Social media awareness in nigeria education

Social MediaAwareness in

Nigeria Education

@WaleMicaiah

www.walemicaiah.blog.comwww.statisense.com

Our Education Crusaders

Founder, President at Y4CFounder, Director at TFCC

OBASA OLORUNFEMI

Founder; The Fleuri Academy

H.U.G.E FOUNDATION@HUGE_Foundation

OBIEFUNA LAWRENCEFounder, CampusPortal.com.ng

LUTHER LAWOYINPromoter of passjamb.com.ng

THE STUDENTS' FORUM MARCELLINA EHIDIAMEN JOHN-ANTHONY OYEWOBI Host, Hello Greatness

OGBUAGU SHIINE KENECHUKWU

@tsfnigeria

Our Researchers

@vsix_ejechiFB: Vikkeytour Ejechi

@EsholanelsonFB: Ebiesuwa Shola Nelson

Social Media is being used everywhere, but is it in use

in #NigeriaEducation?

Federal Ministry of Education

MDA

State Commissions of Education

Secondary Schools

Tertiary

UNI

POLY

COEMONO

Components of the Ministry of Education

Education Support Services

The many sides to our Education:

This report takes a look at the presence or awarenessof Social Media in each of this identified institutions.

It was the morning of the day the Alder Social Media Report Nigeria 2014 wasreleased. I was fascinated by the revelations in the report and how Businesses,Individuals have adopted and are riding on the Social Media to reach their Customersand Followers. As I checked through each award category - Social Media Icons, SocialMedia Titans and Social Media Overlords - no single nomination for Education, eitheras a Business, NGO or Individual's use of the Media for education campaign.

I shared my findings with @AmenzeIyamu and other Education Crusaders in mynetwork. Amenze wrote a masterpiece* on the subject, of which I also followed withanother title*, the conclusion was that there is a gradual decline of interest inEducation in the consciousness of Nigerians. While Talent shows, Comedy, Sports andthe likes are readily in the front burner, education has taken a back seat.

It was on this note we decided to take a look at the awareness of Social Media inNigeria Education. Due to the quantity of the Institutions (Government, NGO,Businesses and Individuals) that make up the Nigerian Education sector, our reviewtakes a look at the presence of our Institutions on Social Media. Presence meaning theexistence of a Website and selected verifiable Social Media network accounts.

How we got here!

*See back page

WALE MICAIAH

Since our study focuses on the “Presence or Awareness” of our educational institutionson Social Media platforms, we therefore decided to use the Internet as our primarysource of information and research, with support resource from Government bulletinsand Newsletters.

Even though the tool for this measurement is Social Media, we decided, as of primaryimportance, to consider the evidence of a Website as a foundational requirement toknow the availability of institutions on a global sphere. More so, official website is theeasiest way to confirm the authenticity of Social Media accounts, usually with a showof icon on Website’s homepage.

However, we also understood that Webmasters often have icons on homepages butwithout link to any specific account. We confirmed this by ensuring Social Media iconsactually load the respective pages as evidence that institutions’ accounts exist.Following this basic evidence, we then reviewed the different Social Media platformsas the medium for which institutions’ awareness or presence is measured.

This study is also enriched with insights from Education Crusaders who play vital rolesand contribute to the Nigerian Education System using different Social Mediaplatforms to reach their audience and followers.

Study Methodology

Presently, there are over 200 Social Media networks (Wikipedia). Research andpopular opinion have however shown that these selected 5 Social Media are the mostused in the Education Sector:

Social Media Scope

The Nigerian Education sector can be broadly categorized as:

Government – Federal, States, LG NGO – Local and Foreign agencies Businesses – for profit Individuals – Crusaders, Bloggers, etc.

Education Sector: Scope of Review

NGO, Education Support Services, Individuals

State Government –Commissions of Education

Tertiary Institutions –Universities, Polytechnics,

Monotechnics, Schools of Nursing & Midwifery, Colleges of

Education

Secondary Schools

Associations – ASUU, ASUP, COASU, NUT

Technical Schools Innovative Enterprise Institutes Fed

eral

Min

istr

y o

f Ed

uca

tio

n

(FM

E) a

nd

its

Dep

artm

ents

&

Age

nci

es

FME&

MDA

State Ministry of Education & FCT

UniversitiesPolytechnics

MonotechnicsColleges of Education

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Technical Schools

Secondary Schools

Innovative Enterprise Institutes

Support Services

Academic Unions

Total Institutions 1,1441,145reviewed

Federal Ministry of Education & 25

AgenciesFME + 25 Agencies

Report on Institutions Reviewed

36 States Ministry of Education


129Universities

81Polytechnics

114Monotechnics

82Colleges ofEducation

FCT

188 School ofNursing & Midwifery

133TechnicalSchools

218Secondary

Schools

71Innovative Enterprise Institutes

62Support Services

4Unions

Academic


Summary Report

No. Institution Count1 Federal Ministry of Education & Agencies 26

2 State Ministry of Education & FCT 37

3 Universities 129

4 Polytechnics 81

5 Monotechnics 114

6 Colleges of Education 82

7 School of Nursing & Midwifery 188

8 Technical Schools 133

9 Secondary Schools 218

10 Innovative Enterprise Institutes 71

11 Support Services 62

12 Academic Unions 4

Federal Ministry of Education & 25 Agencies

FME + 25 Agencies

20 Agencies have Website

5 Agencies have Facebook account.

2 accounts could not be verified from their Website.

