Dr Victoria Atah Abanyam, Mary Robert Bassey & David Abua Opoh
Abstract
This study was conducted to assess social media usage and the academic performance of secondary school students in Calabar Education Zone of Cross River State. It was guided by three research questions and three research hypotheses. The research design adopted for this study was survey research design. One hundred and fifty (150) students were randomly selected from five (5) public secondary schools for the study. The instruments used for data collection were a 20-item questionnaire named “Social Media Usage Questionnaire” (SMUQ) and Students’ Academic Performance in Mathematics (SAPM). Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used as statistical tool for data analysis. Each of the hypotheses was tested at .05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that there was significant relationship between Facebook platform, WhatsApp platform, YouTube platform and academic performance of secondary school students in the study area. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended, among others, that there should be skills training programmes for teachers and students on social media usage; the Ministry of Education through State Secondary School Education Board should promote the use of social media platforms in teaching and learning in schools.