Social Learning Platforms and Academic Engagement among Office Technology and Management Students in Public Universities in South-West Nigeria

Abstract

The integration of social learning platforms into higher education has transformed instructional delivery and enhanced students’ academic participation across disciplines. This study examined the influence of social learning platforms on academic engagement among Office Technology and Management (OTM) students in public universities in South-West Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population of the study comprised 558 undergraduate OTM students in selected public universities in South-West Nigeria. Using a multistage sampling procedure involving purposive, stratified, and simple random sampling techniques, a sample size of 468 respondents was selected for the study. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire titled “Social Learning Platforms and Academic Engagement Questionnaire (SLPAEQ).” The instrument consisted of five sections with 35 items measured on a five-point Likert scale. Face and content validity of the instrument were established by experts in Business Education and Educational Technology, while Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficients ranged from 0.78 to 0.91, indicating acceptable internal consistency. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson Product Moment Correlation, and regression analysis at 0.05 level 
of significance. Findings revealed that social learning platforms significantly enhanced students’ classroom participation, access to learning materials, collaborative learning, and communication with lecturers and peers. The study further established a significant positive relationship between frequency of social learning platform usage and students’ academic engagement. The study concluded that social learning platforms have become important instructional tools capable of improving students’ engagement and active participation in learning processes. The study recommended that university management should improve internet infrastructure and institutional support for digital learning, lecturers should integrate social learning platforms into classroom instruction, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) units should organise regular digital literacy training for students and lecturers.