INVESTIGATION INTO ONLINE LEARNING READINESS OF HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

This study aims to investigate the online learning readiness of learners and to examine this readiness according to various variables. The descriptive survey model was used in this study. The data of the study were collected from 1963 higher education students who participated voluntarily according to the convenience sampling method. Demographic information form and online learning readiness scale were used as data collection tools. The pandemic period academic grade point means of students constitute their academic achievement for this study. MANOVA was used to investigate whether the demographic variables influenced the readiness sub-factor mean scores of the students. One-factor ANOVA was used to determine whether the academic achievements of the students differ significantly according to their readiness levels. In this study, it was observed that the students had moderate-level readiness, but they were close to the high-level limit. It was observed that gender, education level and the faculty/college were effective on readiness while the grade level and the type of education were not effective. Learners who have a personal computer, internet connection or smart mobile phone are more ready for online learning. In addition, students with a high level of readiness got academically more successful. Readiness is crucial in the success of the experiences and activities to be performed in the online learning environment. Increasing the technological facilities and computer use, the competence of learners will increase online learning readiness and academic success.

SCIENCE TEACHING WITH AUGMENTED REALITY APPLICATIONS: STUDENT VIEWS ABOUT ‘SYSTEMS IN OUR BODY’ UNIT

Many mobile applications have emerged thanks to the technological developments that have taken place today. One of these applications is the augmented (virtual) reality application used on smartphones and tablets. Some augmented reality applications are being prepared using 4D-technology and transforming the virtual environment into real life. The present research is to investigate the views of the students about the use of augmented reality applications with 4D-technology related to the ‘Systems in Our Body’ unit in our 6th-grade science class. This study was conducted using phenomenological method in the scope of qualitative research. In this study, the participants consisted of nine students who volunteered to participate in this research. The data were obtained from semi-structured interviews. The data of the interviews with seven students were recorded on voice recorder and then the data were transferred to the text. The interview data of two students who did not want to record their interviews were written with pen-paper and transcripted. The analysis of the data was carried out by content analysis using the NVivo 9 program. The findings obtained in this research showed that the result of the augmented reality application was that the systems in our body unit is effective in better understanding, increasing the motivation of the students to science lessons and making the lessons fun.

USING AUGMENTED REALITY IN BIOLOGY TEACHING

In this study, prospective teachers' views on Augmented Reality (AR) in biology teaching were examined. The study was designed as a case study. The study participants consisted of 16 prospective teachers who took Instructional Technologies and Material Design in the third grade of the Biology Teaching Department of the Faculty of Education of a state university in the spring term of the 2018-2019 academic year. During the application process, AR activities were carried out with the students. The data of the study were obtained using the interview form and the "Mobile Augmented Reality Questionnaire" developed by Küçük, Kapakin, and Göktaş (2015). After the activities, prospective teachers were asked for their views about AR in biology teaching. As a result, it was observed that future biology teachers mostly expressed positive thoughts about AR activities. Some advantages of the AR activities were as follows: concretising the subjects; retention; being exciting and entertaining; repetition capability; and multimedia support. Apart from these advantages, some disadvantages were emphasised such as internet connection cut off, the necessity to keep the phone stable, passivation of the students over time, being costly, and not being suitable for every subject. Prospective teachers also suggested extending AR activities in schools, ensuring equality in accessing technological tools, using these activities in different lessons and developing various applications.

CONCEPTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR IMPLEMENTING AND ASSESSING AN INTRODUCTORY MODULE IN INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AT HEIS

It is imperative that every student be empowered with Information and Communication Technology skills early in their academic careers. This is expected to help students achieve higher grades in their academic endeavours and prepare them for their future careers. Global trends have shown that information communication technologies appropriation in HE is critical in developing the 21st-century knowledge worker. This paper highlights motives for implementing an introductory module in ICT in HE. The paper further investigates implementation challenges, as well as measures to address these challenges. An interpretative philosophy using a case study research design is adopted for the study. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 lecturers who teach the module. These had been purposefully selected using a criterion of at least 2 years of experience teaching the university course. The importance of the module was articulated with major impediments in its implementation being highlighted. Data collected were transcribed, coded, and then analysed using thematic analysis. Results from the empirical study revealed eight key determinants for successfully implementing an introductory module in ICT. These were the availability of the physical infrastructure, availability of the technical infrastructure, availability of technical resources, aligning module content to subject area, implementing manageable classes, continuously updating module content to keep up-to-date with technological changes, fostering a positive attitude toward the module among students, and continuously training students and lecturers ICT skills through short courses and workshops. These key factors were used to conceptualise the study.

Students’ Perceptions of Online Teaching and Learning

The instructor in an online course needs online teaching experience and should adapt the course contents to the digital environment. The purpose of the present study is to gain a deeper understanding of students’ perceptions of the pedagogical aspects of online teaching, pointing up characteristics of online courses that extant literature in this field has found reflected in different online and blended courses. Online courses necessitate meticulous planning by the instructor and adaptation through the student's learning. The research reported here related to the attitudes of 216 students, who participated in 52 courses delivered by 36 different instructors. Some of the courses included both face-to-face meetings and online lessons, while other courses were solely presented online. The research findings may be informative for instructors planning online courses and for students contemplating participation in online courses, in order to prepare in an optimal manner for the teaching, learning and evaluation processes.

