PARENTS SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS AND SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE AS CORRELATES OF LEARNING HABITS OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN BENIN METROPOLIS.

ABSTRACT

This research study examined Social Media Usage and Parents Socio-Economic Status as correlates of the Learning Habits of Senior Secondary School Students in Benin Metropolis.  The objective of the study was to explore the relationship between Social Media Usage and Parents Socio-Economic Status. Five (5) research questions were raised to carry out the study and four (4) were hypothesized.

The research design used was a correlational research design; the research instrument that was used to collect data for this study was Social Media Usage and Parents Socio-Economic Status Questionnaire (SMSESQ). The reliable index was 0.733 using correlational method. The population of this study was Forty six Public Senior Secondary Schools in Benin metropolis from which 70 students from each school was randomly selected as samples for the study. It was made up of 3,597 male students and 4,816 females students making a total number of 8,413 senior secondary school two (SSS2). Data were collected and analyzed using mean and standard deviation for research question one, Hypothesis 1, 2, and 4 were tested using the Regression statistics. Hypothesis 3 was tested using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation (r). All hypotheses were tested at .05 level of significant. All hypotheses were testing at .05 level of significant.

The finding of the study showed that the frequency of social media usage impact the learning habit of senior secondary school students in Benin Metropolis to a high degree. The finding also revealed that Parents Socio-economic status significantly influence the types of educational resources accessed by senior secondary school students in Benin Metropolis. Again the study also showed that the Parents Socio-economic status of senior secondary school students does not significantly influence their perception of social media for educational purposes in Benin Metropolis. Furthermore the finding also revealed that there is a significant relationship between social media usage and learning habits of senior secondary school students in Benin Metropolis. Finally the finding revealed that that socio-economic status and frequency of social media usage significantly predict learning habit of secondary school students in Benin Metropolis. In line with the findings, it is therefore recommended, that government should Develop social media literacy programs, government should also Improve internet access in schools and subsidize data plans, Government should also establish school policies around appropriate social media usage in school and Encourage teachers to integrate relevant social media tools into their lesson plans.