Tertiary Agricultural Students' Proclivity to Use Social Media for Improving Learning Outcomes During the COVID-19 Pandemic Era in Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruptions in the higher education industry, leading to program closures and delays. Institutions were asked to adopt Web 2.0 teaching methods, including Social Media (SM), for engagement and multitasking. Despite this, educational institutions are yet to harness SM’s potential to improve learning outcomes among students. Hence, this study investigated students’ proclivity to use social media for improving learning outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic era in Oyo State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select a total of 210 respondents. Data were collected quantitatively through questionnaires on respondents' socioeconomic characteristics, knowledge, learning outcomes, and proclivity to use SM. Data were analyzed using frequency count, percentage, mean, Pearson Product Moment Correlation, and linear regression at α0.05. Respondents’ average age was 23.96±3.52 years, majority (61.1%) were female, single (90.9%), and Christians (74.5%). Most (68.8%) students depended on their parents/guardians for their source of income, with an average monthly income of #30,418.27±56322.51. Majority (66.8%) had high knowledge of SM usage and learning outcomes (61.1%). Most (53.4%) indicated a high proclivity to use SM for improving learning. Students’ proclivity to use SM was not significantly correlated with their knowledge of use (r=0.025) while age (β=-0.287) contributed to their proclivity to use SM. Students are more willing to use SM for improved learning outcomes in Oyo State, Nigeria. The government and policymakers should create guidelines and recommendations for educators on how to integrate social media platforms into their teaching methods to improve learning outcomes.