Adult learners’ use of social media at the university of Ghana

Abstract

AbstractThis study explores adult learners’ use of social media as a complement to the Sakai Learning Management System (E-learning) at the Accra Learning Center of the University of Ghana. E-learning thrives on the use of modern social networking applications, including smartphones, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google. This study ascertained the use of social media platforms by adult learners to acquire rich knowledge and skills. Exploratory and interpretive case study designs were used within the qualitative paradigm. Convenience sampling was employed to select the study area (Accra Learning Center), and a simple random sampling technique was used to select the interview participants for the study. Interviews were conducted to collect insightful experiences from 34 adult learners regarding the use of social media in their studies. The principles of research ethics and data credibility were followed throughout the study. Interpretivist philosophy that asserts idiographic explication was employed to interpret the interview data. It emerged that the application of social media encourages self-directed learning and research among adult learners. The study recommends that regular orientations be held for adult learners to explore the good side of social media more in their lifelong learning drive.

Keywords

• Adult learners
• social media
• Accra Learning Center
• social networking
• self-directed learning, lifelong learning