Comparison of Turkish and US Pre-Service Teachers’ Web 2.0 Tools Usage Characteristics.

As the Internet and computer develop, the world is changing dramatically and fantastically. Usage of technological tools is increased day by day in daily life besides ICT. All the technological tools shape individual behavior, life style and learning style as well as individual lives. Today's child use different tools and different way to socialize. Most of the educational institutions support their education with Web and Web 2.0 applications. Pre-service teachers are the people who use technology in their learning experience and the people who use technology in their teaching experience. In this research Web 2.0 habits of pre-service teachers from Turkey and US was studied. And results show that Turkish participants use more frequently Web 2.0 tools than US participants. Especially Turkish male participants who have blog account and who have microblog account use more frequently Web 2.0 tools in learning and entertainment activities.As the Internet and computer develop, the world is changing dramatically and fantastically. Usage of technological tools is increased day by day in daily life besides ICT. All the technological tools shape individual behavior, life style and learning style as well as individual lives. Today's child use different tools and different way to socialize. Most of the educational institutions support their education with Web and Web 2.0 applications. Pre-service teachers are the people who use technology in their learning experience and the people who use technology in their teaching experience. In this research Web 2.0 habits of pre-service teachers from Turkey and US was studied. And results show that Turkish participants use more frequently Web 2.0 tools than US participants. Especially Turkish male participants who have blog account and who have microblog account use more frequently Web 2.0 tools in learning and entertainment activities.As the Internet and computer develop, the world is changing dramatically and fantastically. Usage of technological tools is increased day by day in daily life besides ICT. All the technological tools shape individual behavior, life style and learning style as well as individual lives. Today's child use different tools and different way to socialize. Most of the educational institutions support their education with Web and Web 2.0 applications. Pre-service teachers are the people who use technology in their learning experience and the people who use technology in their teaching experience. In this research Web 2.0 habits of pre-service teachers from Turkey and US was studied. And results show that Turkish participants use more frequently Web 2.0 tools than US participants. Especially Turkish male participants who have blog account and who have microblog account use more frequently Web 2.0 tools in learning and entertainment activities

Investigation of the Effectiveness of a CEIT Undergraduate Program on Students’ Competencies

Bu çalışma, bir Bilgisayar ve Öğretim Teknolojileri Eğitimi (BÖTE) lisans programının öğrencilerin farklı mesleklere yönelik yeterliklerine katkısının incelenmesi amacıyla gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu amaçla, 2015 yılında Sakarya Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi, Bilgisayar ve Öğretim Teknolojileri Öğretmenliği Programında öğrenim gören son sınıf öğrencilerinin dört yıl boyunca aldıkları eğitimin, gerçekleştirebilecekleri farklı mesleklere yönelik yeterliklerine ve ayrıca öğretim programında yer alan derslerin bu mesleklere yönelik yeterliklerine etkisi incelenmeye çalışılmıştır. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu, Sakarya Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi BÖTE bölümünde; birinci öğretim ve ikinci öğretim olmak üzere son sınıfta öğrenim gören toplam 108 öğrenci oluşturmaktadır. Araştırma 2014–2015 güz yarıyılında gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu tarih aralığında programların öz değerlendirmelerinin yapılması ve sürekli geliştirilmesine yönelik yapılan bilimsel çalışmalardan biridir. Çalışma kesitsel tarama modelinde yürütülmüştür. Çalışma kapsamında, öğrencilerin gelecekte yapmayı düşündükleri meslek, bu meslek ile ilgili kendilerini yeterli görme düzeyleri, BÖTE lisans programı ve bu programda dört yıl boyunca gördükleri derslerin yeterliklerine ne kadar katkı sağladığıyla ilgili görüşlerini belirlemeyi içeren bir anket veri toplama aracı olarak kullanılmıştır. Veriler betimleyici ve anlam çıkarıcı istatistikler kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Araştırma sonuçlarına göre öğrenciler gelecekte en çok bilgisayar öğ- retmeni, bilişim teknolojileri rehber öğretmeni, formatör öğretmen ve eğitim teknoloğu mesleklerini yapmakta kendilerini yeterli görmektedirler. Kendilerini en az yeterli gördükleri meslekler ise; sunucu sistemleri uzmanı, yazılım geliştirici, ağ sistemleri uzmanı ve web yazılımı geliştirici şeklindedir. Bunlara ek olarak “ölçme değerlendirme”, “özel öğretim yöntemleri”, “çoklu ortam tasarımı ve üretimi” ve “eğitimde bireysel farklılıklar” derslerinin kendilerine en çok katkı sağladığını ifade etmişlerdir. Araştırma sonucunda, öğrencilerin devlet sektöründe istihdam edilebilecekleri meslekler dışında kalan meslekleri yeterince tanımadığı, mesleki çeşitlilik sağlaması açısından verilen yazılım vb. derslerin mesleki yeterliklerine yeterince katkı sağlamadı- ğı görülmüştür. Araştırmanın sonuçları dikkate alınırken yayına hazırlanma ve değerlendirme süreçlerinde geçen zaman göz ardı edilmemelidir. Fakat yöntem ve öz değerlendirme açısından benzer çalışmalar yapılarak öğretim programlarının kalitesinin artırılmaya çalışılması önerilmektedir. Ayrıca mesleki yeterliklerin ve farkındalıkların artırılması için mezuniyet öncesi mesleki rehberlik konusunda öğrencilere destek olmak üzere, üniversitelerde lisans programlarıyla iş birliği içinde çalışan kariyer rehberlik servislerinin açılmasının fayda sağlayabileceği düşünülmektedir.This study was carried out to examine the contribution of the undergraduate program of a Computer Education and Instructional Technologies_x000D_ (CEIT) to students’ various professional competencies. For this purpose,_x000D_ CEIT preservice teachers’ views on the adequacy of their undergraduate_x000D_ education to develop their competencies for various professions offering_x000D_ potential employment and the effect of the CEIT undergraduate courses on_x000D_ these competencies were investigated. The participants were enrolled in the_x000D_ CEIT Undergraduate Program of the Faculty of Education at Sakarya_x000D_ University. The study was conducted with 108 senior students in the fall_x000D_ semester of 2014–2015 by applying the cross-sectional survey model, as part_x000D_ of a self-assessment and continuous development of the program. A questionnaire was used for the data collection that included questions about target professions of preservice teachers, efficacy beliefs as an indicator of their_x000D_ competencies related to the profession, their perceptions about the CEIT_x000D_ program, and their perceptions about the contribution of the undergraduate_x000D_ courses to their professional competencies. The data were analyzed via inferential statistics. The results indicate that the preservice teachers felt the most_x000D_ qualified in working as a computer teacher, information technology counsellor, formative teacher, and an educational technologist. The professions in_x000D_ which the participants saw themselves the least qualified were server systems_x000D_ specialist, software developer, network systems specialist, and web software_x000D_ developer. Moreover, it was reported that the courses in the CEIT curriculum providing the highest benefit for improving their competencies were_x000D_ “measurement and evaluation”, “special teaching methods”, “multimedia_x000D_ design”, and “individual differences in education”. Furthermore, the participants did not know much about the jobs that they can work except for those_x000D_ in the public sector, such as working as a teacher or information technology_x000D_ counsellor. Additionally, the software courses in the CEIT curriculum did_x000D_ not contribute enough to develop their competencies to work in softwarerelated jobs. To interpret the results of the current study in a more appropriate way, it is important to take into account the time lost before the publication of the study. However, it is strongly recommended to conduct further research to find out the effects of the CEIT undergraduate program_x000D_ curricula on developing job-related competencies and to conduct self-evaluation studies for continuous development. Besides, establishing career guidance services in universities may help CEIT students to be aware of the_x000D_ potential job prospects related to their competencies, and help them gain_x000D_ better knowledge and skills regarding their major

