Social networks and students’ performance in secondary schools: lessons from an open learning centre, Kenya
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Date
2015Author
Kokonya, Donald
Simiyu, Violet N
Musungu, Ben
Obondo, Anne
Kuria, Mary W
Muhingi, Wilkins N
Mutavi, Teresia
Language
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Given the known positive and negative effects of un
controlled social networking among secondary school
students worldwide, it is necessary to establish th
e relationship between social network sites and aca
demic
performances among secondary school students. This
study, therefore, aimed at establishing the relatio
nship
between secondary school students’ access to and us
e of social network sites at an Open Learning Centr
e in
Kenya. The centre was located about 30km South West
of Nairobi, the capital city. This site was select
ed
because information technology was the designed mod
e of delivery of the courses at the school, hence,
high
exposure of the students to quantitative social net
working among the young, knowledge and information-
thirsty
population. The study sought opinions of key inform
ants, parents, teachers and policy-makers in Kenya
at the
school compound. In addition, it investigated the b
ehaviour of the students to generate both quantitat
ive and
qualitative data. Findings in this study showed tha
t secondary school students in Kenya were much more
vulnerable to the adverse effects of social network
s in a manner consistently and concurrently similar
to that
found elsewhere in the worldwide. This included con
version of academic into recreational sessions and
subsequent poor academic performances among the maj
ority of the secondary school students in Kenya.
It is, therefore, necessary for the schools to vet,
supervise, monitor, control, censor and restrict s
econdary school
students’ access to available information on the SN
S in Kenya to enable the students to concentrate on
academic
excellence. The government, on the other hand, shou
ld develop a learner-friendly policy to curb the do
wnward
spiraling of academic performances in secondary sch
ools in Kenya attributable to uncensored access to
social
network sites
URI
http://www.iiste.org/Journals/index.php/JEP/article/view/24409/24985http://hdl.handle.net/11295/91299
Citation
Muhingi, Wilkins Ndege, et al. "Social Networks and Students’ Performance in Secondary Schools: Lessons from an Open Learning Centre, Kenya." Journal of Education and Practice 6.21 (2015): 171-177.Publisher
University of Nairobi
Collections
- Faculty of Education (FEd) [5979]