Table 2.
Typical statements made by participants by key themes.
| Themes | Examples of typical statements made by the participants |
| Attitudes toward ICTa | A tool for learning knowledge; the development of software; the spread and promotion of technology as well as new information; supplementary means to improve the efficiency in the field of scientific research. |
| A mean of sharing information and getting the newest information; the technology that offers convenience to all society members. | |
| A form similar to online-to-offline (O2O) pattern which was put forward by Jack Ma; information dissemination, storage, analysis, and transmission in the era of big data. | |
| Electronic equipment related to computer; offer help to scientific research and life with science and technology equipment to; tools for electronic information transmission. | |
| The category from daily email to literature retrieval and paper check in the field of graduate students’ research topics; a perfect combination between communication and information technology. | |
| The way to get information from the Internet (statistical software, information retrieval, mobile phone app, Google Glass, Leonardo’s Robot, and so on) | |
| ICT application in routine research | Searching and reading electronic journal and papers (ie, PubMed); academic teleconference; translate the latest and updated foreign publications; online courses relevant to different research methods or educational programs to support professional development. |
| Software in research, such as the software for monitoring and calculating the time of apoptosis; monitoring system about punching in and out in the laboratory. | |
| Patients’ health data and information can be uploaded and stored to the hospital by using ICT; launch and feedback of questionnaires; long-distance diagnosis and treatment as well as teaching. | |
| Some apps relevant to the information of patients with AIDSb; the application of GISc system in scientific research; fingerprint attendance, and so on. | |
| Mobile phone and email, GIS, WeChat subscription in the field of scientific research; relevant software about prediction of experimental results; e-learning; MED Analysis; online English course. | |
| Fitness app; operation robots; some large medical equipment for health care treatment. | |
| Understanding about the pros and cons of Web-based training (advantages) |
Convenient and out of the restriction of location and time. |
| Contents are rich and could be learned repeatedly. | |
| It’s possible for students to have online courses based on their own arrangements; promote resources sharing and academic exchanges. | |
| Online courses are helpful to improve educational equity. | |
| Online course are time-saving and labor-saving. | |
| Online courses are good for resources sharing with other academicians and professionals. | |
| Online courses are convenient and cheap. | |
| Course time could be arranged by individuals; some online courses could be downloaded based on individual interests. | |
| Understanding about the pros and cons of Web-based training (disadvantages) |
Ask interactive communication; not good for weak willpower learners as they easily got absent-minded. |
| Some online-courses are expensive. | |
| Some free online courses are free of time limit, students are prone to become lazy. | |
| Lack of academic atmosphere; not possible to raise questions after a course. | |
| There are too many online courses and it is difficult to pick up appropriate courses. | |
| It’s difficult for students to overcome their laziness and persist in learning all courses. | |
| Commercial advertisements are added in some online courses which direct users to nonrelevant sites. | |
| Students are interested in online courses at the beginning, but they lose their interests quickly due to the vagueness of courses and lack of professional answers to problems. | |
| Attitudes toward the design of ICT training curriculum | Course contents should be authoritative and classified enough for different majors; the length of course time could be arranged individually based on students’ interests. |
| It’s easy to learn lessons by exploring medical websites; it’s better to have interactive questions and answers after classes; forms of ICT training courses should be flexible. | |
| It’s better to have ICT training courses on the Internet; the time of an online ICT training course should not be over 20 min, whereas the time of a practice course could be extended appropriately. | |
| Traditional methods and theories should be combined with practices; ICT training courses would not be selected by students willingly if the conduct of ICT training courses is linked to students’ academic degrees and credits because the effect of being forced to learn is always less satisfactory. | |
| The course time and main content even schedule totally depend on individual’s choices. | |
| The courses with hands-on practices are more interesting; it’s more important to introduce the approaches and solutions to solve problems than merely delivering theories. | |
| Potential challenges to promoting ICT courses | Whether ICT or ICT training courses are relevant to difficult majors and can cater students’ interest; to promote ICT training courses, we could deliver lectures for targeting potential students accurately. |
| There will be competitions which come from the similar brand courses when promoting courses at the beginning. | |
| By giving gifts at the very beginning and showing the greatest benefit of the courses or the new technologies. Provide some demo courses and show feedback of user experience. | |
| Concerns about course’s cost; the authority of the courses’ contents. | |
| Due to the reliance on electronic technology, the loss of data would be irreparable if the system collapses. | |
| Some software are blocked due to copyright; people may consider to learn ICT only when it is needed because of the limit of time and energy; the quality of the electronic questionnaires cannot be confirmed. | |
| Marketing strategies for ICT training curriculum | Take advantage of celebrity effect and employ the renowned professors to promote the course. |
| Shows people the successful experience of previous course and ICT application in research. | |
| The titles of the courses should be understood easily and eye-catching to raise interest. | |
| By playing short videos about the course and explaining the benefits. |
aICT: information and communications technology.
bAIDS: acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
cGIS: geographic information system.