Analysis of Teachers’ Attitude towards Internet Use: Example of Chemistry Teachers

Abstract

Web technology is changing rapidly every day and the Internet has become a lifestyle for people all over the world. It is obvious that the life style of societies is in a process of change, as new habits are acquired. Even though Internet use is one of the new social habits, it is one of the most important factors that induce this change as regards the convenience it brings to communication and other areas. The widespread use of Internet implies the idea that it can also be more widely used for educational purpose. Since chemistry teachers have a very important function in education, the determination of teachers’ attitude towards Internet use is also important. In the literature it is possible to see many studies on teacher candidates’ attitude towards Internet use; however studies on appointed teachers’ attitude are not very common. In our study, which aims to determine the attitude of appointed chemistry teachers according to different variables, we used the Internet use attitude scale. Participant teacher’s attitude towards Internet use was analyzed and interpreted according to the variables of gender, years on the job, type of school at which they are teaching, and duration of their weekly Internet use. It was seen that a vast majority of the teachers have personal computers, they connect to Internet at home and have positive attitude towards Internet use. It was also seen that female teachers have more positive attitude than male teachers in use of Internet for social interaction and communication.