Educational communication uses short messaging services by students in Nigerian universities
| Pages | 335-355 |
| Published date | 01 November 2010 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/20425945201000021 |
| Date | 01 November 2010 |
| Author | Williams E. Nwagwu |
| Subject Matter | Public policy & environmental management |
World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development, Vol. 7, No. 4, 2010
Williams E. Nwagwu1
University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Abstract: A questionnaire was used to collect data from 1676 undergraduate and
postgraduate students randomly selected from three major Nigerian universities to
understand how media gratification and constraints motivated their use of text
messaging to meet educational needs. Sixty-five (65%) and 63% of the respondents
reported using the technology for contacting peers and lecturers for educational
matters while less than 40% have used technology to contact lecturers and others
respectively. Generally, closeness to mothers and education of parents influence use
of the technology for educational contact. The instrumental gratifications of SMS
capability to enable students escape face to face communication, convenience and
low cost also explain use of SMS to make educational contact although this activity
is constrained by the difficulty to decipher the intention of the messages and by the
confusion that often arises due mainly to unclear acronyms.
Keywords: short messaging services, SMS, Nigeria, mobile communication, texting
Copyright © 2010 WASD
The mobile phone was invented in 1973,
but its size efficiency, power economy and
low-cost small packet exchange technology
and others have made its penetration and
diffusion the fastest, in comparison with
other technologies (Leung, 2007). The
Short Messaging Service (SMS) product of
the technology was introduced in Europe in
1991, but it has developed into a major
form of interpersonal mediated communi-
cation. SMS supports the sending and re-
ceiving of, not only texts, but also images,
animation and sound originated or received
by short messaging entities (SME) such as
mobile phones, servers and personal com-
puters (McAdams, 2006). SMS also sup-
ports e-mail addresses; messages can be sent
and received instantly through a mobile
phone, a fixed line phone, or over the Inter-
net. In addition to messaging simple text
strings, some mobile networks also enable
multimedia messaging service (MMS),
which include combinations of texts, voice,
animated graphics, photos and video clips.
SMS has many advantages over many other
products of the technology and other forms
of communication. It is devoid of weighty
social structure and external surveillance
and permits direct, non place-based, imme-
diate and casual contact, enhancing com-
munication in a manner that might not be
feasible face to face or by telephone.
… mobile phones afford a fundamental
1Africa Regional Centre for Information Science, University of Ibadan, Nigeria,
Email: willieezi@yahoo.com
335
liberation from place… Their use shifts
community ties from linking people-in-
places to linking people wherever they
are. Because the connection is to the per-
son and not to the place, it shifts the dy-
namics of connectivity from places –
typically households or worksites – to in-
dividuals (Wellman, 2001).
In higher educational institutions, SMS
has enhanced communication and informa-
tion exchange in education by students, lec-
turers and authorities. It is being applied to
conduct a feedback among students, lectur-
ers and administration; news items and
events, enrollment information, internship
opportunities and grade results can be
passed to students through SMS. SMS can
also be used to alert students of events like
job placements, contact specific students,
send grades to students and notify students
of results awaiting collection. Also, students
may use the technology to seek advice from
peers regarding lecture schedules and venues,
as well as scheduling meetings, among oth-
ers. Student unions and similar organisa-
tions in universities can use SMS to conduct
voting, schedule meetings with students and
send out promotional information. For
those students who are far away from their
parents or guardians, they may rely on SMS
for communicating educational information
with their family/relatives. Students also
need to communicate educational issues
with their lecturers; they may need to book
meeting appointments, clarify issues and
get information about educational issues.
In this study, the focus is on how media
gratification and constraint variables moti-
vate use of text messaging to meet educa-
tional needs by undergraduate and
postgraduate students in Nigerian universi-
ties. In pursuing this objective, the following
questions will be addressed: What are the
educational purposes for which students in
Nigerian universities use SMS? What are
the major gratifications that motivate stu-
dents use of SMS? What are the perceived
constraints of SMS use? How do the demo-
graphic, gratification and constraint factors
influence educational use of SMS among
Nigerian students?
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SMS as a medium of communication fits
exactly the Uses and Gratification (U&G)
perspective of Blumler and Katz (1974).
The perspective is concerned with whether
a technology use characteristics promote
and foster individual and personal goal
rather than merely enhancing exchange of
messages. According to Palmgreen, Wenner,
Rosengren (1985) a major issue in the use
and gratification approach is that the audi-
ence participates actively in media selection
and use, and that personal characteristics of
the audience members and motivations
shape choices and applications. Active audi-
ence has implications for utility – the uses
people have for communication, intention-
ality or prior motivation that directs com-
munication behavior, and, selectivity or
prior interest and desires that affect com-
munication choices and content. Put differ-
ently, audiences seek certain gratifications
from communication media and the poten-
tial of a media to satisfy these gratifications
motivate the use of any particular media.
Satisfaction of certain psychological cogni-
tive and emotional needs (Maslow, 1970),
such as surveillance, information-seeking,
entertainment, personal identity or com-
panionship (Dimmick et al., 1994; Lin,
1998), will, for instance, influence choice
of communication media. On the other
hand, the technology might also not serve
336 W. E. Nwagwu
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