Farai Mudavanhu completed a BA Honours in African Languages and Culture at Midlands State University in Zimbabwe and a Master of Social Science in Development Studies at Lupane State University, also in Zimbabwe. His research interests are in the areas of social media and higher education, sustainable livelihoods, community development and monitoring and evaluation.

Provisional thesis title: Social media in higher education: A case study of undergraduate students in Zimbabwean universities.

Abstract

Social media has become pervasive, impacting the social and cultural fabric of our society. It has revolutionized the way we communicate, interact and socialize (Al-Sharqi, Hashim and Kutbi, 2015). Higher education students, academics and other members of universities use social media tools for many purposes such as access to information, group discussion, resource sharing, entertainment and student recruitment (Wang, Chen and Liang, 2011). This has generated debate on the use and related positive and negative implications, in both the short and long terms, for universities (Kist, 2008). The major aim of this study is to provide an in-depth analysis of how, and to what ends, social media is used in higher education in Zimbabwe. The study draws on the human development and capability approaches and proposes to look at two universities, a public university and a private church owned university, both in Zimbabwe.