Only 2 Agencies have Twitter account.

No Agency with YouTube account.

No Agency with LinkedIn account.

No Agency with Google+ account.

5.4% Awareness

FMEhas none of these!

36 States Ministry of Education + FCT

31 States have Website.

16 States have Facebook account.

9 States have Twitter account.

Only 2 States with YouTube account.(Delta & Ekiti States)

No LinkedIn account.

No Google+ account.

14.4% Awareness

129 Universities(Federal = 40, State = 33, Private = 50)

Federal = 1Private = 2

Federal = 1State = 2

112 Universities have Website.


Private = 44

53 Universities with Facebook

account.


Private = 23

47 Universities have Twitter

account.


Private = 22

Only 18 have YouTube account.


Private = 11

3 LinkedIn accounts.

3 Google+ accounts.

Website presence – 87%

Facebook awareness – 41%

Twitter awareness – 36%

YouTube awareness – 14%

Osun state Uni., Niger Delta Uni.,Uniport

AUN,Adeleke,Fed Uni., Dutse

19% Awareness

81 Polytechnics(Federal = 21, State = 38, Private = 22)

25 Polytechnics have Website.

52 Polytechnics with Facebook account.

36 accounts could not be verified.

12 Polytechnics have Twitter account.

Only 2 have YouTube account.

2 Google+ accounts.

5 LinkedIn accounts. Could

not verify 2.


Federal = 16, State = 4Private = 5


Private = 17


Federal = 1,State = 1


Federal = 1Private = 1



17.8% Awareness

114 Monotechnics(Federal = 50, State = 61, Private = 3)

36 Monotechnicshave Website.

30 Monotechnicswith Facebook

account. Only 5 could be verified.

1 Monotechnic have Twitter account.

No YouTube account.

No LinkedIn accounts.

No Google+ accounts.



Federal = 1


Website presence –32%

5.2% Awareness

82 Colleges of Education(Federal = 21, State = 41, Private = 20)

50 Colleges of Education have Website.

17 Colleges of Education with Facebook account. Only 6 could be verified.

2 Colleges of Education have Twitter account.

No YouTube account.

No LinkedIn accounts.

No Google+ accounts.

Federal = 2, State = 10, Private = 5

4.6% Awareness

Federal = 16, State = 24, Private = 10

Federal = 1, State = 1



188 School ofNursing & Midwifery

46 SONM have Website.

4 SONM have Facebook account.

No Twitter account.

No YouTube account.


No Google+ account.

<1% Awareness

133 Technical Schools

71 Innovative Enterprise Institutes

12 IEI have Facebook account.

8 Technical Schools have Website.

38 IEI have Website.

Only 1 Technical School have

Facebook account.

No Twitter account.

No YouTube account.


No Google+ account.

12 IEI have Twitter account.

Only 1 IEI

LinkedIn account.

3 IEI have Google+ account.

7.8% AwarenessIEI

218 Secondary Schools

117 Websites.

33 Facebook accounts.

13 Twitter accounts.

No YouTube account.


No Google+ account.




4.2% Awareness

62 Support Services

62 Sup

port Services

Support Services9ja Education

After School PMP

Alpha Education Foundation

British Council in Nigeria

Campus Parrot

Campus Portal Nigeria

CLEEN Foundation

Council of Education in the Commonwealth

DAILY SCHOOL NEWS

Dave Abion Cousulting

DIRECTOR OF NAVAL EDUCATION

Edubabs

Education as a Vaccine (EVA)

EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

Education Nigeria

Edumark (Education Branding service)

ERBUM NIGERIA LIMITED

ESSPIN

Excellence and Education Network

Face Your Book

Federal Scholarship Board - Nigeria

Global Consulting Counselling

Glory Educational Services

Harvestfield Educational Services Ltd (HES)

H.U.G.E Foundation

Ishahayi Beach School Foundation

Live school news

Lordswill Academy

MOD Education

My School

My School Gist

Support ServicesMyschoolNigeria

MyschoolNigeria

NG Scholars

Nigeria Beehive

Nigeria Education Portal

Nigeria School

Nigeria Schools Blog

NIGERIA STUDENT NEWS

Nigerian Higher Education Foundation

Nigerian University Scholarships

Our School Gist

PASS NOW NOW

PASSJAMB.COM.NG

PFL Education

Project Educate Africa Inc.

Scholars Works

Science Teachers Association Of Nigeria

Skoool Nigeria

Slum To School

Stepping Stones Nigeria (SSN)

Study Abroad Institute, Nigeria

The British-Nigerian Educational Trust

The Fleuri Academy

The Lagos Schools Online Project

The Universal Basic Education (UBE)

Toscany Academy

UKEAS Nigeria

UNESCO-Nigeria TVE

Voice Of The Nigerian Tertiary Institutions

Wale Micaiah on Education

Youth For Technology Foundation

These a

re b

y no m

eans to

tal re

pre

senta

tion o

f all E

ducatio

n s

upport s

erv

ices in

Nig

eria

58 Websites.

27 Facebook account.

19 Twitter accounts.

7 YouTube account.

4 LinkedIn accounts.

7 Google+ accounts.



20.6% Awareness


YouTube awareness – 11%

LinkedIn awareness – 6%

LinkedIn awareness – 11%

Academic Unions

3 Websites:http://www.asuunigeria.org/http://www.asupnigeria.org/http://www.nutnigeria.org/

No Union with Social Media account.

