1. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING AND THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITIES IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA M.Ed. INTERIM REPORT BY YAHYA, Saheed Olalekan 05/67QW024 DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN, ILORIN, NIGERIA SUPERVISOR: DR. S. A. ONASANYA

2. BACKGROUND TO THE PROBLEM  The need for very effective and efficient ways of handling modern communication is very important, as communication remains the major sustenance of world existence. Invariably, without good communication, the world would be a difficult place to live in (Raji & AbdulKareem 2009).  Networking is referred to as the connection of two or more computers to communicate with one another, that is when millions of computers in different locations around the world are connected together to allow users send and receive message to one another (Olawepo & Oyedepo 2008).  Cecconi (2007) described Social Networking as all activities carried out within specific online services that provide free space and software tools which allow the creation of networks of people.

3. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM  Syed & Naqvi2 (2006), carried out a research to explore factors affecting college students’ performance, the focus of the research is that student performance in intermediate examination is associated with students’ profile consisted of his attitude towards attendance in classes, time allocation for studies, parents’ level of income, mother’s age and mother’s education.  Flad (2010) researched on the Influence of Social Networking Participation on Student Academic Performance across gender lines. Findings of the study revealed that the relationship between students who are actively involved in social networking and their academic performance is inconclusive. Females were more likely than males to participate in social networking, but were also more likely to have higher grades and take more rigorous classes.  Wang, Chen, and Liang (2011) worked on the Effects of Social Media on College Students, in the research it was indicated that most college students would prefer to use social media and spend many hours checking social media sites, Social networking is definitely affecting students’ efficiencies as well as their grades, hence, educators need to be concerned about these problems and try to find better ways to solve these problems.

4.  The researcher became interested in focusing on social networking sites after discovering that communication is now instant, as students own cell phones that enable them to access social networking sites throughout the day. With these facilities, students would miss class, staying home from school, or avoiding schoolwork in order to participate on social networking websites, some while in the class access their social networking sites. In the end, the researcher thinks all of these things would negatively hamper the students’ overall academic achievement.  The researcher also wanted to understand how gender influences this study, since male and female students may have different reasons for participating in social networking, and may have different academic achievements. Hence, it is apparently important to bring into renewed focus, the influence of emerging social communication platforms could portend on learners. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM CONTD.

5. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY Specifically, the research investigated the following:  The number of social networking sites students subscribe to  The number of social networking sites students use  The number of hours students spends daily on social networking sites  The relationship between frequency of use of social networking sites and the students’ academic achievement  The relationship between gender and the students’ use of social networking sites  To find out if relationship of students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement vary from university to university.

6. RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1.Which social networking sites do students subscribe to? 2.Which social networking sites do students use? 3.What number of hours do students spend daily on social networking sites? 4.Does the use of social networking sites have a relationship with students’ academic achievement? 5.Is there any relationship between gender and the students’ use of social networking sites? 6.Is there any relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement from university to university?

7. RESEARCH HYPOTHESES The following null hypotheses were tested: H O1 : there is no significant relationship between the academic achievement of students who spend more time on social networking sites and those who spend less time. H O2 : there is no significant relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement based on gender. Ho 3 there is no significant relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement when universities are compared.

8. SCOPE OF THE STUDY  The scope of this study was limited to undergraduates of universities in Kwara State. Three Universities were sampled, these are:University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State University Malete and Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin. Landmark University, Omun - Aran was not considered as part of the sampled school because none of their students is in their final year of study. Respondents were proportionally selected from 400 levels of each school viz University of Ilorin, Ilorin (200), Kwara State University (100), Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin (100) to make a total of four hundred students (400) that was used for the study.

9. Clarification of Major Terms and Variables The terms and variables that were operationally used in the course of this study were defined as used in the study for the purpose of clarity  Relationship;  Online social networking ;  Social networking sites;  Academic achievement ;  University students.

10. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The results and findings of this study would be useful to: teachers, learners, parents, curriculum developer, teacher education, educational policy maker, government, professional bodies, university administrators, educational researcher and it is expected to provide an empirical basis and stimulant for further researches on the influence and use of social networking on students’ academic achievement.

11. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW The literature reviewed for this study is presented under the following headings: 1. Concept and Historical development of Social networking. 2. Technologies that support Social networking Access. 3. Historical background of Universities in Kwara State. 4. Positive and Negative effects of social networking. 5. Related studies on social networking and Students’ academic achievement. 6. Related studies on Computer and Internet use in Education. 7. Gender Differences and Internet use in education. 8. Some social networking sites registered users and date lunched. 9. Appraisal of the Reviewed Literature.

12. CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research Type  This study was a correlation research of the survey type as the researcher seeks and obtained information on the relationship between online social networking and students’ academic achievement using a questionnaire. The questionnaire was used to draw inference about the general response of the entire population under investigation.

13. Sample and Sampling Techniques  The population for the study comprised of all university undergraduates in Kwara State, while the target population consisted of three (3) selected universities in Kwara state. The proportional stratified sampling technique was adopted to select the respondents according to the population of the sampled universities, vis two hundred (200) respondents from university of Ilorin, one hundred (100) respondents each from Kwara State University, Malete, and Al- Hikmah University, Ilorin making a total of four hundred (400) respondents all at 400 levels of each of the three universities.

14. Research Instrument  The research instrument used to gather the relevant data for this study was a researcher – designed questionnaire with two sections. Section A deals with respondents’ personal information such as name of institution, department, academic level and gender; while section B composed of 12 questions which was formatted with “yes” or “no” questions, multiple choice questions and open ended questions where respondents expressed themselves on the question(s) asked. Respondents ticked ( ) as appropriate for their response, and filled in blank spaces to supply answer where applicable.  the researcher obtained academic records (the good standing results) of the students on who the questionnaires were administered and correlated their level of social networking usage with their current GPA to see its relationship with their academic achievement as a result of their exposure to social networking technologies.

15. Reliability of the Instrument The research instrument was given to the researcher’s supervisor, a professor in the Department of Science Education, University of Ilorin, the researcher’s colleagues, a lecturer from school of science, Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin for validation and their comments were used for the modification of the questionnaire for the final draft that was administered. The reliability of the instrument was determined using 50 selected students from Kwara State polytechnic, Ilorin and the questionnaire was administered to them, after two weeks the same set of students were given the same questionnaire. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation coefficient was employed to test for correlation between the two set of data collected and the correlation coefficient of r = 0.81 indicated that there is a high relationship between the two set of data, hence confirming the reliability of the questionnaire.

16. Procedure for Data Collection  The copies of the research questionnaire were administered to the universities’ students through personal contact by the researcher to ensure the questionnaire items were properly filled without delay, the completed questionnaires were collected by the researcher and data gathered from the questionnaire was used to find out the relationship between online social networking and academic achievement of university students in the selected schools.

17. Data Analysis Techniques  Data gathered from the sampled universities’ students was used to find out the relationship between online social networking and the academic achievement of the students.  Frequency counts and percentage and t-test were used to analyze the research questions.  Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to test the stated hypotheses.

18. CHAPTER FOUR DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS Research questions 1 and 2: Which social networking sites do students subscribe to? Which social networking sites do students use? Table 3: Showing the social networking sites students subscribe to and use. Table 3 shows that 350 (34.9%) of the respondents subscribe to Facebook, 222 (22.1%) subscribe to 2go, 126 (12.7%) subscribe to Twitter, 220 (22.0%) subscribe to WhatsApp, 46 (4.6%) subscribe to Skype and 38 (3.7%) subscribe to Youtube. It was also indicated in the table that 300 (36.4%) of the respondents uses Facebook, 200 (24.3%) uses 2go, 98(12.7%) uses Twitter, 150 (18.23%)WhatsApp, 40 (4.6%) uses Skype and 32 (3.8%) uses Youtube. Social networking sitesSubscribe to Use Freq. Perc. Freq. Perc. Facebook 350 34.9 300 36.4 2go 222 22.1 200 24.3 Twitter 126 12.7 98 12.7 WhatsApp 220 22.0 50 18.2 Skype 46 4.6 40 4.6 Youtube 38 3.7 32 3.8 Total 1002 100.0 820 100.0

