Social Media Integration in Ghanaian Higher Education: Current Practices and Instructor Perspectives

This study examines the integration of social media platforms into teaching and learning within Ghanaian higher education. Guided by an interpretive phenomenological approach, the study explored instructors’ lived experiences across different institutional and disciplinary contexts. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 12 instructors from the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) and Ghana Communication Technology University (GCTU). Findings reveal that social media adoption is uneven and shaped by institutional digital capacity, course requirements, and instructors’ pedagogical orientations. Platforms such as WhatsApp, YouTube, and Facebook are used to support collaborative discussions, extend communication beyond classroom boundaries, and enhance student engagement; however, concerns persist regarding access disparities, workload demands, and blurred professional boundaries. The study highlights that effective integration depends not only on platform availability but also on intentional pedagogical design, institutional support, and capacity-building. It recommends targeted professional development, clear policy direction, improved digital infrastructure, and the establishment of communities of practice to sustain meaningful and context- sensitive use of social media in instruction. The study contributes to ongoing discussions on digital transformation in Ghanaian higher education, offering insights into how social media can enrich teaching and learning when integrated thoughtfully and systematically.