S U M M A R YNo Institution

Presence & Awareness (%) Aggregate(SM only)Web FB TW YT G+ IN

1 FME & Agencies 77 19 8 - - - 5.4%

2 State Ministry of Education & FCT 84 43 24 5 - - 14.4%

3 Universities 87 41 36 14 2 2 19%

4 Polytechnics 31 64 15 2 2 6 17.8%

5 Monotechnics 32 26 - - - - 5.2%

6 Colleges of Education 61 21 2 - - - 4.6%

7 School of Nursing & Midwifery 24 2 - - - - -

8 Technical Schools 6 1 - - - - -

9 Secondary Schools 54 15 6 - - - 4.2%

10 Innovative Enterprise Institutes 54 17 17 - 4 1 7.8%

11 Support Services 94 44 31 11 11 6 20.6%

12 Academic Unions 75 - - - - - -

11%SUMMARY 57 27 17 8 5 4

No InstitutionPresence & Awareness (%) Aggregate

(SM only)Web FB TW YT G+ IN

11%SUMMARY 57 27 17 8 5 4

Social Media awareness in our Education is 11% There is 57% Website Presence among our Institution Awareness of Facebook is 27% Twitter enjoys 17% Awareness Awareness of YouTube stood at 8% Google+ and LinkedIn Awareness is at 5% and 4%

respectively

Why Use Social Media in Nigeria Education?

Internet Usage Statistics

Active Internet Users:

28.4% of the population

(48.4million)

Age DistributionLike other countries the

world over, the vast majority of Nigeria’s

internet users fall below the age of 40. Generally, they can be divided into four groups: 10-17yrs, 18-24yrs,

25-40yrs and, above forty.

http://woweffectng.com/news/internet-usage-nigeria

10-17yrs: These are mainly secondary school students who use the internet primarily for trivial purposes. They play games andmovies. Some of them use Facebook to connect with their friends. They mostly use the internet facilities in their schools. Theyconstitute an insignificant percentage of Nigerian internet users.18-24yrs: Predominantly undergraduates.

It should also be pointed out that this group, especially those in transition from secondary school to university contributes a misleading high number tothe figures captured by ITU & IWS. To enter any institution of higher learning in Nigeria, you must pass through JAMB, WAEC or NECO. And to registerfor any of those examinations, you have to go online. Checking results for these examinations are also done online, that is why the week after therelease of JAMB result is always the most lucrative for cyber café owners in Nigeria. For a large numbers of these admission seekers, this is usuallytheir first initiation into the internet world. What this means is that a disproportionately large percentage of growth figures reported for internet usagein Nigeria are made up of this group. They access the internet mainly through their phones, cybercafés and school libraries

Facebook Statistics on Nigeria

http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/nigeria*February 2014.

According to social media tracking firm Social Bakers, Nigeria is the thirdcountry in Africa with the most users, with roughly 5.365-million*.Comparable in user numbers to Morocco, Ecuador and Belgium, it is the35th biggest Facebook nation in the world. With the average Nigerianuser being between the ages of 18 and 24. 66% are male while 34% arefemale.

Age Distribution13-15yrs - 2%16-17yrs - 4.2%18-24yrs - 36.7%25-34yrs - 35.1%35-44yrs - 9.5%45-54yrs - 4.5%55-64yrs - 1.2%65-100yrs - 6.8%

18-24yrs - 36.7%25-34yrs - 35.1%

71.8%

Approximately 3.9million Nigerian

Youth are on Facebook!

If approximately 4.0 million of your Customers ‘lives’ on a

Platform, where else should you be?

Reasons!2 Nigerian Youths & Students

Leading institutions

Students represents 45% of The Nigeria’s Internet

Population

Why Use Social Media in Nigeria Education?

12

Leading Institutions 1A quick look at world leading institutions on Social Media shows a great presenceand use of the medium to communicate with the public.

Harvard University

Stanford University

Yale University

Univ. of Cambridge

Oxford University

Massachusetts

Johns Hopkins Univ.

Cairo University

Univ. of Pretoria

Kyoto University

Univ. of Cape Town

University of Ibadan

658,332 Fans

191,043 Followers

321,488 Subscribers

3,178,479 Fans

341,628 Followers

141,098 Subscribers

6,035 Fans

18,260 followers

161 Subscribers

819,222 Fans

124,357 Followers

15,298 subscribers

657,915 Fans

106,347 Followers

35,197 subscribers

1,381,384 Fans

126,328 Followers

22,202 Subscribers

345,845 Fans

109,213 Followers

475,420 Subscribers

61,480 Fans

139,709 Followers

3,464 Subscribers

2,802 Fans

4,722 Subscribers

33,581 Fans

7,002 Followers

32,760 Fans

2,995 Followers

58 Subscribers

76,816 Fans

4,176 Followers

468 Subscribers

Stats as at March 5th 2014

If most of the World’s Reputable Institutions (that you envy) are

leveraging on a Platform, where else should you be?

