A Study on the Impact of Social Media Networking in Education with special reference in Malawi

Abstract

Of late the world has seen the growth of the use of social networks in social aspects as well as in education sector. Some of these social networking tools include Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Blogs and so on. These tools generate a lot of information on different angles that promote social interaction and education is not an exception.

This study aims at investigating the impact of social networking in education after the advent of technology. The main objectives of this study are to discover the main reasons for using social networks by higher education students, to recognize the benefits of social networking tools in education, to identify the challenges of using social networks by higher education students and to give suggestions on how to promote use of social networking tools in education.

In order to achieve   the   objectives   of   this study, the   research   methodology will be used is a survey   amongst DMI St. John Baptist University students in various programmes of study and finding out the social networking tools that might have an impact in education. The sample size will 50 and the data to be collected will be quantitative.  The type of sampling technique that will be used is proportionate stratified random sampling, since respondents shall be grouped into stratum in relation to their departments. The perspectives of this study are based on students.  This research puts into perspective the benefits of using social networks in education and how to promote them to be used effectively in higher education.