Influence of Mobile Social Media on Students’ Learning Activities in Public Day Secondary Schools in Nyeri County, Kenya

Abstract

Learning activities are significant undertakings in shaping the overall performance of the students. Students’ engagement in learning activities requires a seamless flow of interaction from inside and outside the classroom. The continued dismal performance in students’ assessments raises questions about what hinders the effective interface of learning activities. This study aimed to assess the influence of mobile social media on students’ learning activities in public day secondary schools in Nyeri County, Kenya. The specific objectives were; to determine the effect of frequent use of mobile social media on participation in outdoor play; and to evaluate the impact of social media use on learning. The study was guided by the social cognitive theory proposed by Albert Bandura in 1977. The descriptive research design was adopted. A target population of 160 public day secondary schools in Nyeri County with 5400 form two students was taken. A simple random sampling was applied to get a sample size of 48 principals and 48 guidance and counseling teachers (30%). Krejcie and Morgan 1970 table was used to get 358 students sample population. Questionnaires were reliably used to collect data from students and guidance and counseling teachers. Principals were taken through the interview.  The collected quantitative and qualitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis respectively. Research results indicated that the majority of students, 76.2%, access social media sites distracting learning activities. This study will empower education stakeholders to put control mechanisms on excessive social media use which deters students’ performance.