According to Nigeria’s National YouthDevelopment Policy, the youthcomprises of all young persons of ages 18– 35, who are citizens of the FederalRepublic of Nigeria. This categoryrepresents the most active, the mostvolatile, and yet the most vulnerablesegment of the population socio-economically, emotionally and in otherrespects.(National Youth Policy, Abuja, Feb, 2001.)

Based on the scope of our review whichstarts at Secondary school level;Students under scope would be fromages 12 – 35.

Nigerian Youth Nigerian Students

38% of Nigeria population are Youths

65 Million

45% of Nigeria population are Students*

75 Million

*Age 35 is hypothetical, Studentship can last a life time.

Nigerian Youths Nigerian Students

Number of Internet users in Nigeria:

48,366,179(Terragon Insights - 2013)

78% of Internet users are between ages

19 and 35(Terragon Insights - 2013)

37,725,620Nigerian Youth/Students are

Internet users!

2

37,725,620Nigerian Youth/Students

are Internet users,If

Where else should WE be?

1) How are our Educational Institutions (Govt., NGO, Biz,Individuals) using the Social Media Networks?

2) What prospects does Social Media presents forNigerian Educators & Learners?

3) How best can Social Media be used for Learning?

We posted these questions to Education Support Serviceswhose Social Media platforms have been identified ashuge resource base for Nigerian Students.

Here are their responses:

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What prospects does Social Media presents for Nigerian Educators &Learners?In the connection economy, where the world is a global village withnetizens/global citizens you can’t ignore the power of social media. Socialmedia is a platform available to anyone with access to the internet throughmobile phones, tabs, laptops etc. Most platforms are open and free to use,you can follow anyone for inspirational quotes, insightful thoughts and otherinterests. Educators and learners have prospects and need to take advantageof social media. It gives a platform for collaboration and social interaction.For example Massive Open Online Courses MOOCs are fast gaining groundsbecause of accessibility. Online/mobile learning is the future, although it willnot displace the classroom, it opens a window of opportunity to learn beyondthe classroom. With Social Media, not only can students learn from educators,they can also learn from each other and teachers vice versa. I follow #edtech#edchats on twitter and I must say am impressed at how teachers helpthemselves become better teachers; sharing best practices, challenges,technology tools, insights on how students can connect and learn better.How best can Social Media be used for Learning?Social media is a platform that can be used to open up conversation, raiseawareness, proffer solutions, and share resources on education. Informalteaching and learning happens every day on Social Media. Nigerianeducators and learners need to effectively use these networks. We can haveFacebook or twitter class for instance, you can get students following, sharing,asking questions. Students can also ask questions using effective hash tags anddirecting them to educators’ handles. I was at Passnownow’s Social MediaWeek event on education two weeks ago and was impressed at thediscussions on using technology tools and social media to reach out to learners.An app with past questions for revision was launched to help studentsprepare better for major external exams. There are lots of advantages, thepossibilities are enormous and endless. It can aid co-creation and ideation. It isa great platform to learn and interact with others in real time. In the words ofSeth Godin, the foremost marketer and thought leader, ‘it’s not really aboutwhether you would be able to succeed or not, since there is a great chancethat you would, but whether you care enough to matter, after all.’ Educationis the key to growth and development of a nation, it’s about time oureducators explore this platform and inculcate it positively into theircurriculum. Social Media offers everyone a chance to reach out, share theirideas and thoughts, if there is anyone who should take the lead positiontaking this, it is educators and learners. BEATRICE KOMOLAFE |

H.U.G.E. Foundation.

How are our Educational Institutions (Govt., NGO, Biz, Individuals) usingthe Social Media Networks?

Speaking of NGO's, business and individuals who are using Social Media, I willsay they are doing pretty good. Some are well-versed on how to use it andsome are just getting started. Some use it as real time customer service desk,others information dissemination, research, to delight and market etc., itdepends on the nature, needs, objective, strategy of the business/NGO. Beforenow I couldn't get much information on twitter or Facebook on educationorganisations in Nigeria but there seems to be an improvement. I wassearching for public and private libraries recently on twitter and within fewminutes I was able to locate a private library close to my former office inIkoyi. I had passed by that library for years, it just seemed to me like notmuch activity happened there. Although I am a big fan of libraries, I neverbothered to go in. Their engagement on social media is commendable, itmade me want to go there the next day and I did a few days later, Iregistered instantly and now looking to become a friend of the library.Engagement on social media is powerful and can not be overemphasized forbrands and anyone looking reach out. The accessibility and engagement notonly provides useful resources/information there are possibilities ofpartnerships, open conversations that engender feedback for growth. Govt ismaking effort, for instance I got important information about Support OurSchool (SOS) initiative on Lagos State Govt twitter handle, the websiteinformation was scanty and wasn't as detailed as the tweets on it. Not manyagencies or organisations have someone running their social media campaignor even have a social presence at all. A founder of an Education NGOtweeted about needing help for social media some days ago, she talkedabout so much information to capture and share and few hands available.The challenge for startups and organisations with a few hands could be thatthere is so much to do running the helms of affairs and little time forengagement. They go hand in hand and like this lady, ask for help. For largeorganisations, a media dept not using social media is doing their organisationa disservice. Lastly, from observation, we are making a lot of effort, but a lotmore needs to be done, the ministry of education, training colleges,universities, agencies need to explore and effectively use social media. If itcan't be done in-house, hire someone/intern on flexitime to run it withguidance, information and training. There are individuals/organisations whoprovide this kind of service. It isn't difficult, with a smartphone you can accessavailable platforms and you are good to go. With time you find it interesting,you don't even want to stop.

