SOCIAL MEDIA AS A TOOL FOR IMPROVING STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN GEOGRAPHY IN SOME SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KUMBOTSO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

The aim of this study was to examine the social media as a tool for improving students academic performance in geography in some selected secondary schools in Kumbotso local government area. In achieving this objectives; three research questions guided the study. Descriptive survey research was used and simple random sampling procedure were used to determine the size of 200 respondents among student in Kumbotso local government. The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire titled “Social Media as a tool for improving students’ academic performance in geography” The Questionnaires were distributed to the respondents using probability sampling techniques, in order to avoid bias. The result obtained testify that social media influence the academic achievements of students negatively because they spend more time chatting and doing other activities than studying or carrying out academic research online that is related to geography. Moreover, the available social media used by the students are Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube but Facebook and Whatsapp social media were the sites which students operated most. Moreover, social media play a significance role in academic performance of geography students; they search information related to geography, they do their assignment using social media and they all believed that social media helps them in better understanding of geography. The use of social media has affected the academic performance of the students in geography. Many students noticed positive impact on their grade due to using educational content found on social media, so it is easier for them to understand geography concept through the online resources. The study recommended that Social networking sites should be expanded and new pages should be created to enhance academic activities to avoid setbacks in the student’s academic achievements. Social Media should serve as a channel of transmitting geography concept form various scholar so as to minimize the bad use of social media.