Research Article
Ferit Karakoyun
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 10, Issue 4, pp. 399-415
ABSTRACT
Facilities provided by social network sites allow individuals to use social networks for various purposes such as communication, entertainment and information sharing. These purposes vary depending on the social networks individuals use and on their personality traits. The present study examined preservice teachers’ social network use purposes with respect to their personality traits. The participants of the study were 660 preservice teachers attending a Turkish university. For data collection in the study “Scale of Social Network Use Purposes” and “Basic Personality Traits Inventory” were used. The research data were analyzed using Pearson Correlation Analysis and Multi-Linear Regression Analysis. The findings revealed that among the personality traits, conscientiousness, openness to experience and negative valence were predictors of the sub-factors of social network use purposes. As for other personality factors, neuroticism and extraversion were not significant predictors of the total social network use purpose score or its sub-factors.
Keywords: Social media, Social networking sites, Personality, Five-Factor Model, Preservice teachers
Research Article
Kerem Kilicer, Salih Bardakci, Ibrahim Arpaci
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 9, Issue 3, pp. 225-245
ABSTRACT
For today’s societies trying to cope with the current globally increased competition, existence of individuals who can take risks, solve problems and adopt changes an innovation has gained more importance when compared to the past. This situation brings responsibility to educational institutions for increasing the number of innovative individuals and the qualifications of these individuals. Therefore, in the process of designing and developing any kind of in-class activities which will contribute to innovativeness, it is important to determine the technology usage characteristics that can be used to define individuals who have high levels of innovativeness. The purpose of the present study was to determine the variables related to technology which will be used to discriminate between individuals who have high and low levels of innovativeness. In the study, which was carried out using the causal-comparative design, a logistic regression model was formed by using technology-related variables, and which technology-related variables managed to predict high level of innovativeness was tested. In the logistic model, the technology budget (purchases, internet, and phone bills), technology ownership (smart phones, tablets, laptops, personal computers, internet, websites, blogs), technology renewal/update time (smart phones, computers), the number of utilized internet applications and internet usage habits were analyzed as predictors. The study was conducted with 244 university students from different class grades at a state university in Turkey. The results revealed that among the variables examined, only the variables of Internet usage habit, the number of Internet applications used, blog ownership and the money spent on technology use were significant predictors. In addition, the model in which these variables were used was found to classify high and low levels of innovativeness with accuracy of 71%. Implications are discussed.
Keywords: Emerging technology, Innovativeness, Technology usage habits, Preservice teachers
Research Article
Kevin Smith
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 9, Issue 2, pp. 111-130
ABSTRACT
Adaptive learning programs are frequently used in the K-8 mathematics classroom. These programs provide instruction to students at the appropriate level of difficulty by presenting content, providing feedback, and allowing students to master skills before progressing. The purpose of the study was to seek to interpret how preservice teachers’ experiences influence their perceptions and plans to integrate adaptive learning programs in their future K-8 mathematics classroom. This was a qualitative study with 17 participants who were enrolled in an undergraduate teacher education program. Data was collected and analyzed from archived journals the participants completed as a part of their K-8 Math Methods course, a survey, and semi-structured interviews. The findings from this study indicate that the participating preservice teachers perceive adaptive learning programs to be beneficial for students, and they recognize they have many decisions to make regarding what adaptive learning programs are used and how they are integrated into the classroom. The study also found that the instruction the preservice teachers received in their K-8 Math Methods course played a critical role in making them aware of the features available and myriad of options available in adaptive learning programs.
Keywords: Preservice teacher education, Mathematics education, Adaptive learning systems, Perceptions for technology
Research Article
Cem Cuhadar
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 9, Issue 1, pp. 61-75
ABSTRACT
This study aims to expose the training and experience that pre-service teachers acquire in the course of their study at schools of education in regard to the use of information and communication technology (ICT). The study adopts the survey model and its sampling is comprised of 832 pre-service teachers who attend four different faculty of education in Turkey. The data were collected by means of a scale developed by Tondeur, van Braak, Siddiq and Scherer (2016) on the basis of SQD (Synthesis of Qualitative Evidence) model. It was basically found that pre-service teachers do not receive adequate training and support in regard to the use of ICT in education during the courses of their study at faculty of educations. This situation varies statistically according to gender and the faculty of education variables. In the process of technology integration in teacher education, it is important in terms of effectiveness and efficiency that resources other than human and human power are handled in a more realistic way. So, it is considered that the findings of the present study may help in the processes of planning and implementing the technology integration in teacher education.
Keywords: Technology integration, Teacher education, Preservice teachers
Research Article
Eylem Yalcin Incik, Cenk Akay
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 8, Issue 3, pp. 232-248
ABSTRACT
The main purpose of this research is to identify the competency and the perceptions of pre-service teachers on technopedagogical education. While study group of quantitative dimension is composed of 626 pre-service teachers; study group of qualitative extent is composed of 67 pre-service teachers. The sample represents 35% of the population of 1778 students. The quantitative data were collected through Technopedagogical Education Competency (Tpack-Deep) Scale and Technology Perception Scale and the qualitative data were collected with an open ended-question form. It was concluded that pre-service teachers generally regard themselves at a moderate level in the sense of technopedogogical education competency, have positive perception towards technology and there is a positive correlation between pre-service teachers’ technopedogogical educational competency and perception towards technology. According to results of qualitative analysis of the study, pre-service teachers think that educational technologies have contributions to preparing information-communication technologies based upon presentations, developing technology-based materials, preparing homework, doing research, raising awareness about the importance of educational technology use in the learning and teaching process, acquiring information about their department, developing skill of using technology based on information-communication technologies and having positive attitude
Keywords: Educational technology, Technopedagogical competency education, Information technology, Preservice teacher, Teaching and learning
Research Article
Serkan Sendag, Osman Erol, Sezan Sezgin, Nihal Dulkadir
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 6, Issue 3, pp. 172-187
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between preservice teachers’ Web 2.0 competencies and their critical thinking disposition (CTD). The study employed an associational research design using California Critical Thinking Disposition-Inventory (CCTD –I) and a Web 2.0 competency questionnaire including items related to Web 2.0 awareness, Web 2.0 use, and educational use of Web 2.0 tools. Five different Web 2.0 tools included in the study: (a) blogs, (b) wikis, (c) social networking websites, (d) YouTube, (e) podcasts. A total of 1335 preservice teachers completed the survey. Findings indicated that participants had a medium level internet use, Web 2.0 awareness, Web 2.0 use and Web 2.0 skills while their educational Web 2.0 use level was low. In terms of competencies on certain Web 2.0 tools, their blog, wiki and podcast competencies were at a very low level, whereas their social networking and YouTube competency levels were high. Findings also showed that there were significant relationships between preservice teachers' Web 2.0 competencies and their critical thinking disposition. The results highlighted that the use of different Web 2.0 tools can be complementary to each other during certain instructional activities to improve different dimensions of critical thinking disposition.
Keywords: Critical thinking, Higher order cognitive skills, Teaching-learning strategies, Web 2.0 awareness, Web 2.0 competencies, Preservice teacher education