Perceptions Of Lecturing Staff On Social Media Networking Systems And Their Use Of It

Abstract

The advent of technology has led to a major change in the delivering of knowledge and lecturers are in the forefront of this.  No longer can projectors or black boards solely be used as a means of communication, as the student of the new millennia is an astute user of technology.  Lecturers and students are both therefore expected to make use of technology in the transfer of knowledge and academic interaction.  Students have a right to expect their lecturers, and the institution that they study at, to incorporate the latest technology in the delivery of their qualifications.  The main aim of this study was to determine lecturers’ perceptions on social media networking systems and their use of it in an academic context.  The study also focussed on whether lecturers make use of, and believes in, social media networking systems as an effective tool to use in teaching and in providing study content and material to students.  These were tested by making use of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) constructs namely; ‘Perceive ease of use’, ‘Perceived usefulness’, ‘Attitude towards using’, ‘Intention to use’, and ‘System accessibility’.  A survey was distributed to lecturers, and it was found that social media is being used by the majority of lecturers, but more for social purposes than educational purposes.  It was also found that Facebook is the most popular social media networking system to use.