How are our Educational Institutions (Govt., NGO, Biz,

Individuals) using the Social Media Networks?

In my opinion, Educational Institutions in Nigeria are yet to really embrace thesocial media. The NGOs, biz and Individuals might be doing their best inharnessing the power of the new media in information dissemination but thegovernment owned institutions which forms the greater percentage of theinstitutions in the Nigerian education sector have done little in this regard.

What prospects does Social Media presents for Nigerian

Educators & Learners?

With the steady exponential increase in the number of social media users, theprospects presented by this new trend for Nigerian Educators are undoubtedlymuch. Individuals and Educational institutions can actually build a very strongbrand that commands authority by properly engaging the millions of usersthat have made the social media part of their daily life. The sky is simply thelimit of what can be achieved by an educational brand built with the help ofthe social media. Learners on the other hand can learn faster and effortlesslywhen engaged by educators through any of the social media platforms theyalready find fun using. There are also limitless possibilities for learners that usesthe social media to network with people of mutual academic interests fromaround the world. This will surely boost the leaners' future careeropportunities.

How best can Social Media be used for Learning?

Social Media is more than just posting pictures on Facebook. It's somethingthat the society spends most time doing on the internet now. Thereforeconnecting the social media and education is very important at this moment.Learning will be fun if educationists at all level can adopt the social media ingiving assignments, passing out class reminders etc. The attention of somelearners who usually find it difficult to concentrate in regular classrooms will becaptured this way. It is also no secret that some youths abuse the use of thesocial media. This is simply because they are ignorant. Schools can structure anew curriculum targeted at teaching the merits/demerits of the social mediaand how best to use it without endangering oneself and the community atlarge. This way the schools would have not only positively influenced theirstudents use of the social media but has also influenced their character in thereal world. I believe there are a lot of other ways that social media can beemployed for learning, I only mentioned the few instances I could think of atthe moment.OBIEFUNA LAWRENCE | @Lobiefuna | Founder: CampusPortal.com.ng

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Social Media presents a world of opportunities to the willing and tech-savvylearner. It is the summarized version of experiences as they happen on lifestage. As with many other spheres, Social media has redefined Educationallearning curves and experiences.

Some of the realizations of these possibilities are Passnownow by ToyosiAkerele, Beni-american University by Gossy Ukanwoke & The Fleuri Academyby Obasa Olorunfemi among others. Lecturers (and some parents) are [too]quick to judge and presume negatively upon the use of social media by theirwards. The bitter truth is that kids will find knowledge positively or negatively.The question is which gets to them first. Adapting Social Media into ourpresent Educational system will be challenging but not impossible. Quite aplethora of prospects abound for Educators and learners on social media; fromresources to mobile apps.

The Fleuri Academy currently reaches out to students in Nigeria, Cotonnu andUganda while pressing on in their quest to bring down the statistics. Inappreciation of our efforts, The Fleuri Academy has been nominated for TheYouth Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition. The Competition is anInternational Contest launched by the GOI Peace foundation, StiftungEntrepreneurship in Berlin, Germany as well as UNESCO. The Fleuri Academyhas also been reviewed by the Abi Adeleke Consulting Incorporated.

Conclusion

The advantages of Social Media are ease of access, portability of technology,simplicity, freedom of Expression, Learning from your phone and saving timefrom traffic hassles, live response from competent tutors and in some cases, noVideos so less internet costs.Education via social media however, is better utilized by older high school andcollege students. Furthermore, awareness of this possibility in Nigeria is stillvery low. Parents as well as most lecturers imagine its usefulness some distantfuture while many students prefer to express themselves and managing sociallives not necessarily Education.We need to recognize the opportunities provided by the use of social software,both in shared creation content and wider access to audiences. Thesetechnologies change the way we interact with knowledge. We areexperiencing a shift from a supply-led to a demand-led approach to learningand great opportunities abound for development of Educational networks.Unfortunately, Nigerian Educators are yet to wake up this reality.OBASA OLORUNFEMI| Founder; The Fleuri Academy

@driminc; @thfleuriacademy

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Social media have caused an eventual change in our world, making bestfriends, making small businesses thrive and for education in most parts of theworld, to create a brand around their institutions by taking advantage ofsocial media as a means to drive change and also create an amazingperception within the communities they serve. To be candid we are yet totake advantage of the social media to propagate the change we hope to seein our educational institutions, that means there is lot of work to be done byeach one of us in order to make this happen. All educational institutions needto take advantage of the awesome prospects social media has to offer. It'llhelp you to track records of events, and also have a conversation not just withthe people you serve but also to know what others' perception is of you andwhat you do. Social media will also help our educational institutions to trackperformance and also to some extent cleanse the system of loopholes. Does ouruniversities have a twitter handle, Facebook page, a slideshare account or aYouTube account? If not create one, if yes are you making the most of yoursocial media campaign? Now is the time to put more speed to our pedals andimprove the image and coverage of our institutions.



