JOURNAL LA SOCIALE
VOL. 02, ISSUE 04 (001-008), 2021
DOI:10.37899/journal-la-sociale.v2i4.448

Connecting University Students, Faculty and Administrators through an
Online SMS Service
Reima Al-Jarf1
1

King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

*Corresponding Author: Reima Al-Jarf
Article Info
Article history:
Received 18 August 2021
Received in revised form 9
September 2021
Accepted 24 September 2021
Keywords:
Tawasul System
Online SMS
Instructor-student
Communication
AdministratorInstructorstudent
Communication
SMS groups

Abstract
King Saud University (KSU) created an online Short Message Service
(SMS) called “Tawasul”, developed in house, to connect administrators,
faculty, and students. The KSU rector, deans, department heads and
program coordinators send group season’s greetings and notifications
to the mobile phones of faculty members, staff, and students. Instructors
can send course notifications to their students regarding exams and
other issues. There are currently 380 SMS groups for department staff,
T.A.’s, workshop participants, course enrollees and others. Students and
faculty surveyed indicated that the KSU online SMS Service is easy to
use. It is faster and more efficient than paper memos and e-mails,
especially in emergency situations. It helps conserve paper. Students and
faculty can be reached anytime, anywhere and 7 days a week. Unused
SMS in the user’s account can be added to his/her balance. SMSs are
archived. Those interested to join a group can send a message to the
group’s mobile number. Students’ mobile phone numbers are entered
manually once and saved as a group. However, some faculty indicated
that the allocated 200 free SMSs per month are not enough when class
enrollees are more than 50. They also indicated that it is not possible to
send a reply, a comment, or a query to the sender of the SMS. Sometimes
the service cannot be used when it is under maintenance or when there
is a technical problem. It is time-consuming to enter students’ mobile
phone numbers manually particularly in large classes. Further results
and recommendations are given.

