By Ken Y-N ( August 31, 2009 at 23:25)
· Filed under Lifestyle, Polls
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Here’s a rather interesting survey from goo Research and Keio University’s SFC Research Centre into information sources for the personal learning process.
Demographics
Between the 15th and 18th of May 2009 1,050 members of the goo Research consumer monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.4% of the sample were female, 20.3% in their teens, 19.7% in their twenties, 19.6% in their thirties, 20.2% in their forties, and 20.2% aged fifty or older.
As a resident of Japan, one problem I have in the office with officially-sponsored learning is that it is all in Japanese! However, one great way to avoid these language problems at a low cost is provided by the company that Koichi at Tofugu works with as a tutor. The people at eduFire offer low-cost online training in a million and one topics (well, currently at least 27 major ones with lots of sub-topics) through the internet using Skype. One of Koichi’s specialities is Japanese language courses, and from what I’ve seen of his stuff, I can heartily recommend him and have confidence that the rest of the services offered will also be well worth the money. The tutors there are all available for realtime interaction, all just a mouse click away.
It’s not free, but just $29 (2,600 yen or so) gets you a one month unlimited access SuperPass for not just Japanese lessons, but lots of other courses like marketing, Confucius Philosophy, or indeed English, stuff that could cost you hundreds of thousands of yen through traditional routes. For a cheap preview, they also offer one week for one dollar, so you can give it a go with minimal risk. This is cheaper that the free lessons I’ve seen at my regional international centre, once you factor in travelling expenses, as you’re in the classroom right now!
Career stagnation is a problem that many face, so in these tough economic times $29 per month to improve your CV/resume is a cheap way to help yourself out!
Disclosure: What Japan Thinks receives a commission from eduFire for completed sign-ups.
Research results
Q1: Have you ever done any personal studying? (Sample size=1,050)
Q1SQ1: What was the motivation behind doing personal studying? (Sample size=598, multiple answer)
| Word of mouth, recommendation, encourgement from friends, family |
42.1% |
| Newspaper, magazine, book |
35.5% |
| Television, radio |
18.2% |
| Corporate information, advertising on service offering learning |
15.6% |
| Read description of experiences on blog, SNS, etc |
11.5% |
| Free paper, poster, etc |
10.5% |
| User experience information on service offering learning |
9.7% |
| Other |
6.7% |
Q1SQ2: After getting motivated, which of the following did you do before taking up the studying? (Sample size=598, multiple answer)
| Used search site to find more information |
50.7% |
| Discussed with friends, family |
25.4% |
| Read a pamphlet with related information |
23.6% |
| Contacted company regarding pricing |
23.1% |
| Contacted company regarding study times, amount of study material, etc |
20.6% |
| Read official web site, advertising materials |
19.1% |
| Referred to URL, QR Code, etc in introductory mail, leaflet, etc |
14.9% |
| Tried out a free sample lesson, preliminary interview, test, etc |
14.2% |
| Read about user experiences, etc on official web site |
13.9% |
| Read about user experience on blog, SNS, etc |
12.5% |
| Contacted company regarding other matters |
0.8% |
| Other |
1.5% |
Q1SQ3: What encouraged/encourages you to continue studying? (Sample size=598, multiple answer)
| Word of mouth, recommendation, encourgement from friends, family |
48.5% |
| Description of experiences on blog, SNS, etc |
25.9% |
| Newspaper, magazine, book |
21.7% |
| User experience information on service offering learning |
21.2% |
| Corporate information, advertising on service offering learning |
16.9% |
| Television, radio |
12.4% |
| Free paper, poster, etc |
4.2% |
| Other |
4.7% |
Q1SQ4: Which of the following do you think is necessary in order to continue studying? (Sample size=598, multiple answer)
| Understanding from family |
46.0% |
| Help with fees, etc |
40.3% |
| Teacher to communicate with face-to-face |
32.4% |
| Other students to communicate with face-to-face |