Comparison of Turkish and US Pre-Service Teachers Web 2.0 Tools Usage

As the Internet and computer develop, the world is changing dramatically and fantastically. Usage of technological tools is increased day by day in daily life besides ICT. All the technological tools shape individual behavior, life style and learning style as well as individual lives. Today’s child use different tools and different way to socialize. Most of the educational institutions support their education with Web and Web 2.0 applications. Pre-service teachers are the people who use technology in their learning experience and the people who use technology in their teaching experience. In this research Web 2.0 habits of preservice teachers from Turkey and US was studied. And results show that Turkish participants use more frequently Web 2.0 tools than US participants. Especially Turkish male participants who have blog account and who have microblog account use more frequently Web 2.0 tools in learning and entertainment activities

High School Students' Views on the PBL Activities Supported via Flipped Classroom and LEGO Practices

The purpose of this study was to investigate the high school students' views on instructions based on Flipped Classroom Model (FC) and LEGO applications. The case study, which is one of the qualitative research methods, was used within the scope of the study, the duration of which was 7 weeks. In order to choose the research group of the study, one of the purposeful sampling methods, criterion sampling, was used. In this context, the study was conducted with 35 10th grade high school students from two different classes. EGA (ExperimentalGroupA) consisted of 18 students while EGB (ExperimentalGroupB) consisted of 17 students. Within the scope of the study, algorithm instruction with FC and LEGO applications was conducted on EGA and LEGO applications and algorithm instruction in classroom were conducted on EGB. In accordance with the study, processes of focus group discussions and gathering data through observation were carried out. For the analysis of the data that was gathered, content analysis was performed and NVivo 8 was used. In the end of the study, the students were observed to be having great prejudices and reported negative views in the beginning of the study. Upon the initiation of the study, the prejudices and negative opinions were observed to be replaced by positive opinions. Students mentioned a great deal of educational benefits of the study. They stated that with the study, their motivation and interest in the lesson increased thanks to the implementations. Additionally in the group work, students said that they cooperated, exchanged ideas, shared tasks, took responsibility and socialized with their friends. About FC, students gave positive feedback on the communication opportunities of the atmosphere and they stated that they could repeatedly go beyond the class hours with FC, hence came prepared and saved time. Also students stated that FC atmosphere improved opportunities for teacher-student communication

Acceptance of Educational Use of Tablet Computers: A Critical View Of The FATIH Project

In Turkey, various ICT tools were integrated into the educational environments through the FATIH Project introduced by the Ministry of National Education while studies concerned with the effective use of ICT in the educational processes began to increase in number and tablet computers were given to students and teachers within the framework of the project. Despite the effort put into the technological infrastructure, in-service training for the teachers and fulfilling other components of the project in order to help the FATIH Project reach its aim, the distribution of the tablet computers was the only action taken in terms of the services intended for the students. The attitudes of the students regarding the project need to be determined in order to ensure sustainability and help the project reach its aims. In this regard, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) becomes prominent. According to TAM, the students' beliefs will affect the behavior of the students positively as a result of thinking that using the tablet computers is easy and beneficial while this effect will cause the students to adopt the use of the tablet computers. The study was carried out with 2023 secondary school students who were enrolled in FATIH Project pilot schools in the central province of Bartm province in the spring semester of 2014-2015 academic year. In the end of this study, the secondary education students' acceptance levels of the educational use of the tablet computers used in the FATIH Project were examined in accordance with TAM and the scale for the acceptance of the tablet computers used in the FATIH Project in terms of educational use was developed. In addition, it has been achieved that giving tablet computers to students, training with FATIH Project technologies and increasing class level negatively affects students' acceptance of educational use of tablet PC in the FATIH Project