Cross-Cultural Reflections of Tertiary Students on ICT-Supported Innovations

Abstract

The paper focuses on the perception of innovations from the perspective of students. By innovations, in this case, we understand information and communication technologies. The aim of the research project is to compare the perception of innovations from the view of Czech and Asian students. We proceeded from Rogers’ theory of diffusion of innovations (Rogers uses the words technology and innovation as synonyms), which defines five categories of adopters as classification of individual members of the social system, based on innovativeness. Diffusion is seen as a process, while innovations are passed on to other members of a particular social system during a certain time unit and through certain information channels. As a research tool, we used the Kankaarinta questionnaire. The research group consisted of Czech and Asian university students. Given the expansion and use of technology in Asian countries, we assumed that Asian students would be more inclined to innovate than the Czech ones. We worked with comparable groups (186 Czech students and 159 Asian students). Due to the fact that Czech students were from the Faculty of Education, female students prevailed in that group. Asian group of students was gender-balanced. In both groups, early majority prevailed, with a statistically significant difference between the two groups. Asian students seemed more innovative.