Impact of Abundance of Social Media in Education in Developing Countries

Abstract

It is common knowledge that technology has penetrated all sectors of our lives and education is one of them. University students joining these institutions are engrained in technology and other modern electronic devices that teaching them is a major challenge of the education system does not embrace technology in its delivery and operations. For those engaged in online culture, one of the cardinal digital literacies is the ability to effectively exploit social networking services. YouTube currently has millions and millions of videos for academic purpose at all levels and the content is loaded on 24-hour basis. This study was to investigate abundance of social media in developing countries and explore possible benefits it has for the education sector. Using descriptive survey, the study was conducted among selected universities in Kenya. The findings indicated that social media is actually in use among student and lecturers including the administrative staff. The study further noted that the use of social media in higher institutions has been propelled by the availability of internet services in educational institutions and the society as a whole.