Social media can be used for learning by having students form groups alongsocial networks so they can share information between themselves when thereare assignments. When you tell them to make friends across cultural lines theybegin to have a global picture. School administrators and student counsellorscan follow their students to know what they are thinking and how they couldbuild a stronger institution through them. Things are changing and the worldis not the same place it was 20 years ago.


Things have changed, people are more engaged with each other now thanever, processes have changed as a result to meet current demands. Now, in asociety like ours demand for education is high and we must ensure we matchthat demand with quality and affordable education. Banks are moving,businesses to Social Media, and so our educational institutions should not beleft behind.JOHN-ANTHONY OYEWOBI | @johntousin



I am of the opinion that our educational institutions are not making the bestof social media, a lot more needs to be done to engage the Nigerian studentwho is mostly online these days. Most of them are not engaged education wise,rather they are engaged in entertainment online. A few institutions andindividuals however do but a lot more has to be done to take advantage ofwhat social media can afford us generally.



Social media is a means of reaching a vast number of students that can’t bereached literally in a physical class setting. it is a means to educate thousandsif not millions at the click of a button. It affords educators the opportunity toorganize and structure their effort to a measurable extent. It allows studentsor learners extra means to learn more and be further developed at theirconvenience. Its prospects are enormous, I believe it has not just been tappedinto.


Engagement basically, there are a million and one things calling for theattention of the individual student online. The best way to reach thesestudents is to serve them what they need, get their attention and continuouslyengage them. Engage so much that it affects their daily time spent checkingother stuff on Facebook, twitter and the likes.LUTHER LAWOYIN - passexam ventures, owners and promoters of

www.passjamb.com.ng

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I would say educational institutions are not using the social media maximallybecause of some myopic beliefs that its negative outcomes are much morethan its positive outcome.



Social media would have been a very good soil for research, networking forlearning purposes and an avenue for inspirations that brings about growthand development to the minds Nigerian educators.


*A lot of hearts out there are yearning for inspiration and encouragement. Ifsocial media answers that via its different streams such as Facebook, Linkedln,twitter and various blogs, it will really go well. I meant inspirations that bringsabout need for research and the likes.MARCELLINA EHIDIAMEN| @MarcellinaEhis



It’s agreed that the use of the social media can be relative but universally,everyone agrees that the main use of the medium is for communication in avirtual communities (accessible). Based on this definition, I would opine thaton the average scale, our educational institutions are yet to fully utilize thepotent of the social media and this is why; • The social media presents itself asa platform for efficient and effective communication between teachers andstudents, students and students, teachers and parents, teachers and teachers,but only few are recorded to have taken that advantage. • It has made itselfavailable as a medium to distribute information (instructions, news et.c.) tothe receiving side. Looking at the above mentioned uses of the social media, itkeeps us thinking why there isn’t a great link in institutions’ among colleagues,educators and learners and between both and research materials they seek.



Nigeria is a country increasing rapidly in the use of technology and isconstantly increasing in the internet community. To channel the minds ofNigerians to the full usage of the social Media to improving our educationalinstitution can be a promising act. On this note, the social media has a lot tooffer and they include; • E-learning: This gives educators and learners theopportunity to engage in distant education. • Provides a community thatwould encourage self expression of students (especially the shy ones) • Itdisapproves the belief that education is meant to be in a four-walled room byencouraging learning at anytime, anywhere, as agreed by the communitiesinvolved. • It can also be a medium for lasting, organized and currentinformation flow between any party involved • The Social Media can serve asa platform for counseling and an information bank of institutions in Nigeria.


For full utilization, • A proper orientation should be given to students, teachersand parents on social media and the use of social media • It should bemandated that every instruction should own and manage a website and beable to create fora to encourage discussions. The best way to use the socialmedia for learning is to; • Create online courses equivalent to the traditionalsystem of education. • Provide groups and pages on popular social mediaforums to engage people.OGBUAGU SHIINE KENECHUKWU| @kcshiine

SOME MINISTERS OF EDUCATION

ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Angie Motshekga

@AngieMotshekga

South Africa

Minister of Basic

Education

Arne Duncan

@arneduncan

US Secretary of

Education

Michael Gove

@MickGove

UK Secretary of

State for

Education

ww

w.statisen

se.com



There are great educational opportunities, such as the growing use of socialnetworks like Facebook and Twitter by educational institutions. This in turnhas propelled the dissemination of news, lectures and other meaningfulinformation with students outside the classroom. Education-oriented actiongroups use social media to extend their informational and educationaloutreach. In a nutshell, social media has been of immense help to oureducational institutions.



We can limit the advantages of social media to ease of access, portability oftechnology, simplicity and freedom of speech and expression. The use of socialmedia can help educators and learners reach their career goals more easily,while also educating people who are eager to know or to know more. As timegoes on, educators and learners will see social media as a tool to bond andinteract.


