into a common and product area. The
common area contains features that were found on the
start page or the user profile page. The
product
-
specific area contains only features that were found
on product pages.
Finally, it must be noted that the above method for
finding social media features was only applied
in a pre
-
purchase context, i.e. without actually buying
anything from the conducted o
nline stores.
Therefore potential social media features that could
be part of the post
-
purchase process (e.g.
sharing a purchase with friends over a social network)
are not included in our study. Furthermore,
we limited the study to social media features t
hat actually involve user interactions. Therefore we
excluded features of the online store that are based
on other users' behavior, for example product
recommendations that were based on other customers'
preferences.
2.
5 Summary and uniqueness of the study
It
is summarize that social media platforms has a significant effect on nassarawa
zonal education area students’ academic performance in Kano. Nevertheless,
among the six variables used in this research project, time appropriateness and
health addiction has a stronger significant influence on students’ academic
performance. This is because time management plays an essential role in
determining the success or failure of an individual. Thus students who lack
time management can easily fall prey to the negative effect which social media
platforms present to its uses. Likewise, health addiction, students who are
engrossed with social media platforms ends up skipping their meals which has a
health effect on them. Such students become malnourished and could possibly
fall ill which is will directly have an effect on students. Also, the nature of usage and friend-people
connection has an effect also on the performance of students but not as effectual
as the aforementioned variable. Finally, time duration and security/privacy
problems have minimal or no significant influence on students’ academic
performance. The uniqueness of this
study if compared with the above theories all the studies under goes under the
social media and challenges among the students in secondary schools conducted
in this area as it review the previous literature and on the theory and
imperial findings. For further conclusion, the study also tries to relate the
postulations and findings from empirical studies so as to lay a ground
work.
