Exploring Perceptions of E-Books Among CEGEP Students and Faculty | Exploration des perceptions relatives aux livres électroniques chez les étudiants et enseignants au cégep

Because they are believed to be able to lower the costs of an education, e-books have been factored into the technology plans for community colleges and CEGEPs during the current decade. But adoption is a function of perceptions, which this study explored: (1) General perceptions of the CEGEP (collège d'enseignement général et professionnel, a community college-like institution in Quebec) students and faculty towards e-books and (2) the factors that drive those perceptions. Previous studies found that users generally had neutral and positive impressions of e-books and that the following factors drive overall perceptions of e-books: (a) previous experience, (b) reading preferences and tasks; (c) reading habits; (d) convenience; (e) costs; and (f) ownership issues. A survey of the 2,260 faculty and students at a CEGEP in Quebec was conducted, with 247 students and 19 faculty responding. Results indicated wide awareness of e-books and at least some experience with them. Results validated that previous experience drove perceptions, that printed materials generally had more credibility than digital ones (this was more pronounced for books), that many students read online but do not take notes when doing so, users perceive e-books to be more convenient than printed ones, that e-books become attractive when their price is 50% that of print, and that most users think that they own e-textbooks even though most publishers merely rent e-textbooks. The results suggest adoption barriers beyond technology and general perceptions that need to be addressed to increase general use and that designers of zero-cost (Z-degrees or Zed-Cred) degrees should consider.Parce qu’on croit qu’ils peuvent diminuer les coûts associés à l’éducation, les livres électroniques ont été pris en compte dans les plans technologiques des collèges communautaires et des cégeps au cours de la dernière décennie. L’adoption, cependant, est fonction des perceptions, que la présente étude a explorées : (1) perceptions générales des étudiants et enseignants du cégep (collège d’enseignement général et professionnel) quant aux livres électroniques et (2) facteurs qui motivent ces perceptions. Des études antérieures avaient conclu que les utilisateurs avaient des impressions neutres et positives sur les livres électroniques, et que les facteurs suivants déterminaient les perceptions globales quant aux livres électroniques : (a) expérience préalable, (b) préférences et tâches de lecture, (c) habitudes de lecture, (d) commodité, (e) coût et (f) questions de propriété. Un sondage de 2260 étudiants et enseignants d’un cégep québécois a été réalisé, et des réponses ont été obtenues de 247 étudiants et 19 membres du corps professoral. Les résultats ont indiqué une vaste conscience de l’existence des livres électroniques et, à tout le moins, une certaine expérience avec eux. Les résultats ont confirmé que l’expérience préalable déterminait les perceptions, que les documents imprimés ont en général une plus grande crédibilité que les documents numériques (cela était plus prononcé pour les livres), que de nombreux étudiants lisent en ligne, mais sans prendre de notes, que les utilisateurs perçoivent les livres électroniques comme étant plus pratiques que les livres imprimés, que les livres électroniques deviennent attrayants quand leur prix est à 50 % du prix de l’imprimé, et que la plupart des usagers croient posséder leurs manuels électroniques, même si la plupart des éditeurs ne font que les louer. Les résultats suggèrent qu’il existe des obstacles à l’adoption autres que la technologie et les perceptions générales, qu’il faudrait régler pour augmenter l’utilisation générale et dont les concepteurs de programmes sans frais devraient tenir compte.

Examining the antecedents of Facebook acceptance via structural equation modeling: A case of CEGEP students

Although the last decade has witnessed social networking sites of varied flavors, Facebook’s user growth continues to balloon, and relatedly, Facebook remains popular among the college populace. While there has been a growing body of work on ascertaining antecedents of Facebook use among college students, Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel (CEGEP) students’ acceptance of Facebook remains underexplored. The purpose of this study was to analyze CEGEP students’ acceptance of Facebook using the technology acceptance model (TAM). Structural equation modeling was conducted on data from a survey of 214 CEGEP students. We find that Facebook use is motivated by the core TAM constructs as well as the added factors of peer influence, perceived enjoyment, perceived self-efficacy, relative advantage, risk, and trust.

Same Task, Different Activities: Issues of Investment Identity, and Use of Strategy

Drawing on activity theory and the construct of investment, this article explores how three francophone CEGEP students variously invested in a task that involved producing short documentary-style videos in English. Case study data included interviews with the students and teacher and student work portfolios. The analysis suggests that the appropriation of, or resistance to, particular strategies was related to the construct of motive and issues of identity. Although all three participants had a positive orientation to L2 language learning, differences surfaced about the value attached to classroom language learning, task preference, and attitude to group work. The author argues for task-based research that takes into account the sociocultural dimension of task performance and learner's perspective, as well as studies that involve a broader range of tasks than is currently the case in traditional SLA task-based research. Implications of the study for ESL teaching are discussed.