26.6% |
| Other students to compete with |
22.1% |
| Understanding from work |
21.6% |
| Teacher to communicate with by email, telephone, etc |
19.7% |
| Words of encouragement from mentors face-to-face |
17.7% |
| Other students to communicate with by email, telephone, etc |
16.9% |
| Words of encouragement from mentors by email, telephone, etc |
15.7% |
| Talking about my own experiences with friends, family |
12.0% |
| Writing about my own experiences to blog, SNS, etc |
9.5% |
| Other |
5.0% |
Q1SQ5: Have you ever done any e-learning? (Sample size=598)
Q2: What factors would motivate you in your personal studying? (Sample size=1,050, multiple answer)
| Other students’ test results |
41.0% |
| Student ranking |
36.8% |
| Service provider’s response to questions |
34.8% |
| Fellow students’ response to questions |
22.2% |
| Off-line meet-ups |
11.5% |
| Other students’ individual names |
4.7% |
| Other |
4.5% |
Q3: What would make it easy to ask questions when doing e-learning? (Sample size=1,050, multiple answer)
| Can inquire by email, telephone |
59.6% |
| Detailed FAQ |
52.2% |
| Can find out what sort of person the answerer (student adviser, etc) is |
36.8% |
| Can ask questions to the people who prepare the materials |
35.3% |
| Blog where I can see questions from other people |
31.7% |
| Can pose questions via video sharing sites |
17.0% |
| Can inquire by webcam, live support |
5.5% |
| Other |
0.9% |
Q4: In which fields might you like to do personal studying? (Sample size=1,050, up to three answer)
| Languages |
45.0% |
| IT |
38.0% |
| Clinical psychology |
20.7% |
| Career development |
16.2% |
| Tourism |
15.1% |
| Entrepreneurial |
13.9% |
| MOT (Management of Technology) |
12.7% |
| Caring |
11.8% |
| Culture, historical monumnets |
10.7% |
| Other medcial |
9.9% |
| Education |
9.6% |
| Environment, nature |
9.5% |
| Kindergarten education |
9.5% |
| Pharmacy |
9.1% |
| Architecture |
8.7% |
| Engineering |
8.1% |
| Inter-cultural communication |
7.1% |
| Nursing |
6.8% |
| Agriculture |
6.0% |
| Regional business |
5.7% |
| International business |
5.1% |
| Veterinarian |
5.0% |
| Biological sciences |
4.9% |
| Regional development |
4.2% |
| Other financial, business |
3.4% |
| Dentistry |
3.1% |
Q5: Which of the following do you feel would be the easiest group lesson format to participate in for personal studying? (Sample size=1,050)
| Online group lesson with shared lesson materials, but not knowing who else is present |
49.7% |
| Ordinary face-to-face group lessons |
34.0% |
| Online group lesson knowing other people’s names, company affiliations, etc |
9.8% |
| Online group lesson with web cameras where you can see everyone |
5.4% |
| Other |
1.0% |
Q6: On social networking services, etc, what sorts of environments would you feel would be easy to contribute to? (Sample size=1,050, multiple answer)
| Where people are talking about a topic I’m interested in |
72.9% |
| Where friends are present |
52.6% |
| Where submissions may be rated |
28.6% |
| Where there is a points system, etc for highly-rated submissions |
19.8% |
| Where communal topics, conceptual issues are presented |
16.4% |
| Where real names are used |
12.7% |
| Other |
2.1% |
Read more on: education,
edufire,
goo research,
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It’s interesting, but not surprising, to see that languages are top of the things that people would like to take up in self directed study. Also that some degree of anonymity, common in an online setting, is preferred by most learners. I’m a Japanese tutor on eduFire and I can say that there are many other positive things about self directed learning in an online environment that a survey won’t necessarily capture. One thing that I have really enjoyed is the continuity of having the same students develop their language skills with me over a period of time. It is good to see their confidence grow with their skills. EduFire’s Skype-like system (Adobe Connect) allows tutors to record lessons so students can go back to visit the lesson at any point in time, thus creating a library of class contact. The other thing is that eduFire supports a whole community of learners, so just participating in the forums and a few free lessons can have a motivating effect. Thanks for posting Ken.