Gerard Fillion

Videoconferencing in Distance Education: A Study of Student Perceptions in the Lecture Context

SUMMARY The objective of this study was to see whether videoconferencing in distance education is more appropriate than conventional education in the context of delivering lectures. As the results indicate, we cannot conclude that this is so. Technological deficiencies played a major role here. Consequently, students of the videoconferencing classes, both remote and onsite, appreciated less the course structure and its progress, and were less motivated and less satisfied than the students of conventional lectures. However, most of the students shared their appreciation of the professor, of the quality of the learning experience, and of the level of learning achieved. Interestingly, although the students at the remote location were less satisfied than all the others and indicated that they did not wish to repeat the experience, they clearly achieved better results than the three other groups involved in the study.

Integrating Information and Communication Technologies into Higher Education: Investigating Onsite and Online Students' Points of View

For the past two decades, information and communication technologies (ICT) have transformed the ways professors teach and students learn. The purpose of this study is to investigate the points of view of onsite students (blended or hybrid mode) and of those taking the same courses on the Internet (online mode). A moderator‐type theoretical research model was developed, out of which nine hypotheses were formulated. The model was tested in a field experiment. Data were collected using a multi‐method approach; that is, a web survey involving open‐ended and closed‐ended questions. The sample was formed of 313 onsite and online students from eight undergraduate and graduate courses offered at the Faculty of Administration of a large Canadian university. The quantitative data analysis was performed using structural equation modelling software; that is, partial least squares. The qualitative data were analysed following a thematic structure using QSR NVivo software. This paper presents a summary of the quantitative results (closed‐ended questions) supported by and enriched by the qualitative results (open‐ended questions).

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 organisational performance. This process is a part of the organisational learning school that promotes organisational learning processes and knowledge accumulation that could be spread over 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.

Towards an integrated maturity model of knowledge management capabilities

The resource-based view of the firm is used to study the role of organizational knowledge in establishing sustained competitive advantage. The concept of the organisational knowledge capabilities development analyzes the organisational capabilities in three principal dimensions: Knowledge Management (KM) infrastructures, KM processes and KM competences. Indeed, the literature in KM, management and information technology shows that the development of the organisational capabilities is strongly related to the use of a maturity model. Also, the literature establishes a link between the level of maturity in KM capabilities and the level of organizational performance. However, there is very little work on the literature which develops an integrated maturity model for KM capabilities that use together the three principal dimensions. This work proposes a maturity model of Knowledge Management capabilities with three principal.

Integrating ICT into Higher Education: A Study of Onsite vs. Online Students' and Professors' Perceptions

For the past two decades, information and communication technologies (ICT) have transformed the ways professors teach and students learn. This study aims to investigate the perceptions of onsite and online students and professors. It was conducted into ICT-supported or technology-rich environments at a Faculty of Administration of a large Canadian university. To conduct the study, a moderator-type theoretical research model was developed, out of which nine hypotheses were formulated. We used a multimethod approach to collect data, that is, a Web survey involving open- and closed-ended questions, as well as a structured interview. The sample was composed of 313 students who completed an electronic survey on a Web site and 16 professors teaching to these students who participated in a structured interview. 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.