Introduction
The emergence of mobile phones brought about new tools and new ways of communication
among people. One of those is the Short Message Service (SMS) which is a text messaging
service component of mobile devices. The SMS service started in 1992. It has been used by
businesses, schools, higher education institutions, social groups, customers, special needs
individuals and others. The SMS Service enables users to send and receive messages of up to
160 English characters to and from GSM mobiles.
Specifically, SMS communication plays a significant role in education. In numerous countries,
SMS technologies have been incorporated into pedagogy such as supporting students in
distance education in South Africa (Viljoen et al., 2005); use of mobile learning at the Open
University of Malaysia to enhance blended learning for undergraduate distance learners (Lim
et al., 2011); promoting written language skills (Geertsema et al., 2011); learning new English
words (Cavus & Ibrahim, 2009); foreign language learning by beginners (Kennedy & Levy,
2008); laboratory instruction (Martinez-Torres et al., 2007); education in the Philippines and
Mongolia (Librero et al., 2007); incorporating SMS into teaching practices (Broinowski, 2006);
programming education (Kert, 2011); as a learning tool (Plana et al., 2012); taking classroom
quizzes using students’ mobile phones to send responses (Lin & Rivera-Sanchez, 2012);
utilization of an SMS crossword puzzle system to promote interaction in learning activities in
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a large classroom environment (Goh & Hooper, 2007); sending messages related to classroom
activities and sharing ideas and resources with the students (Broinowski, 2006); engaging
students in formative assessment objective questions with feedback, as well as SMS-based
collaborative learning tasks (Brett, 2011); sending questions and queries during lectures and
when support with the module material was required (McClean et al., 2010).
In addition, research revealed that SMS exchange significantly exceeded other modes of
interaction among young people; whereas-mail was more predominantly used by "old people,"
and voice calls were used to communicate with parents and other family members (Averianova,
2011).
Furthermore, Brett (2011) reported positive experiences for administrative communication,
learning support and suggested the use of student to tutor texts. The students had negative
experiences and there was negative intrusion into personal time, lack of perceived academic
benefits, the culture of immediacy in texting an SMS cost.
Crisp (2009) indicated that sending SMS to students and parents resulted in the highest
assignment completion (5.16 out of 6), followed by sending text to parents (4.75 out of 6),
sending text to students only (4.63 out of 6), and text to both students and parents, i.e., nonspecific assignment (4.0 out of 6). There were significant differences in assignment completion
rate by the type of text message intervention, and significant teacher effects, but no significant
effects were found in the intervention transmission time. Overall, specific assignment
information communicated by SMS from teachers to students and parents resulted in a positive
effect on students’ assignment completion, and that comprehensive communication revealed a
strong effect on students’ academic achievement.
At East Carolina University in the USA, the students liked to use SMS text messaging and felt
that it was beneficial for enhancing communication in their online classes. SMS helped the
students collaborate and communicate, created a social context that fostered a sense of
community among them and improved social presence in online learning. Through the use of
SMS, instructors and students became active participants in the learning process. The students
shared online resources via SMS and learnt through interaction with each other in the online
environment. They applied their accumulated knowledge in solving course problems. SMS also
provided a medium for communication and dialogue (DuVall et al., 2007).
In comparison with other communication technologies, Austin (2012) found that SMS texting
is the most frequently used synchronous text-based technology and that over 82% of students’
communication take place from their home, dormitory, or workplace. The students also
reported that these synchronous text-based technologies were extremely effective in
communicating with siblings, friends, and acquaintances, but much less so for communicating
with parents, teachers, and employers. In another study, Lan, & Sie (2010) compared SMS,
email, and RSS based on timeliness, richness, accuracy, and adaptability. The results showed
that SMS surpasses email and RSS in content timeliness which makes it more appropriate for
quick information delivery such as notifying and/or reminding users of some time-sensitive
issues. On the other hand, email surpassed SMS and RSS on content richness and thus may be
more appropriate for exhaustive information delivery. RSS surpassed SMS and Email in
adaptability and content accuracy which makes it more appropriate for supporting various
front-end mobile devices to access and present the content in a M-learning environment.
As for the effective use of SMS in education, Chang & Pan (2011) found that the relative
advantage and ease of use are important factors that significantly affect the utilization of SMS.
Service providers should design and develop successful business applications to take advantage
of the benefits of SMS. Brown & Saunders-White (2008) added that the development of
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interactive SMS applications which ranges from simple data access applications to discovery
games designed for the first-year experience, and the collaborative development of SMS
applications for the whole university.
Moreover, a review of prior studies on the utilization of SMS and instant messaging in
education showed lack of studies that investigated the utilizations of online SMS System at
universities where bulk messages are sent through a computer via the Internet to groups of
recipients who receive the messages on their mobile phones. At King Saud University, in
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, an online group SMS System, called Tawasul, has been recently
developed in house by the Deanship of eTransactions to connect administrators, faculty and
students. Bulk messages are sent from a computer via the Internet. Recipients of the Tawasul
SMSs are course enrollees, graduate students, teaching practicum students, workshop
participants, department staff, T.A.’s, members of students’ club, research chair members,
quality and accreditation committee members, in addition to 380 SMS groups who use the
Tawasul SMS System. The Tawasul SMS System has been upgraded to Tawasul 2
Aims of Study
Despite the importance of the Tawasul SMS System at KSU, no studies in Saudi Arabia have
investigated the current use of the Tawasul SMS System, specifically, by instructors and their
students, to uncover its benefits and shortcomings. Therefore, the present study aims to survey
instructors, administrative staff and students at the College of Languages and Translation
(COLT), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to find the instructional and
communicative uses of the Tawasul SMS System, its advantages and weakness, total number
of users and messages sent, and its cost.
Findings of the current study will shed light on the amount of usage of the Tawasul SMS
System in terms of the total number of users and number of messages sent monthly. It will
inform the Deanship of eTransactions of the practicality, usefulness, and types of uses of this
new communication system and whether it is cost-effective. It will inform the Deanship of the
technical issues experienced by users.
Methods
The study uses a descriptive research design that depended on interviews with a sample of staff
and instructors, analysis of monthly statistics on the utilization of SMS’s obtained from the
Deanship of eTransactions at King Saud University, and examination of the components of the
Tawasul System and some messages sent by the users.
Participants
Two administrators at the Deanship of eTransactions and 35 instructors at COLT, who are
currently using the Tawasul SMS System to send messages to their students participated in the
study.
Data Collection
The two administrators and instructors were interviewed by phone. They were all asked openended questions about the Tawasul System, its pedagogical, administrative, social and
communication uses, and its benefits and shortcomings. In addition, the author obtained some
statistics about the total number of Tawasul users at KSU and total number of SMSs sent over
a 12-month period from the Deanship of eTransactiona at the university. The author examined
the Tawasul system and account components and took a look at some messages sent by
individuals and groups
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Figure 1. Total Number of Tawasul Users per Month

