PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS TOWARDS SOCIAL MEDIA UTILIZATION FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING IN FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, MINNA

Abstract

This study focused on Perception and Attitudes of Undergraduate Students towards Utilization of Social Media for Teaching and Learning in Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State.The study adopted a descriptive survey research design, Four Objectives and Four Research Questions were raised to guide the study while Two Null Hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The population of the study consist of (1004) Undergraduate student in Federal University of Technology Minna. 120 (300 level) Undergraduate students were used as the sample from the population in Science Education and Educational Technology Departments which was determined by Simple Random Sampling Technique. The researcher developed a self - designed Four Point Rating Scale Questionnaire type titled, “Perceptions and Attitudes of Students towards Social Media Questionnaire (PASTSMQ) which was used to collect data from the respondents and was validated by two experts in Educational Technology Department. Data obtained from the respondents was coded using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) involving the use of Mean, Standard Deviation while t-test was used in testing the Hypothesis. However, findings of the research revealed that undergraduate students have positive perception and attitude toward social media utilization for teaching and learning process. It also revealed that social media is a good platform for students to learn, cause it is interactive, creative and collaborative in nature. The findings also suggest that social media tools can be very useful if being used as an educational tool. Also, the t-test result shows that there was a significant difference in gender perception and attitude of students toward social media utilization for teaching and learning. It was recommended that: Lecturers should adopt new strategies by conducting assignments or discussions on social media platforms to help instill the habit of using social media platforms for academic purposes. Lastly and most importantly, the faculty and the university at large should organize workshops, seminars and orientations on the use of social media platforms in teaching and learning process.