ICT Usage and Student Perceptions in Cambodia and Japan

Elwood, James ; MacLean, George;

This paper looked at two Information and Communications Technology (ICT) contexts that initially appeared very different. It presents results of a survey administered in Cambodia (n = 130) and Japan (n = 328) which show that, excepting a few tasks, students in both countries were far from ‘native-like’ in terms of digital literacy (Prensky 2001). Students from both countries responded similarly about (a) where they learned about ICT (for example, computers and cell phones) and (b) the usefulness of ICT for four school subjects. They also indicated feeling minimal anxiety when using technology. Furthermore, similar gender differences were in evidence in both countries where willingness to use technology (WUT) was concerned. Overall, Japanese students exhibited a greater distinction and range in their choices when given the option to use technology or paper to accomplish various tasks, whereas Cambodians opted for technology in every situation and displayed a narrower (perhaps less discriminate) range for those choices.