Using social media to Teach Religious Studies during Covid-19 Pandemic: The Question of Sustainability

Abstract

The study examined the use of social media to teach religious studies during the covid-19 pandemic along with the sustainability question. Christian religious (CRS) teachers across secondary schools in Lagos State Nigeria constituted the population of the study. Precisely, two

teachers were purposively selected from ten schools; giving a total of 20 CRS teachers representing the sample for the study. An interview guide in form of an open-ended survey was mailed to the respondents. Collected data were analysed based on the themes in the objectives of the study. The findings generally reveal that CRS teachers created an account on Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Zoom to facilitate their teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic and Facebook is the social media used by the majority of the respondents. Some of the social media accounts created for teaching CRS during Covid-19 by CRS teachers are still active, valid, and relevant; others are now being used for social personal matters, while others have been deactivated due to lack of motivation for the continuous use. There is currently no sustainability for the social media account since the teachers cannot afford to buy data to keep the account running from the little salary they are earning per month. Motivational strategies suggested are that a certain amount should be added to the salary to be used for data for managing and sustaining the social media account created for teaching CRS during Covid-19, making funds available to each school to finance the various social media accounts, and networking the schools based on direct funding from the governments. Based on the findings, it was recommended that to sustain all the social media accounts created by CRS teachers during Covid-19; all secondary schools should be networked, and the government should be made to pay the network service providers or better still add some amount to teachers’ salary for purchasing data