“Google It”: Towards Virtual Knowledge and the Influence of Social Media on Education in Ghana

Abstract

This chapter attempts to assess the opportunities social media (SM), particularly Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube, bring to the classroom and how students in Ghana and by extension West Africa use social media to advance learning. Social media continue to influence and reshape teaching and learning in and outside the classroom. In West Africa, just as elsewhere, social media remains a catalyst in developing critical sectors such as health, security and education by eliminating boundaries and providing alterna- tive means of engagement. Research on SM influence in the classroom has received great attention from scholars, what remains is the assessment of proactive use of social media in the classroom. This chapter argued that the youth in Ghana are using SM to improve learning