Concordia University - VPRGS Seed Funding Program
2009-2010

Are university professors and learners on the same (web) page? Understanding differences in perceptions of effectiveness of social computing technologies: A collaborative pilot venture between Concordia University and Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).

Venkatesh, V. (Concordia), Fusaro, M. (UQAM), Gagnon, M. (UQAM), & Schmid, R.F. (Concordia University)

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Objectives: The present proposal outlines a pilot team study to shed some much needed light on how Québec-based university professors' and learners' perceptions of course-related technology use impact their respective views on course effectiveness and students' academic performance. Research on the impact of university instructors' and students' views of technology on the pedagogical effectiveness of online courses has yet to take into account the explosion of the various social computing software (e.g., wikis, weblogs) which encompass the Web 2.0 phenomenon. Team leader, Venkatesh, from Concordia and team member, Fusaro, from UQAM, who represent their respective universities on the provincial sous-comité sur la pédagogie et les technologies de l'information et de la communication (SCPTIC), outlined, in September of 2008, a mandate for a large-scale investigation of how members of both the instructor as well as the student bodies at Québec universities frame the use and impact of these new social computing technologies on teaching and learning processes. In January of 2009, the SCPTIC's resulting proposal was approved by le comité des vice-recteurs des affaires academiques (VRAA), both of which work under the auspices of la conférence des recteurs et des principaux des universités de québec (CRÉPUQ).

Expected Outcomes: The pilot study proposed herein will enable Venkatesh and his team to build a program of research, in line with the SCPTIC mandate, to explore the heretofore ill understood socio-cognitive effects of new web-based technologies in post-secondary learning. Our team's proposed program, which we hope to eventually fund through both federal and provincial agencies, will be driven by evidence grounded in a Québec context, and will eventually expand to include members of other universities represented in the SCPTIC. Our team's efforts will also serve to strengthen Concordia's reputation as a premier tier institution, which takes a leading role in establishing and maintaining fruitful synergies of cutting-edge research informing both theory and practice.