Adoption of social networking sites for educational use

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the views of university students on social networking sites (SNSs) adoption for educational purposes and investigate the factors that motivate students to use SNSs for academic purposes.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey method of research was adopted and questionnaires were administered to the respondent group. A total of 522 valid responses from the University of Ghana Business School Students were used in the empirical analysis. Regression analysis was used to examine the relationship among the key constructs of the study.

Findings

The results of this study suggest that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, the existence of facilitating conditions and the purposes of SNSs are the key factors that motivate students to adopt SNSs for academic purposes. However, the influence of other people in society and the desire to be identified with social groups were found not to be important predictors of SNSs use by students for educational purposes.

Research limitations/implications

The data examined in this study are based on sample responses from only one university, which may limit the extent of generalization of the findings.

Originality/value

This paper provides some useful insights into the key predictors of SNSs adoption for educational use by university students from the perspective of a developing country.

Citation

Owusu, G.M.Y., Bekoe, R.A., Otoo, D.S. and Koli, A.P.E. (2019), "Adoption of social networking sites for educational use", Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 2-19. https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-04-2018-0069