Information and communication technology education in primary schools: students’ competencies, attitudes and needs

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2008
Çetinkaya, Yalçın
This study aimed to provide a general picture of ICT education in primary schools. Through this aim, students’ perceived ICT competencies, their attitudes towards the ICT course, the characteristics of the teaching-learning process in the ICT course, the deficiencies of the IT classrooms and the effectiveness of the ICT Student Workbook were analyzed. This study was designed as a cross-sectional survey study. In order to collect the data, a self-reported questionnaire consisted of 63 items was developed by the researcher. The sample consisted of 442 Grade 8 students in 11 primary schools located in the metropolitan area of Izmit. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized to analyze the data. Multivariate Analysis of Variances with Pillai’s Trace test was employed to investigate whether the significant differences among dependent variables across independent variables existed. Results of the study indicated that primary school students generally perceived themselves competent in ICT tasks and they had favorable attitudes towards the ICT course. Significant differences were found in students’ perceived ICT competencies and attitudes with respect to gender, educational background of parents, computer ownership and availability of home assistance related to the ICT course. This study also revealed several obstacles which prevent taking full benefits of IT classrooms, and problems with the implementation of the new ICT program.

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Citation Formats
Y. Çetinkaya, “Information and communication technology education in primary schools: students’ competencies, attitudes and needs,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2008.