Grade 11 Geography Teachers’ And Learners’ Perceptions Of Social Media As A Teaching And Learning Tool: A Study Of The Rundu Circuit, Kavango-East, Namibia

Abstract

The use of social media in learning and teaching has become a popular concept in this modern day of internet and a technological society. Many researchers have made efforts to prove the applicability of internet-based technologies in education as well their influence on the educational outcomes. As social media sites continue to grow in popularity, it remains the premise that technology is a vital part in today’s learners’ success equation. This study examined Grade 11 Geography teachers’ and learners’ perceptions of social media as a teaching and learning tool in the Rundu Circuit, Kavango East, Namibia. The general objective of the study was to assess the perception of using social media as learning and teaching tool for the subject of Geography. The problem that prompted this study to be carried out was poor application of social media as a teaching and learning tool in educational settings by teachers and learners in the Rundu Circuit, Kavango East. As this study adopted a quantitative research approach, the hypothesis was as follows: H0: There is a significance difference between Grade 11 teachers’ and learners’ response (perception) to whether social media can be used as a teaching and learning tool in Geography. H1: There is no significance difference between Grade 11 teachers’ and learners’ response (perception) to whether social media can be used as a teaching and learning tool in Geography. In order to answer the research questions and test the hypothesis a survey tool was used. Results indicated a greater number of respondents support the use of social media as a teaching and learning tool in Geography. Since the study found that the use of social media by both geography teachers and learners occurred to be moderate, it is important for educators and teachers to consider its capability to the shift teaching pedagogy. The research results obtained show that most of the respondents indicated that they strongly agree to the use of social media as a teaching and learning tool in Geography and that it was already used in a Personal Learning Environment (PLE). More than 55% of responses agreed that Social Media improves the Geography results if used in the right way. Based on the research findings and conclusions made, the following recommendations were made which include training of teachers and learners on social media use in education, regulating social media use in the classroom setting, in education and designing special media for teaching learning.