19. Research question 3: What number of hours do students spend daily on social networking sites? Table 4: Showing the number of time students spend daily on social networking sites. Table 4 shows that 6 (1.5%) of the respondents chooses no time, 162 (40.5%) spends 30 minutes, 112 (28.0%) spends 1 hour, 51 (12.8%) spends 1 hour 30 minutes and 69 (17.2%) spends 2 hours daily on social networking sites. TimeFrequencyPercentage 0 61.5 30mins 16240.5 1hr 11228.0 1hr30mins 5112.8 2hrs 6917.2 Total 400100.0

20. Research question 4: Does the use of social networking sites have a relationship with students’ academic achievement? Table 5: Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient Showing relationship on academic achievement of students and students’ use of social networking sites. **= Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2 tailed) Table 5 presents data on the relationship on the students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement. The table shows a calculated r-value of 0.731 and a critical r-value of.195 with 398 degree of freedom at 0.05 level of significance. Since the calculated r-value is greater than the critical r-value, it shows that there is significant relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement. VariablesNoMean Standard Deviation Df Calculated r-value Critical r-value Sig. network400 5.783.563 3980.731*0.1950.05 g.p.400 3.271.312 398

21. Research question 5: Is there any relationship between gender and the students’ use of social networking sites? Table 6: Means, Standard Deviation and t-value of Respondents’ relationship between gender and social networking use. *= Significant, p< 0.05 alpha level. Table 6 presents data on the mean, standard deviation and t- value of respondents’ relationship between gender and social networking use. The table shows that the calculated t-value of -1.682 is less than the critical t- value of 1.96 at 0.05 level of significance. On this basis, the use of social networking sites does not have a significant relationship across gender. GenderNoMean Standard Deviation Df Calculated t-value Critical t-value Male 223 5.51 3.767 Female 177 6.11 3.2683981.6821.96

22. Research question 6: Is there any relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement from university to university? Table 7: Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient Showing relationship on students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement based on sampled universities **= Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2 tailed) VariablesNoMean Standard Deviation Df Calculated r-value Critical r-value Sig. Network4006.353.3703980.0440.1950.05 g.p4003.191.349398

23. Table 7 presents data on the relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement from university to university. The table shows a calculated r-value of 0.044 and a critical r-value of.195 with 398 degree of freedom at 0.05 level of significance. Since the calculated r-value is less than the critical r-value, this indicated that there is no significant relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement from university to university.

24. HYPOTHESES TESTING Hypothesis 1: there is no significant relationship between the academic achievement of students who spend more time on social networking sites and those who spend less time. Table 8: Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient Showing Relationship on academic achievement of students and time spent on social networking sites **= Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2 tailed) VariablesNoMean Standard Deviation Df Calculated r-value Critical r-value Sig. g.p4005.883.4763980.1950.05 30mins 3743.031.433 372 0.074 1hr 2383.501.262 236 0.082 1hr30mins 1253.361.221 123 0.109 2hrs 1493.021.302 145 0.787**

25. Table 8 presents data on the relationship on academic Achievement of students and time spent on social networking sites. The table shows a calculated r-value of 0.787 and critical r-value of.195 with 145 degree of freedom at 0.05 level of significance at 2 hours. Since the calculated r-value is greater than the critical r-value 2 hours, the null hypothesis 1 was not accepted and the alternate hypothesis was accepted. Thus, there is a significant relationship between the academic achievement of students who spend more time on social networking sites and those who spend less time.