Figure 2. Total Number of Messages Sent by All Users Per Month

Results and Discussion
Utilization of The Tawasul SMS System
Analysis of the Tawasul messages showed that instructors send course notifications to the
mobile phones of students registered in their courses regarding logistics such as exams,
registration, deadlines, announcements, and other issues. The KSU rector, deans, department
heads and program coordinators send season’s greetings and notifications to the mobile phones
of a selected group of faculty and staff. The Tawasul group members receive notifications of
university and social events, proverbs, lines of verse, sayings, language tips and inspirational
quotes.
The course instructors can pre-schedule an SMS, can import students’ names and mobile phone
numbers from the University Academic Portal by entering the course code. Users can also send
SMSs to the mobile phone of colleagues or students through their university e-mail addresses.
Each instructor is given a total of 200 SMS per month for free.
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As for the total number of Tawasul number of users and SMSs sent over 12 months, the two
administrators at the Deanship of eTransactions and the statistics obtained from the Deanship
indicated that between December 2018 and November 2019, a total of 7,672,553 SMS were
sent to a total of 63,759 recipients at KSU. The total number of users ranged between 4,492
and 6,682, and a range of 210,008 to 868,298 messages a month, with a median of 5203 users
and a median of 684,682 SMSs sent (See Tables 1 & 2; Table 1). They added each message
sent via the Tawasul SMS Service costs about SR0.08 per SMS, with a total of SR1,000,000
so far. All paid by the University.
Table 1. Mean, Median and Range of SMS Users Per Month and Total SMS Per Month
Total Users
Total SMS

