STUDENTS' PERCEPTION TOWARD PERSONAL INFORMATION AND PRIVACY DISCLOSURE IN E-LEARNING

ABSTRACT

This research investigates East Asian students’ perceptions towards e-learning privacy. The survey was first carried out in Japan (N1= 255) and China (N2=307) in 2009. In 2012 the same survey was conducted again in these two countries but with different participants (N3=175, N4=63). To survey in different countries is to verify whether e-learning privacy perceptions have cultural factors. To conduct the same survey with a three-year interval is to verify whether e-learning privacy perceptions change over time. Actual registered private information on two e-learning systems is analyzed, too in order to confirm the findings in the survey. The findings are: while students are indeed concerned about their private information being online, they support their teachers collecting and using their private information for learning purposes. East Asian students consider personal photo, mobile phone number, and physical address to be very private and are reluctant to register these items even in e-learning systems.