We must bear in mind that the growth of social media from Facebook toTwitter, from Flickr to YouTube has provided a host of new opportunities forcollaborative learning and at the same time raised questions about access. Weneed to recognise the opportunities provided by the use of social media bothin shared creation of content and wide access to audiences so as to know howbest it can be used in learning. Education has moved from a broadcast modelto one where we understand and make sense of information. The limitationsof social networks must be noted as well as their potential. Social networkingsites are better utilised by older secondary school and university students, asyounger children are less likely to be reached by them. With these we canblend social media with learning.THE STUDENTS FORUM NG| @tsfnigeria

MESSAGE FROM MINISTER OF

EDUCATION REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Education is the foundation of a nation and a key to the future.

Our children, our leaders of tomorrow, should be able to discoverthemselves by exploring their dreams and potential to the fullest,and education should encourage such exploration and help allstudents grow into their dreams.

The Ministry of Education is committed to providing an environmentwhere diversity is embraced and potential can be fulfilled, anenvironment where all students are given the same opportunity topursue and realize their dreams, regardless of their background andlocation.

We are dedicated to improving our nation's education system toinspire the joy of learning in students and the joy of teaching inteachers. We will also do our best to create an environment whereparents can raise happy and healthy children.

The Ministry of Education looks forward to working with allstakeholders to achieve the goal of providing education forhappiness that nurtures dreams and talents.

Thank you.

SEO NAMSOO

Image: Tutor Fi

Social Media is a TOOL. A tool is amoral, neither good nor bad, it only takes the form forwhich it is employed. For this purpose, we decide to use it positively for Education.

Below are some of the ways SM can be used: Facebook offers a perfect platform to build study groups Classroom sessions can be recorded and made available on YouTube Effortless collaborate with other students through discussions Student entrepreneurship becomes more visible through network Using social media to communicate and gather information about various topics. Social media tools can help students develop proficiency with technology; learn to create,

critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia text; and manage, analyze, and synthesizemultiple streams of information.

Teachers/Lecturers can create Twitter hashtags specific to class projects or initiatives sothat students can collaborate, discuss the subject matter anytime they wish, and thenlocate all tweets that include that specific hashtag

Social Media provide a platform for Off-classroom engagement with Teachers. Institutions can create their professional profiles on LinkedIn, as well as provide summary

information on services available for public consumption. Link professional Alumni via their professional profiles on LinkedIn, this could come

handy during special celebration and fund raising. Cheapest way of maintaining global presence and awareness Schools can hold Tweetchat, Tweetminar and provide announcement to their Students. Students can hold tutorials via tweets

—Illustration by Roy Wieman

What Next?The primary purpose of this review is to start a conversation and possibly to propelGovernments, Organisations and Individuals to action with the sole aim ofbringing to our consciousness, Education as a vital tool for the ‘next thought’ in allsphere of human endeavours.

There are more to be done; we have only reviewed the ‘AWARENESS’ of SocialMedia in our Education Sector, the USE and EFFECTIVENESS of Social Media inEducation and other areas of interests could be explored for value.

Hopefully you will find one area in our National lives where “this armament of theweak against the powerful, the leveler of society, the arbitrator of justice, the voiceof the voiceless, the channel of those disenfranchised from TV networks” (accordingto Leke Alder) can be deployed and adapted to reveal to all some sense in theordinaries.Thank you.

EDUCATION IN NIGERIA: DEAD IN OUR SOCIAL MEDIA SUBCONSCIOUS?

It is with a heavy heart that I write this piece. Perhaps, it will not bother

you as much as it bothers me, but it must bother you. This is because I am

sharing a matter that affects us all as a people.

Last week, Alder Consulting released the Alder Social Media Report

Nigeria 2014 (check http://www.alder-consulting.com/home.asp), which

was a showcase of the Top Rated Social Media Brands is Nigeria, most

especially on Twitter. The report engaged the services of experts and

contributors in various categories to analyse reports drawn from a poll as

to which top brands utilised social media effectively. The categories

covered include banking, consumer products, entertainment, faith,

government, insurance, news, advocacy, non-profit, sports, telecoms,

fashion, entrepreneurship, motivation, comedy, etc. It was (and is) a

highly illuminating report. Amongst the many benefits of the report, it

showed the who-is-who when it comes to the Nigerian impact space. In a

sense, the leaders of all the categories have now become brands in their

own right. It only shows that other individuals and companies who have

failed to utilise social media effectively need to refocus in other to reach

the target market.

While there is a good side to the Alder Social Media Report, in my opinion,

there is also a down side. Interesting as the report may be, there is not a

single entity, corporate or individual, who has attained leadership status

in the education category in social media. This alone is highly shocking

and depressing. It means, in my estimation, that the national collective

subconscious of the Nigerian society has murdered the education sector

in social media. That alone, is a rash summation I have come to. But then,

how do you explain that the report by Alder Consulting has no education

category, whether it be in the form of advocacy for change in the

workings of our education sector or any school (from primary to

postgraduate) in Nigeria that was unable to make it to the list of top social

media brands in Nigeria? Let us face the harsh truth: the education sector

is not a public favourite in Nigeria.

As a nation, we have continued to pay lip service to our education sector.

It had to take the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to engage

in a 6-month strike last year to drive home their point to the Federal

Government. Even during that time there were many arguments for and

against the action of the lecturers. Many opined that the lecturers were

only going through that path to secure their own pockets. Some said they

were fighting for the future of the Nigerian student. According to ASUU,

the strike action became imperative as the federal government had

reneged on some of its promises made in time past.

