Creative Education
2012. Vol.3, No.3, 296-303
Published Online June 2012 in SciRes (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/ce) http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ce.2012.33047
Copyright © 2012 SciRes.
296
Analysis of Teachers’ Attitude towards Internet Use:
Example of Chemistry Teachers
Mehmet Tekerek1, Orhan Ercan2
1Computer Education and Instructional Technology Department, Kahramanmaraş Sütçüimam University,
Kahramanmaraş, Turkey
2Elementary Science Education Department, Kahramanmaraş Sütçüimam University, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey
Email: tekerek@ksu.edu.tr
Received January 6th, 2012; revised February 10th, 2012; accepted February 28th, 2012
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’ at-
titude 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 vari-
ables, we used the Internet use attitude scale. Participant teacher’s attitude towards Internet use was ana-
lyzed 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.
Keywords: Internet Use; Internet Attitude; Chemistry Teachers; Teachers Opinions
Introduction
Web technology is changing rapidly every day and the Inter-
net has become a lifestyle for people all over the world (Chen et
al., 2011). 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 con-
venience it brings to communication and other areas. For in-
stance radio has reached 50 million listeners in 38 years’ time;
Internet on the other hand has reached this number in only 4
years (Lynch, 1998). Today Internet is used in teaching, resear-
ch, social interaction, communication and exchange of informa-
tion (Odabaşı et al., 2007).
It is inevitable that teachers adapt themselves to the changes
in the society; and adapt the new technology to their lives and
teaching processes. Internet, which is a part of life with its in-
formative, communicative, educational and entertaining func-
tions, is more widely used by children and teens, who can adapt
themselves more easily to Internet compared to adults (Tuncer,
2000). This can be regarded as an opportunity for the teachers.
Teachers can ensure that students utilize Internet more widely
for educational and teaching purposes. That is why the attitude
of teachers towards Internet is important; as teachers are role
models for the students and the society in general. The existen-
ce of Internet is visible in every aspect of life; personal and pro-
fessional.
Efforts to utilize Internet more effectively in teaching are di-
rectly related to teachers’ being information literate. Informa-
tion literacy of teachers is expressed as “skills to gather, ana-
lyze, organize and present information” by Erdem and Akko-
yunlu (2002). The view of “the Internet opens classrooms to the
world, the Internet opens the world to classrooms” by Joo
(1999) also suggests the importance that teachers should place
on use of Internet in teaching environments and processes. It
was also suggested that experiments can be carried out in ana-
lytical chemistry labs by means of teleconference and multi-
media teaching materials via Internet (Zimmerer et al., 2003).
The underlying idea for this suggestion is to minimize the
laboratory accidents. An accident at a university chemistry la-
boratory proves that this suggestion cannot be underestimated
(Hürriyet, 2010).
The higher the level of teachers to command technology is,
the higher the level of teachers to use this technology in their
courses will be (Becker, 1999). That’s why it is important to
determine the attitude of teachers towards a modern techno-
logical tool such as Internet.
When the related literature was reviewed (Teo, 2008; Len-
hart et al., 2010; Schrader et al., 2003; Okay, 2010; İşman &
Dabaj, 2004; Luan et al., 2005; Birişci et al., 2009; Arslan &
Erdoğan, 2006; Yalçınalp & Aşkar, 2003; Usta et al., 2007), it
was seen that there are many studies on the use of Internet by
students, but few on the use of Internet by teachers (Rowand,
2000; Wallace, 2004).
The main purpose of this study is to determine the state of
Internet use as a result of the advances in educational and
communication technologies by chemistry teachers, who are at
M. TEKEREK, O. ERCAN
the core of chemistry education, as well as to disclose their
attitude towards Internet use and to determine their attitude
towards Internet use as regards different variables.
The aim of this study is to determine the Internet attitude and
Internet use of high school chemistry teachers, who are at the
core of chemistry education.
Method
In the study descriptive model being one of the research
methods, is used in order to determine the attitude of chemistry
teachers towards Internet use.
Descriptive models are approaches that aim to describe an
incident in the way it exists or used to exist. The incident that
needs to be known exists and it is out there. The important issue
is to observe it in an appropriate way and to detect it (Karasar,
1994).
The data of the study were collected by means of “Internet
Use Attitude Scale” developed by Tavşancıl and Keser (2002).
The reliability coefficient (Cronbach’s Alpha) of the scale is
found to be 0.71 for this study. The Cronbach’s Alpha reliabil-
ity coefficient of the original scale is 0.89. The data were then
analyzed and interpreted by means of SPSS 15.0.
In the analysis of data about the demographic properties of
teachers’ frequency and percentage values were used. Inde-
pendent sample t test was used in order to determine whether
there is a significant difference among teachers’ attitude as
regards their gender and title. One way ANOVA was used in
order to determine whether there is a significant difference
among teachers’ attitude as regards their years on the job, type
of school at which they teach and duration of weekly use of
Internet. Reliability level is p = 0.05.
