INFLUENCE OF THE USAGE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION
<p>The study investigated the influence of the usage of social networking sites on academic performance of students in Entrepreneurship Education. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population consisted of 120 students (60 males and 60 females) from University of Calabar in Nigeria. A questionnaire with a-4-point rating scale was used to elicit responses from the respondents. The instrument was tested for reliability using Cronbach Alpha, and it yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.89. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions and t-test to test the hypotheses at a confidence level of 0.05. The findings from the study revealed that the motives of students using social networking sites include: connecting with family and friends; searching for new friends; online news; entertainments; information sharing, chatting, downloading music and movies and searching for study materials. It was also found that the usage of social networking sites had strong positive influence on the students. Similarly, the test of hypotheses indicates that there is significant difference in the motive of using Social Networking Sites (SNSs) by male and female students in Entrepreneurship Education. Besides, it was found that there is a significant difference in the opinion of male and female respondents on the influence of social networking sites usage on the academic performance of male and female students in Entrepreneurship Education. The implication of the study is that social networking sites could be used as educational resource in order to improve academic performance of both male and female students. However, usage of the networking sites may also influence academic performance negatively. Teachers and counselors need to particularly take notice of this for necessary remedial actions. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Universities and lectures in particular should adopt the usage of social networking sites to enhance teaching and learning in Entrepreneurship Education and other related disciplines.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0789/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>