WEB 2.0 TRAINING NEEDS ANALYSIS FOR NOVICE RESEARCHERS

The aim of this study is to investigate needs of novice researcher students concerning the application of new technology as research tool and help framing the research students' training programs. Using web 2.0 technology in research became one of challenges and obstacles that face novice researchers. In order to define and assess needs, the study investigated needs of novice researchers in various academic fields within applied and social science. Survey data were collected from Egyptian novice researchers by an online questionnaire. This questionnaire consists of seven main points, which are related to computer and internet experiences, the e-learning background and skills, the academic research skills, the motivation towards e-learning related academic research activities; the role of researchers and supervisors' online connection and the web-based functions & tools which are needed to complete the research activities. The results show that in the context of the developing web 2.0 community research activities and tasks can be conducted via the internet. Also supervisor and research students feel positive about the online-connectedness held and about web based learning. Moreover, researcher and supervisor need more training courses in order to improve their ability to use web-based technology for research and to enhance research quality, reliability and authority.