The Passive Usage of ICT by Japanese Undergraduate Students

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study is to investigate Japanese undergraduate students’ attitudes towards various information communication technologies (ICTs) in order to construct an effective learning environment at a Japanese university. To achieve this purpose, a questionnaire survey was administered at six different universities at the beginning of the first semester of 2011. Data for 855 subjects were collected. After examining the demographic information of the data, factor analysis was conducted to analyze students’ use of the Internet in relation to their studies. Six factors were extracted: “convenience,” “utilization,” “encyclopedia,” “primary sources,” “consideration,” and “the negative sense of usage.” Based on these factors, a t-test was conducted with gender and a path analysis was conducted in order to identify interrelationships among the six factors. After discussion of the results, four approaches are suggested to enhance ICT use by freshmen for academic study.