ADDICTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS OF SHEHU SHAGARI COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, SOKOTO

The study was conducted to examine the difference between social media addicts and social media non-addicts based on academic achievement, and to find out whether there is significant gender difference in terms of addiction to social media tools both in relation to students of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto. The research design used was a descriptive survey of correlational type. The total population of the study was 6, 120 students (as obtained from the Registry unit of the college at the time of the research) made up of the entire NCE II (Level II) students of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto. Stratified, random and proportionate sampling techniques were employed to arrive at a sample of 2, 233 from six different schools (faculties) in the college. The final sample of the study derived from the Research Advisors table (2006) was 333. Two instruments for data collection were used: Students' Cumulative Grade Point Averages (CGPA's) as academic achievement, and Social Media Addiction Scale (SMAS) Adapted by Al-Menayes (2015). Out of the 333 total sample size, 235 respondents were identified as social media addicts, 98 as non-addicts. Two null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 alpha level on SPSS. Both hypotheses were tested on independent sample t-test. The results indicated no significant gender difference because of social media addiction, and no significant difference between social media addicts and social media non-addicts in terms of academic achievement. Based on these results, it was recommended that educational institutions should continue to ban students’ use of social media devices during examinations; and should promote meaningful use of social media by lecturers in conducting certain academic activities along with their students to save time and resources