Mean
5313
639,379

Median
5203
684,682

Range
4,492 to 6,682
210,008 to 868,298

Advantages of Tawasul as Perceived by Participants
Participants reported that the Tawasul online SMS Service is free for faculty, administrators,
and students at KSU. It is easy to use. Users can send an SMS in English and Arabic and can
switch languages very easily. KSU faculty, administrators, and students do not need to register
in Tawasul. They can use their university username and password to log into Tawasul. The
Tawasul System is faster and more efficient than paper memos, phone calls, e-mails, especially
in emergency situations. It helps conserve paper. Students and faculty can be reached anytime,
anywhere and 24/7. Unused SMSs can be added to the user’s balance. The SMSs sent by a
user are archived. Students’ mobile phone numbers are entered manually once, and students
registered in a course are saved as a group. Those interested in joining a group can send an
SMS to the group administrator’s mobile number. If the SMS is irrelevant, the user does not
like it or does not need it, he/she can easily delete it.
The Tawasul SMS Service is an additional effective communication channel between faculty,
staff, administrators and students. It facilitates coordination of administrative tasks (meetings,
announcements and reminders). It is an additional public relations/announcement tool, keeping
interested users posted about important developments. It is used for quick announcements of
university events. Tawasul makes is easy for Students’ Affairs and Registration Deanships and
college deans to reach students anytime, especially in the case of an emergency. For example,
when we had torrential rains, an SMS was sent 11 p.m. notifying all faculty and students at
KSU of the suspension of classes the following day.
Shortcomings of Tawasul as Perceived by Participants
The participants indicated that the allocated 200 free SMSs per month are not enough when
class enrollees are more than 50 students. It is not possible for the message recipient to send a
reply, a comment, or a query to the sender of the SMS, i.e., SMSs are sent one way. The
sender’s cell number remains anonymous. Sometimes the service cannot be used when Tawasul
is under maintenance or when it has some technical problems. Some users misuse it. Some use
it for personal non-academic or administrative use. Arabic SMSs are more expensive than
English SMS because 1 English SMS is 160 characters long, whereas 1 Arabic SMS is 70
characters long. Some use lengthy, verbose SMSs with unnecessary headers (being unaware of
the overall cost of such SMSs). When a message is long, some recipients get part of it only.
The participants indicated that Tawasul SMS System places an extra burden to secretaries,
system operators and administrator as they spend additional time on the system (among other
systems at KSU). The new version requires that students’ names and cell numbers be entered
one by one manually. This is time-consuming. The instructor cannot copy and paste cell
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numbers and cannot use commas or semi-colons as separators. No way to import names and
cell numbers from Edugate. The students can also enroll themselves and enter their cell
numbers in an instructor’s group using a group code. Some students do not enroll themselves
at all, thus do not receive any SMS.
The advantages of the Tawasul SMS System reported in the present study are consistent with
findings of prior studies such as Brett (2011); Chang & Pan (2011) and Al-Jarf (2011) on the
utilization and benefits of SMS and other instant messaging technologies which indicated that
the relative advantage and ease of use of SMS are important factors that significantly influence
mobile users' adoption of SMS. However, results of the presents study showed no pedagogical
and language learning uses of the Tawasul System, which is inconsistent with prior studies
such as Viljoen et al., 2005); Lim et al., 2011); Geertsema et al., 2011); Cavus & Ibrahim
(2009); Kennedy & Levy (2008); Librero et al., 2007); Broinowski (2006); Kert (2011); Plana
et al., 2012); Lin & Rivera-Sanchez (2012); Goh & Hooper (2007); Broinowski (2006);
McClean et al (2010) and Crisp (2009). Lack of pedagogical and language learning uses of
SMS in the present study may be attributed to lack of experience on the part of the instructors
with regards to the instructional uses of SMS, what language learning tips, activities, questions,
and group feedback they can send and how they can encourage and support students’ language
learning. The limited number of free SMSs allocated to them every month may not be enough
to send pedagogical tips. The instructors probably have not been introduced to the pedagogical
uses of SMS and may not have received any training in that. They might not be willing to put
extra time and effort in searching for and sending pedagogical SMSs. Furthermore, the
shortcomings of the Tawasul System are similar to those reported by Brett (2011) and Al-Jarf
(2011). Brett (2011) added further shortcomings of SMS such as intrusion into personal time,
the culture of immediacy in texting, costs, and lack of perceived pedagogic benefit. Such
shortcomings were not reported by participants in the present study.
Conclusion
Many higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia are using SMS as a communication tool to
reach out more students with one SMS or email. Findings of the current study revealed
inadequate uses of the Tawasul System as it is used to send SMSs about logistics but not
instructional and language learning issues. Being a one-way SMS system is another weakness.
There is no student engagement with the SMSs they receive. The students cannot send queries
and comments on the SMSs they receive from their instructors. For SMS be a useful and
effective adjunct tool to teaching and learning, the present study recommends that course
instructors send language learning tips, quiz questions and resources to the students. Adding a
feature to the Tawasul System by its developers that enables the students to reply, make
comments and send queries to their instructors will add to the benefits of such as online SMS
Service. Instructors who are not currently using Tawasul should be encouraged to use it and
should be introduced to Tawasul and how it is used. Those who are proficient at using Tawasul
can help their colleagues who are having problems with it. This way, utilization of Tawasul
will be more effective. Finally, communication among administrators, instructors and students
can be achieved through social media such as Facebook and Twitter, webconferencing
software, Learning Management Systems and a Cbox or Chat Box App (Al-Jarf, 2020; Al-Jarf,
2016; Al-Jarf, 2018; Al-Jarf, 2005; Al-Jarf, 2011).
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