Only the dramatis personae can tell us the real truth. But did this matter

receive massive social media following like a related matter in

entertainment, such as a fashion faux pas of a celebrity or the crass

comment of a wannabe celebrity would receive concerning the matter of

the singing of anti-gay law in Nigeria would receive? Your guess is as

good as mine. Education doesn’t just sell in Nigeria. It is not a news-

worthy item.

But then again, who is to blame for this malady? Is it the federal

government who has refused to vote a sizable portion of our budget to

education for successive years? Or are we to blame it on the simple fact

that even our federal ministry of education doesn’t have a Twitter account

or a facebook page? Or perhaps, is it the fact that it is only the Lagos

Business School that has a face on Twitter, in such a time that nearly every

thing called a university in more developed nations has a Facebook page

and a Twitter account and somehow even the first generation universities

in Nigeria still have lecturers who are anti-technology reading outdated

notes in our lecture theaters? Or again, are we seeing the result of our

collective apathy to a sector where parents prefer to send their children

for schools that teach “British Curriculum” at the expense of Nigerian

languages being taught and nobody, or set of persons, in our ministries of

education have decided to turn the other cheek to this anomaly? Do we

blame wealthy Nigerians who would rather engage in philanthropy for

the sake of looking good in public than invest in creating research

facilities in our tertiary institutions, even in their own alma mata? Who do

we blame really? The system? The parents? The children? I don’t know.

I and a few friends of mine have decided to take a more proactive

approach to putting the brand tagged “education” in the forefront of our

national social media consciousness. This is because we believe that

through proper investment in education, a nation’s GDP will naturally

improve positively. Perhaps, in 2015, when the Alder Consulting firm

decides to take another poll of top brands on social media, Divinity may

smile upon our efforts as we make education a living concern in the heart

of our social media conscious audience and not the cadaver state it

currently is.

God bless the education sector of Nigeria! God bless the Federal Republic

of Nigeria! God bless you for reading! God bless Leke Alder and the Alder

Consulting team!

P.S.- I can be reached via email on [email protected]. If you

are passionate about Education in Nigeria, let’s talk. AMENZE IYAMU

ALDER SOCIAL MEDIA REPORT & NIGERIA EDUCATION SECTOR

On Jan 31, 2014, Alder Consulting released Alder Social Media

Report Nigeria 2014, which is the first ever organized and

comprehensive report carried out on Social Media (SM) activities in

Nigeria. The report has three main categories; (1) Social Media

Icons, (2) Social Media Titans and (3) Social Media Overlords with

rankings by Experts (Expert Ranking) and Popular (popular

Ranking) which culminated into the Overall ranking

1. The Social Media Icon category reviewed brands in different

sectors. The sectors are Banking, Consumer Products,

Entertainment, Faith, Government, Insurance, News, Advocacy,

NGO, Sports and Telecoms.

2. The Social Media Titans measured brands specific parameters

such as; Customer Service, Customer Engagement, Relevant

Information, Speed of Response, Up-to-date Information, Visual

Appeal & Delight.

3. The Social Media Overlords looked at Individual’s use of the

Social Media for Politics, Entertainment, Sports, Fashion,

Relationships, Current Affairs, Entrepreneurship, Business,

Technology, Policy, Careers, Finance, Arts/Culture, Comedy, Gist,

Motivation, Food, Health and Faith.

I have already done a summary tweet of this report and its

respective winners – check @walemicaiah. However, I discovered

that no mention was made in the nomination of any Individual,

company or institutions in the Education sector. According to the

report methodology, “Scoring for the AlderSMR rankings will

comprise a public poll and an assessment by an independent

panel”. It means, both the public and the independent panel did

not find any Individual (Social Median Overlords) or

Company/Institution (Social Media Icon) in Education that is using

the Social Media effectively.

What a minute, it means from the Federal Ministry of Education, to

all its 25 Agencies, our Universities, Polytechnics, Colleges of

Education and Public and Private schools, none was found to

be using the social media for communication or for other

purposes. Universities like Harvard, Stanford, Cambridge,

Pretoria (South Africa), all have active presence on Social

Media engaging their Students and other stakeholders. Even

some selected Nigerian universities with presence on Social

Media are inactive and redundant. This means most academic

institutions and their regulators are yet to come to terms with

a tool as vital as the social media.

Education has been relegated to the background with Sports,

Comedy, Entertainment and the likes taking the front burner

of our national discuss. Little wonder we complain daily of

bad leadership and corruption. “The philosophy of the class

room in one generation will be the philosophy of

government in the next – Abraham Lincoln”. The next

leadership idea is locked up in the classroom, somewhere.

The next innovations and inventions are locked up in the

pages of some books written some years ago or some books

being written. How then can we hope to be self-reliant as

individuals and a Nation if Education receives such disdain

treatments?

I personally see this as a wake-up call, to do more, write more,

blog more, tweet, speak more, read more and live more to

bring Education to the consciousness of people around me.

Let’s all join hands to bring to national relevance the place of

Education in the lives of individuals and our Nation. Where

we are today is as a result of our commitment to Education

yesterday and where we will be tomorrow will be

determined by our commitment to Education today.

WALE MICAIAH

God

Bless

Nigeria.

Arise, O Compatriots

Social media awareness in nigeria education

Education

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