Integrating ICT Into higher education: onsite and online students’ perceptions in a large vs a small university

For the past two decades, information and communication technologies (ICT) have transformed the ways professors teach and students learn. This paper aims to compare the perceptions of onsite students (blended mode) and of those taking the same courses on the Internet (online mode) in a large vs a small university. To guide the studies, a moderatortype theoretical research model was developed, out of which eight hypotheses were formulated. The model was tested in a field experiment in two universities located in two different countries in Canada: a large university with an enrollment of 48,000 students and a small university with an enrollment of 4,000 students. To collect data, we used a multimethod approach, that is, a Web survey involving open- and closed-ended questions. The samples were formed of 313 onsite and online students from the large university and of 192 onsite and online students from the small university. The quantitative data analysis was performed using a structural equation modeling software, that is, Partial Least Squares (PLS); the qualitative data were analyzed following a thematic structure using QSR NVivo software. In this paper we present a comparison between the two universities of the quantitative results (closed-ended questions) supported and enriched by the qualitative results of the students (open-ended questions)

Using a moderator-type research model to identify the determining factors in satisfaction of using high speed internet in household

Telecommunications industry is continually in a shift of change, alimented by technological innovation and consumers’ demand for always better and faster communication tools. High speed Internet is now an integral part of everyday life of more than a billion people. And, as the tendency is showing up, its use will be still increasing in the future. Thus, this technology has and will continue to have major social and economic impacts. Individual adoption of technology has been studied extensively in the workplace, but far less attention has been paid to adoption of technology in household (Brown & Venkatesh, 2005). So, few studies have been conducted until now to verify satisfaction of household people using high speed Internet. The aim of this study is then to investigate the determining factors in satisfaction of using high speed Internet by people in household. On the basis of the moderator-type research model developed by Brown and Venkatesh (2005) to verify the determining factors in intention to adopt a personal computer in household by American people, this study examines the determining factors in satisfaction of using high speed Internet in household by Canadian people. The methodology followed to conduct the study was the telephone survey research. Data were collected from 322 randomly selected Atlantic Canadian people using high speed Internet at home. Data analysis was performed using the structural equation modeling software Partial Least Squares (PLS). The results got revealed that near from half of the variables examined in the study showed to be determining factors in satisfaction of using high speed Internet by people in household

Latent Space Data Assimilation by using Deep Learning

Performing Data Assimilation (DA) at a low cost is of prime concern in Earth system modeling, particularly at the time of big data where huge quantities of observations are available. Capitalizing on the ability of Neural Networks techniques for approximating the solution of PDE's, we incorporate Deep Learning (DL) methods into a DA framework. More precisely, we exploit the latent structure provided by autoencoders (AEs) to design an Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter with model error (ETKF-Q) in the latent space. Model dynamics are also propagated within the latent space via a surrogate neural network. This novel ETKF-Q-Latent (thereafter referred to as ETKF-Q-L) algorithm is tested on a tailored instructional version of Lorenz 96 equations, named the augmented Lorenz 96 system: it possesses a latent structure that accurately represents the observed dynamics. Numerical experiments based on this particular system evidence that the ETKF-Q-L approach both reduces the computational cost and provides better accuracy than state of the art algorithms, such as the ETKF-Q.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures and 3 table

L’éducation à la citoyenneté à l’école primaire : étude des représentations professionnelles d’enseignantes du Québec

Considérant l’ambiguïté des orientations ministérielles entourant l’éducation à la citoyenneté, cette étude interroge les représentations professionnelles d’enseignants du primaire, notamment puisqu’elles ont une incidence sur l’actualisation de cette responsabilité en classe. Cet article présente les résultats d’une recherche qualitative menée auprès de huit enseignantes oeuvrant au sein de deux écoles primaires du Québec. Les données recueillies à l’aide d’entretiens semi-dirigés individuels mettent en évidence que l’éducation à la citoyenneté est abordée comme une activité quotidienne, non planifiée et largement associée au vivre-ensemble à l’école. Les représentations des participantes apparaissent également s’appuyer sur une vision plus conformiste du citoyen personnellement responsable

Using UTAUT to identify the influencing factors on the use of ERP systems in medium- to large-sized Canadian enterprises

Individual acceptance and use of new technologies has been studied extensively over the last two decades. And, as more and more organizations move from functional to process-based information technology (IT) infrastructure and that enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are becoming one of today’s most widespread IT solutions to this movement, the research literature on ERP systems has exponentially grown in recent years. Effectively, the importance of the ERP industry to the professional information systems (IS) community is further underscored by projections indicating that it will be a $47.7 billion industry by 2011 (Jacobson et al., 2007). To study acceptance and use of ERP systems by enterprises and their employees, several models of technology adoption are used, including the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989), its successor the TAM2 (Venkatesh & Davis, 2000), a combination of TAM2 and the model of determinants of perceived ease of use, that is TAM3 (Venkatesh & Bala, 2008), as well as the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) (Venkatesh et al., 2003). But, at our knowledge, acceptance and use of ERP systems has not been yet studied in medium- to large-sized Canadian enterprises. The aim of this study is then to fill this gap. Using UTAUT model, we gathered the feelings of middle managers and end-users in six medium- to large-sized enterprises from three Canadian countries in order to identify the influencing factors on their use of ERP systems. Data analysis was performed using the structural equation modeling software Partial Least Squares (PLS). The results got highlight the key role of three independent variables (facilitating conditions, anxiety, and behavioral intention) and a moderator variable (age) of UTAUT model as influencing factors on the use of ERP systems in medium- to large-sized Canadian enterprises. The independent variable social influence can also play a less significant role (at p < 0.10) on the use of ERP systems

Conception et étude du potentiel d’un dispositif muséo-techno-didactique pour le raisonnement en sciences humaines d’élèves québécois de 5e année du primaire

Nous traitons de la conception et de l’étude du potentiel d’un dispositif muséo-techno-didactique, parties prenantes d’une recherche-développement réalisée en collaboration avec le Musée McCord et des enseignants d’écoles primaires montréalaises. Le dispositif mis à l’essai tire profit de l’exposition Montréal — Points de vue, des ressources numériques de l’institution et d’une récente application pour technologie mobile. A la suite d’entretiens semi-dirigés réalisés auprès de dyades d’élèves de quatre classes de 5e année, nous étudions le potentiel de ce dispositif sous l’angle du raisonnement verbal en sciences humaines. Si une bonne compréhension de l’interdépendance de l’organisation sociale et du territoire se manifeste dans des segments explicatifs, les résultats obtenus doivent être replacés dans le contexte d’une implication des enseignants allant bien au-delà du temps scolaire habituellement consenti à ce domaine disciplinaire

Improving municipal information and knowledge management capabilities: case study

This study aims to better understand the process of knowledge management capabilities (KMC) development at the municipal context to assess its impact on organizational performance. This process is a part of organisational learning school that promotes organizational learning processes and knowledge accumulation that could be spread in time and in different levels of maturity. Thus, using the KMC maturity model (KMCMM) which has five levels of maturity, this study helps to better understand the phenomenon of KMC in the municipal context