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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)

World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development

ISSN: 2042-5945

Article publication date: 26 July 2012

250

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/approach

A questionnaire was used to collect data from 1,676 undergraduate and postgraduate students randomly selected from three 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

Acknowledgements

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.

Citation

E. Nwagwu, W. (2012), "Short messaging services and educational information sharing by students in Nigerian universities", World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 235-253. https://doi.org/10.1108/20425941211250561

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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