THE EFFECTS OF USING SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SHAHURA PREPARATORY SCHOOL STUDENTS, ALEFA WOREDA, CENTRAL GONDAR ZONE, AMHARA REGION

Abstract

This thesis focuses on examining the effects of using social media on the academic performance of preparatory students in the Ethiopian context. Technology is changing many aspects of our social life. Nevertheless, the shift from the face to face social interactions to the technology driven socialization makes a debatable among scholars. Some scholars consider Social media (SM) as a boon, to be used as a source for educational information, a site to share students understanding on the information what they earn to their social mates and a means of receiving plenty of information from their counterparts. On the contrary, there are other scholars who consider SM as a curse to the millennia generation. They argue as Social media (SM) have a negative impact on students’ academic performance. Even though there are some studies that have been done so far in Ethiopia, there is little research done on the effects of using social media among students in the study area. This study tries to elucidate the effects of using social media among selected Shahura preparatory students involving both quantitative and qualitative methods via cross sectional study design and focus group discussion (FGD), respectively. Hence, mixed methodological approach was employed via probability sampling techniques to draw the study samples for the quantitative element of the study. The data is organized and analyzed by following the rigorous steps pertinent to both the quantitative and qualitative components of the study. According to the study, most of the sample respondents involved in the survey (58.5%) reported that they have sufficient idea about internet. The widely used social networking site is facebook (58%). The majority of the students, 154 (45.3%) students used SM for the purpose of entertainment. The differences in using internet every day, using internet for four up to five days a week, communication with online friends every day, communication with online friends five to six days per week, using SM for greater than 6 hours per day, using SM for 4-6 hours per day