Social Networking Literacy Scale: A Study of Validity and Reliability

The concept of social networking literacy emerged with the advent of Web 2.0. This study aims to develop a scale to measure the social networking literacy proficiencies of individuals. An item pool was created after a thorough review of the literature and taking experts views, and then application form prepared. The scale was applied to students of the Faculty of Education of Sakarya University, and reliability and validity analyses were conducted on the data gathered from 313 students, using the SPSS 20 statistical software. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to examine the construct validity of the scale, and the internal consistency coefficient (Cronbach’s Alpha) was used to examine the reliability of the scale. The analyses conducted showed that the scale consisted of 40 items under a single factor which explained 61.179% of the total variance, and the Cronbach’s Alpha value calculated to examine the reliability of the scale was .98. In conclusion, analyses conducted to examine the reliability and the validity of the Social Networking Literacy Scale (SNLS) show that it is an efficient measurement tool to assess social networking literacy levels of the individuals.

Is phubbing a matter for educators: A case for pre-service and in-service teachers

Becoming one of the indispensable tools of our daily life, mobile phones have accelerated the pace of our life by facilitating our business affairs. In addition to the good aspects of these tools reshaping even our habits, they also have various psychological and physiological damages. One of the behaviors for which the cell phone is considered as harmful is phubbing. Phubbing is defined as giving the perception of the individual to his/her mobile phone, not to these people during the communication with other individuals. Considering the increasing use of such technological tools in the classroom, within the scope of phubbing, the status of teachers, one of the important stakeholders of the education environment, is also important. From this point of view, in this study, it was purposed to examine the status of being phubber of pre-service and in-service teachers and their exposure to phubbing in terms of age and gender variables. The study designed in correlational survey method, was conducted with the data collected from 293 people, 46 in-service teachers and 247 pre-service teachers, through the Generic Scale of Phubbing and Generic Scale of Being Phubbed. The independent samples t-Test and Pearson correlation analysis were implemented in the context of the research questions. The results of the analysis indicated that the pre-service teachers are higher in terms of both being a phubber and phubbee than the in-service teachers. In addition to this, it was comprehended that these concepts did not differ in terms of gender and age. On the other hand, it was found out that the behavior of being a phubber tended to increase as getting older. Moreover, it was observed that the participants and the pre-service teachers who were phubber were also exposed to this behavior.

Improving Teachers' Qualifications for Preparing ICT Based Educational Materials

The preparation of ICT-Based materials is an integral part of teachers' daily learning and teaching processes. The aim of the study is to work with in-service teachers and a) determine their needs pertaining to ICT use, b) develop an in-service training program for improving their skills in terms of preparing ICT-based educational material c) to implement this program and d) to examine any improvement of teacher skills in this regard. The study has been conducted as action research and was carried out with a study group of 16 teachers. Findings obtained in the study revealed that teachers' scores on the TPACK-deep scale increased significantly compared to the pre-study. It was also shown that the in-service training activity that was carried out increased the knowledge and skills of teachers about current technologies that can be used in the learning-teaching process, as well as increasing their self-confidence and self-efficacy for developing ICT-based educational material. As they adopted the use of ICT-based educational materials prepared within the scope of in-service training during school courses, teachers have also been shown to report that students’ interest, desire to participate, curiosity and excitement and motivation towards the lesson had increased. On the other hand, teachers who teach lessons with ICT-based educational materials stated that they felt their selves more useful in lessons, their performance increased, and that such materials facilitated the teaching in crowded classrooms.

Planning Effective Learning for the Visually Impaired in Federal University in Osun State, Nigeria: Technology Perspective

The School system at the university level in developing nations provides the most impactful environment for effective learning and building human capital required for a future-knowledge economy. Unfortunately, less attention is given to the provision of appropriate platforms for the disabled to effectively learn in the university system. Notably, disabled individuals rely on their ability to listen to only speech to gain information quickly to aid learning. In this paper, a learning framework was implemented and tested from educational and technological perspectives. The study focused on an ideal combination of a human-like behavior with a computer application to build a one-way interactive medium between the computer and the user. Using qualitative and quantitative research, we focused on acoustic signal processing without the incorporation of visual input. The respondents used for the study include students, lecturers, specialists in specialized education, and technological experts. The result is a prototype system that translates texts into speech, and a synthesized speech representation of the text entered into the system to aid effective learning. The test results with different users revealed that a majority of 84.70%, 85.30%, 84%, and 86.70% of the users rated the system to have high-quality content, clarity, attractiveness, and responsiveness, respectively. , , , , ,

Changes in Safer Internet Use of Children in Turkey between 2010-2015 and Impact of Contextual Issues*

The purpose of this study is to reveal the changes that occurred between 2010 and 2015 in the Internet activities performed, Internet use skills, online risks, and coping strategies related to such risks of children between the ages of nine and 16 in Turkey as well as the impact of the contextual issues on such changes. An explanatory design using mixed research methods was used for this study. In the quantitative part of the study, the data were collected from 784 children between the ages of nine to 16 who were selected, via a survey, from 12 regions in Turkey in 2015. The data were compared to 2010 data which used similar sampling method and instruments and which collected from 1018 children. In the qualitative part of the study, 84 participants were interviewed, including two children, two parents, two teachers, and a school administrator from each of the 12 regions. The results showed that the Internet access age for children has gradually decreased and that children's Internet access time has increased. An increase has also occurred in regard in the activities performed by children online, such as social networking and watching online movies or video clips, which adds up to an increase in the entertainment factor related to the Internet for children. A significant increase has also occurred in the number of children who feel uncomfortable when they are not online, seek new friends online, and receive general sexually explicit messages over the Internet due to the long hours that they spend online.