26. Hypothesis 2: There is no significant relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement based on gender. Table 9: Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient Showing relationship on students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement based on gender **= Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2 tailed) VariablesNoMean Standard Deviation Df Calculated r-value Critical r-value Sig. g.p.4003.361.3343980.1950.05 Gender 2235.513.7672210.031 Male Female1776.113.2681750.057

27. Table 9 presents data on the relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement based on gender. The table shows calculated r-values of 0.031 and 0.057 and a critical r-value of.195 with 221 and 175 degree of freedom respectively at 0.05 level of significance. Since the calculated r-values are less than the critical r-value, the null hypothesis was accepted. Thus, there is no significant relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement based on gender.

28. Hypothesis 3: There is no significant relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement when universities are compared. Table 10: Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient Showing relationship on students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement based on sampled universities. **= Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2 tailed) VariablesNoMean Standard Deviation Df Calculated r-value Critical r-value Sig. Network4006.353.3703980.0440.1950.05 g.p.4003.191.349398

29. Table 10 presents data on the relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement when universities are compared. The table shows a calculated r-value of 0.044 and a critical r- value of.195 with 398 degree of freedom at 0.05 level of significance. Since the calculated r-value is less than the critical r-value, the null hypothesis was accepted. Thus, there is no significant relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement when universities are compared.

30. SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS The findings of this study revealed that ;Facebook has the highest number of subscribers and users with 350 (34.9%) and 300 (36.4%) respectively, followed by 2go with 222 (22.1%) subscriber and 200 (24.3%) users, then WhtasApp with 220 (22.0%) subscribers and 150 (18.23%) users, Twitter with126 (12.7%) subscribers and 98(12.7%) users, Skype with 46 (4.6%) subscribers and 40 (4.6%) users and lastly Youtube with 38 (3.7%) subscribers and 32 (3.8%) users. The result of the data gathered also indicated that 6 (1.5%) of the respondents chooses no time, 162 (40.5%) spends 30 minutes, 112 (28.0%) spends 1 hour, 51 (12.8%) spends 1 hour 30 minutes and 69 (17.2%) spends 2 hours daily on social networking sites.

31. SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS CONTD. The summary is hereby presented as: 1.there is a significant relationship between the academic achievement of students who spend more time on social networking sites and those who spend less time. 2.there is no significant relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement based on gender. 3. there is no significant relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement when universities are compared.

32. CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS Discussion The findings indicated that: There is a significant relationship between the academic achievement of students who spend more time on social networking sites and those who spend less time. There is no significant relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement based on gender. There is no significant relationship between students’ use of social networking sites and their academic achievement when universities are compared.

33. CONCLUSION It was gathered from the study that social networking sites have attracted millions of users, many of whom who have integrated these sites into their daily lives. Students have especially embraced this new way of communicating with classmates and keeping in touch with friends. Though there may be benefits to keeping connected with others by use of these sites, there is also the danger that they may negatively affect students’ academic achievement. This study has shown that although many students find their SNS memberships to be important in their lives, they are also aware of its negative implication on their academic achievement. Though some admit to spending a lot of time on these sites and this significantly affect their academic achievement.

34. RECOMMENDATIONS Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations were made: 1.Students should give priority to their academic studies than social networking. 2. School administrators should build upon the positive attributes that these sites have, such as the ability for students to join student groups or meet others from school. 3.School counselors should also communicate with parents about their children and Internet use in the home; also they should hold meetings to educate parents on the interactions that occur online, such as cyber-bullying, and how to monitor their child’s Internet use. 4. Parents also need to be aware that there are times when their children’s social networking participation do interfere with homework and studying, hence they should adequately guide against such.

35. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES The following suggestions were made for further studies: 1.Similar study may be conducted to investigate students of colleges of education, Monotechnics and Polytechnics. 2. This study can be replicated by carrying out a study to investigate relationship across gender only. 3. Further research needs to be done on the influence of social networking participation and students’ attitude towards their study. 4. Further study can be done to find out how these social media affect students in their teens and their relationship with peer groups. 5. Further research in this area could involve other tertiary institutions in other part Nigeria.

36. Thanks for listening, God bless you.