Tendencies and Preferences of Choosing Information Sources in Academic Learning: A Case of Native Hebrew and Native Arabic Speakers in Israel

Abstract

In this article, we describe a study which examined factors that dominate the preferences of Israeli native Arabic speaking (NAS) students and those of Israeli native Hebrew speaking (NHS) students for choosing digital, printed, written, or orally conveyed information sources for academic learning. The study included 173 students (109 NHS; 64 NAS) from two academic institutions located in northern Israel who participated in the same two annual academic courses. We examined the perceived attribution of eight different information sources common in academic learning and 15 information source criteria that are relevant for the NAS and NHS students' preferences. We conclude that differences in perception of scope, depth, accessibility, trustworthiness, clarity, and especially the perceived ability of cognitive processing from various information sources can explain the “Digital Divide” between NAS and NHS Israeli students in the context of evaluating the contribution of different information sources for their learning. Thus, a techno-socio-cultural Second Order Digital Divide emerges.

DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2016.v6n1p39