New Media As A Tool For Effective And Efficient Communication Tool Among Nigerian Students

This study will try to find out the impact that new media has in enhancing effective and efficient communication. Though the new media has many positive effects on modern communication among the students, in the wrong hands, it can become dangerous. For the young people it is experiments to do what they feel is good or exciting to them and the friends and at the same time avoid adult supervision.

However this research work tend to examine the extent of new media use among the Nigerian student especially the marketing students of the Ibarapa Polytechnic, Eruwa as well as to fashion out the evils of using the new media as a source of communication among the students.

Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

The New Media, as described by Wikipedia, refers to on- demand access to content anytime, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community formation around the media content, while new media is referred to as means of interactions among people in which they create, share, exchange and comment content among themselves in virtual communities and network.

McQuail (2005:39-40), states that in respect of the emergence of any new medium, ?we can at least recognize the claim of the internet(and World Wide Web) to be considered as a medium in its own right on the ground of its now extensive diffusion?. The expression ?new media? has been in use since the 1960s and has had to encompass an expanding and diversifying set of applied communication technologies.

Lievrouw and livingstaone in McQuail (2005:38) point out the difficulty of saying what the ?new media? comprises. They choose to define them in a composite way, linking information communication technologies (ICT) with their associated new contexts, bringing together the three elements: technology artifacts? and devices, activities, practices and uses, and new arrangements and organizations that form around devices and practices. They define new media based on the essential features which are concerned with; the main ones which seem to be: their interconnectedness, their accessibility to individual users as sender and/or receivers, their interactivity, their multiplicity of use and open-ended character, and their ubiquity and delicateness?.

In recent times, following the advent of new media of communication, people, and organizations had tended to add to their means of reaching the general public and foster efficient and effective communication using the new media. The new media, therefore, serve, in most cases, as avenues through which pastoral communication activities are realized.

This act of pastoral communication using the new media has raised questions in some quarters.

However, there are scholars who think that the new media should be used for pastoral communication. One of these scholars is Nigli (2011, para. 1-2), who noted that ?communication using new media- internet, blogging, new networks ? is integral to pastoral mission. Digital communication and new networking dominate youth activities today, making it imperative that future pastors be tech-savvy and use multi-media for effective communication.
Nueman, cited in Dominick (2009:67) defines the new media as communication technologies that enable or facilitate user-to-user interactivity and interactivity between user and information, such as Internet replaces the "one-to-many" model of traditional mass communication with the possibility of a "many-to-many" web of communication. Any individual with the appropriate technology can now produce his or her online media and include images, text, and sound about whatever he or she chooses. So, the new media with technology convergence, shifts the model of mass communication, and radically shapes the ways people interact and communicate with one another.

Crosbie (2002) in Dominick (2009:68) describes three different kinds of communication media. He sees interpersonal media as ?one to one?, mass media as ?one too many?, and finally New Media as individual media or ?many to many?. Therefore this study reveals the roles of new media in enhancing efficient and effective communication among the students of marketing department of the Ibarapa Polytechnic Eruwa.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

This study will try to find out the impact that new media has in enhancing effective and efficient communication. Though the new media has many positive effects on modern communication among the students, in the wrong hands, it can become dangerous. For the young people it is experiments to do what they feel is good or exciting to them and the friends and at the same time avoid adult supervision.

However this research work tend to examine the extent of new media use among the Nigerian student especially the marketing students of the Ibarapa Polytechnic, Eruwa as well as to fashion out the evils of using the new media as a source of communication among the students.

1.3 Objective of the Study

This study is designed with the following objectives;

To determine the extent of using the new media as a communication tool among the Nigerian students

To examine the relationship between the extent of new media and communication use among the students with their family and friends

To ascertain whether students prefer the new media as a means of communication as opposed to traditional means

To review the roles of new media in promoting communication especially among the students

1.4 Research Hypotheses

Hypothesis One

Hi: Students make use of the new media technology for communication

Ho: Students don"t make use of the new media technology for communication

Hypothesis Two

Hi: New media promotes communication especially among the students

Ho: New media does not promotes communication especially among the students

1.5 Significance of the Study

It is hoped that the findings of this study will review the roles of the new media technology in enhancing communication among Nigerian students. The findings of this study may also be useful to the policy makers in various sectors of the government. For instance, in the educational sector curriculum developers will be informed when developing curriculum for the students. It would also assist in determining the best tool to use to effectively communicate with the students. The results of the study are likely to influence further scholarly research by other researchers who may be interested in this field of knowledge and initiate appropriate mitigation.

1.6 Scope and Limitation of the Study

The study is limited by time and financial resources and as result the research will have to source for more financial resources and use alternative means. Since few similar studies have been done especially in institutions of higher learning, there is limited empirical literature on the new media as a tool for enhancing effective and efficient communication especially in the context of Nigerian students. Another expected limitation is that the student might fail to give correct information on the basis of invasion of their privacy. The researcher will explain to them that the study is purely for academic purposes and not motivated by any other interests whatsoever.

The researcher encountered some constraints, which limited the scope of the study. These constraints include but are not limited to the following.

a) Availability of Research Material:

The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study

b) Time:

The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.

1.7 Definition of Terms

For the purpose of the study, the following term/concept are used:

New Media:

Means of mass communication using digital technologies such as the Internet. It is used to describe content made available using different forms of electronic communication made possible through the use of computer technology. Generally, the phrase new media describes content available on-demand through the Internet.

Media:

This means the way through large number of people receive information and entertainment that is television, radio, newspaper, magazine and internet.

Communication:

This is the imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium

1.8 Organization of the Study

This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows

Chapter one is concerned with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), historical background, statement of problem, objectives of the study, research hypotheses, significance of the study, scope and limitation of the study, definition of terms and historical background of the study.

Chapter two highlights the theoretical framework on which the study is based, thus the review of related literature.

Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study.

Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.

Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study

Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation

5.1 Introduction

It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to examine new media as a tool for effective and efficient communication tool among Nigerian students. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations are made, which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefit in addressing the challenges of new media as a tool for effective and efficient communication tool among Nigerian students.

5.2 Summary

This study aimed at having a critical analysis of new media as a tool for effective and efficient communication tool among Nigerian students. four objectives were raised. These objectives include: To determine the extent of using the new media as a communication tool among the Nigerian students. To examine the relationship between the extent of new media and communication use among the students with their family and friends. To ascertain whether students prefer the new media as a means of communication as opposed to traditional means. To review the roles of new media in promoting communication especially among the students

5.3 Conclusion and Recommendations

In this study we found out that Students make use of the new media technology for communication and new media promotes communication especially among the students.

Globalization and information revolution is increasingly changing the learning process in higher education. Globalization has caused librarians and higher institutions in Nigeria and developing countries to face new type of learning involving the use of ICT infrastructures to improve educational resources (Echezona et al, 2009:80).

Notwithstanding the opportunities following the emergence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) or new media, the challenges posed to the society by these technologies are both multidimensional and multifaceted. The challenges are avoidable because they are not beyond control and measures should be put in reducing the negative impacts of new media in the society will be drawn.

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