The readiness and challenges of lecturers in adopting social media platforms as a teaching and learning tool during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak

Social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube continue to provide higher education lecturers with the opportunity to share personal and academic resources. They use these platforms to communicate with colleagues and students for educational purposes. This study was motivated by the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has made online learning a priority for higher education institutions, and lecturers in South Africa have had to rethink the adoption of social media platforms as learning tools. Although social media platforms were used before the COVID-19 pandemic, on a small scale, this study investigated the readiness and challenges of lecturers in adopting social media platforms as a teaching and learning tool during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. This study collected qualitative data from individual lecturers using a purposeful sampling technique. The findings of the study indicate that lecturers are ready to adopt social media as a teaching and learning tool during the covid 19 pandemic. WhatsApp is the most used social media platform for teaching and learning. This study also identified some benefits and challenges in adopting social media platforms for teaching and learning in higher education institutions (HEIs), however, in practicality these challenges should be explored and addressed before rolling out social media usage in HEI’s. Based on the findings, the study provides recommendations on the use of social media platforms in teaching and learning in HEI’s during pandemics, as well as future research on social media use to assist in teaching and learning in HEI’s. Key Words:Social media platforms, Teaching and learning tool, COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, Higher education lecturers, Higher education institutions