Short messaging services and educational information sharing by students in Nigerian universities
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/20425941211250561 |
| Published date | 26 July 2012 |
| Date | 26 July 2012 |
| Pages | 235-253 |
| Author | Williams E. Nwagwu |
| Subject Matter | Public policy & environmental management,Environmental technology & innovation |
Short messaging services
and educational information
sharing by students in
Nigerian universities
Williams E. Nwagwu
Africa Regional Centre for Information Science, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to address how media gratification variables and constraints
of global system for mobile communications (GSM) technology promote or inhibit use of short
messaging services (SMS) for sharing educational information by students in Nigerian universities.
Design/methodology/appr oach – A questionnaire was used to collect dat a from 1,676
undergraduate and postgraduate students randomly selected from thre e major Nigerian
universities. Data were analysed using factor and regression analyses.
Findings – The instrumental gratifications of SMS capability to enable persons to escape face-to-face
communication, and its convenience and low cost explain the popularity of the use of SMS to make
contact for educational reasons, although this activity is constrained by the difficulty to decipher the
intention of the messages and the confusion arising from unclear acronyms used by texters.
Research limitations/implications – Further research might focus on content analysis. What
exactly is the information the students share with themselves and others?
Practical implications – The result of this research is critical in the design and deployment of
mobile learning technologies in Nigerian universities.
Originality/value – There is no empirical evidence of how students use SMS despite the existence of
mobile learning projects in Nigerian universities.
Keywords Short messaging services, SMS, Nigeria, Mobile communication, Texting, Learning,
Mobile communication systems
Paper type Research p aper
Introduction
The mobile phone was invented in 1973, but its size, efficiency, power economy and
low-cost small packet exchange technolog y and others, have made its penetration and
diffusion the fastest, in comp arison with other technologi es (Leung, 2007). The short
messaging service (SMS) of the technology was introduced in Europe in 1991, but it
has developed into a major form of interpersonal mediated communicatio n. SMS
supports the sending and receiving of, not only texts, but also images, animation and
sound originated or received by short messaging entities such as mobile phon es,
servers and personal computers (McAdams, 2006). SMS also supports e-mail
addresses; messages can be sent and received instantly through a mobile phone, a fixed
line phone or over the internet. In addition to messaging simple text strings, some
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WorldJour nal of Science, Technology
and Sustainable Development
Vol. 9 No.3, 2012
pp. 235-253
rEmeraldGroup Publishing Limited
2042-5945
DOI 10.1108/20425941211250561
The 2008/2009 postgraduate class of the Africa Regional Centre for Information Science ,
University of Ibadan collected the data from the University of Ibadan students as part of their
continuous assessment exercise in Quantitative Techniques. Gompil Gambo and John Uchemadu
coordinated data collection at the Ahmadu Bello University and University of Nigeria
respectively.The three datasets were merged and analysed to develop this present result; to these
contributors, the author is very grateful.
235
Educational
information
sharing
mobile networks also enable multimedia messaging service, which include
combinations of texts, voice, animated graphics, photos and video clips. SMS has
many advantages over other products of the technology and forms of communication.
It is devoid of weighty social structure and exter nal surveillance and permits direct,
non-place-based, immediate and casual contact, enhancing communication in a manner
that might not be feasible face to face or by telephone. Wellman (2001) captured in
his observation that mobile phones afford a fundamental liberation from place. Their
use shifts community ties from linking people-in-places to linking people whe rever
they are. Because the connection is to the person and not to the place, it shifts
the dynamics of connectivity from places – typically households or wo rksites – to
individuals.
In higher educational instituti ons, SMS has enhanced co mmunication and
information exchange in education by students, lecturers and autho rities (Leung,
2007). It is being applied to manage feedback systems among students, lectu rers 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 pe ers regarding lecture schedules
and venues, as well as sc heduling meetings, among others. Student unions and similar
organizations 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
relate to use of text messaging to meet educational needs by undergraduate and
postgraduate students in Nigerian universities. In pursuing this objective, the
following questions were addressed: what are the educational purpose s for which
students in Nigerian universities use SMS? What are the major gratifications that
motivate students’ use of SMS? What are the perceived constraints of SMS use? How
do the demographic, gratification and constraint facto rs influence educational use of
SMS among Nigerian students?
Literature review
Theoretical perspectives
SMS as a medium of communication fits exactly the uses and gratificatio n (U&G)
perspective of Blumler and Katz (1974). The persp ective is concerned with whether
a technology use characteristics promote and foster individual and personal goal
rather than merely enhancing exchange of messages. According to Palmg reen et al.
(1985) a major issue in the U&G approach is that the audience participates actively in
media selection and use, and that personal characteristics of the audience members and
motivations shape choices and applications. Active audience has implications fo r
utility – the uses people have for communication, intentionality or prior motivation
that directs communication behavior, and, selectivity or prior interest and desires that
affect communication choices and content. Put differently, audiences seek certain
gratifications from communication media and the potential of a media to satisfy these
gratifications motivate the use of any particular media. Satisfaction of cer tain
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