Abstract
The study examined the level of Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) of social media within the framework of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in order to ascertain the usefulness of social media among Pre-service Teachers in Ghana. Stratified random sampling was used to select 391 Pre-service Teachers for the study. Data was collected using a questionnaire and analysed based on descriptive statistics and an Independent sample t-test. This study found that majority of the Pre-service Teachers use two social media platforms; WhatsApp and Facebook. The study further established a significant difference between Pre-service Teachers whose usage of social media sites specifically affect their perceived usefulness and those that specifically affect their perceived ease of use. The study encouraged teachers to integrate e-learning applications like Blackboard, Google Classroom and Edmodo in their courses (using the blended learning approach) as they have social media-like features that students have already embraced. This study contributed to research on the possibility of integrating social media into teaching and learning in Colleges of Education in Ghana.
Highlights
The use of social media has gained prominence globally
The hypothesis that guided the study were as follows: H0: There is no significant difference between Pre-service Teachers whose usage of social media sites were influenced by their perceived usefulness and those whose usage were influenced by their ease of use
Cost of internet data bundles and lack of access to effective Wi-Fi on the campuses of most Colleges of Education might account for the smaller number of hours that Pre-service Teachers spend on social media
Summary
The use of social media has gained prominence globally. The advent of social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and a host of others, have made users worldwide more connected to each other than before. Some research in Ghana has indicated negative effect of social media on the academic performance of tertiary students.11However, there is a scarcity of studies conducted on the usefulness and ease of use of social media among pre-service teachers in Ghana. The hypothesis that guided the study were as follows: H0: There is no significant difference between Pre-service Teachers whose usage of social media sites were influenced by their perceived usefulness and those whose usage were influenced by their ease of use. The reasons why TAMs were introduced into this research was to evaluate the perceived usefulness and perceived ease-ofuse (PEOU) of social media among Pre-service Teachers. It was used to gather data on the extent to which College of Education students use social media within the context of the Technology Acceptance Model. The students were made up of 197 males and 194 females
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