First, confirm that you have the correct template for your
paper size. This template has been tailored for output on the
custom paper size (21 cm × 28.5 cm).
Sample
The sample of the study consists of 97 chemistry teachers, who
took part in the Chemistry Lesson Teaching Programs Course
numbered 279 that was determined by In-Service Training De-
partment of Ministry of National Education. The teachers were
selected randomly. Table 1 shows type of the school served,
years on the job, gender and title of teachers.
As seen by Table 1, the majority of teachers that took part in
the study are relatively junior in the profession. The ratio of the
teachers who have been on the job for 1 - 15 years is 71.1%. It
was also found out that 96.9% (N = 94) of the teachers have
computer at home; 87.6% (N = 85) connect to Internet at home;
12% (N = 12) connect to Internet at school. The ratio of the
teachers who have been using Internet for at least 6 years is
found to be 90.6 % (N = 89). This situation is associated with
the fact that a vast majority of the teachers are at a young age
group. 38.1% (N = 37) use Internet for at least 10 hours a week;
61.9% (N = 63) use it for 1 - 7 hours a week.
Data Collection Tool
The attitude of teachers towards Internet use was determined
by “Internet Use Attitude Scale” developed by Tavşancıl and
Keser (2002); personal information was collected by “Personal
Information Survey”. In the attitude scale there are 31 items; of
Table 1.
Demographic properties of teachers that took part in the study.
Property N %
Male 62 63.9
Gender
Female 35 36.1
Natural Sciences High School 13 13.4
Anatolian High School 40 41.2
General High School 18 18.6
Type of the school
served
Vocational High School 26 26.8
1 - 5 1 1.0
6 - 10 23 23.7
11 - 15 45 46.4
Years on the job
16 - + 28 28.9
Head teacher 0 0.0
Expert teacher 27 27.8
Teacher 70 72.2
Title
Intern teacher 0 0.0
which 7 are negative and 26 are positive; plus 6 factors. These
factors are “use of Internet in teaching, in research, social in-
teraction, enjoying of the use in teaching, use in communication
and in exchange of information”.
Findings
Below there is a summary of the findings from the study and
some remarks on them. In the study the attitude of teachers
towards Internet used is analyzed statistically according to their
gender by an independent sample t test. The results are given in
Table 2.
It is seen from Table 2 that male teachers have a more posi-
tive attitude than female teachers towards use of Internet in
teaching (
X
= 2.15). The relation between the mean of total
attitude points of the teachers towards use of Internet in teach-
ing and their gender was analyzed and it was seen that there is a
significant difference (t(95) = 2.987; p < 0.05). This result
shows that there is a significant relation between the gender and
the use of Internet in teaching.
It is known that the demand for social network sites has in-
creased particularly due to the fast spread of Internet use (Len-
hart et al., 2010). One of the factors in the Internet attitude scale
developed by Tavşancıl and Keser (2002) is about the use of
Internet is social interaction. It is seen by Table 2 that the mean
of total attitude score of female teachers in using Internet in
social interaction is
X
= 3.41, that of male teachers is
X
=
2.90; which implies that female teachers use Internet more of-
ten for social interaction. It is also seen that there is a signifi-
cant difference (t(95) = 2.667; p < 0.05) between gender and
the mean of total attitude points in use of Internet in social in-
teraction.
According to Table 2 there is no significant difference be-
ween gender and the factor “enjoying the use of Internet in tea- t
Copyright © 2012 SciRes. 297
M. TEKEREK, O. ERCAN
Copyright © 2012 SciRes.
298
Table 2.
Independent sample t test analysis results according to gender.
Levene Test
Factor Gender F
X
SD
F p
df t p
Female 35 1.80 0.49
Use of Internet in teaching
Male 62 2.15 0.58
0.007 0.935 95 2.987
0.004
Female 35 2.74 0.28
Use of Internet in research
Male 62 2.80 0.36
2.349 0.129 95 0.865 0.389
Female 35 3.41 0.81
Use of Internet in social interaction
Male 62 2.90 0.96
0.819 0.368 95 2.667
0.009
Female 35 2.95 0.51
Enjoying of the use of Internet in teaching
Male 62 3.00 0.51
0.240 0.625 95 0.503 0.616
Female 35 3.33 0.41
Use of Internet in communication
Male 62 3.00 0.44
0.603 0.439 95 3.586
0.001
Female 35 2.34 0.71
Use of Internet in exchange of information
Male 62 2.27 0.76
0.034 0.855 95 0.393 0.696
Note: p = 0.05.
ching” (t(95) = 0.503; p > 0.05).
Furthermore when Table 2 is analyzed, it is seen that there
are similar properties between use of Internet in communication
by female and male teachers, as in use of Internet by social
interaction in such a way that the mean of total attitude score of
female teachers in using Internet in communication (
X
= 3.33)
is higher than that of male teachers (
X
= 3.00). It can be con-
cluded that female teachers have more positive attitude in use
of Internet in communication than male teachers. It is also seen
by Table 2 that there is a significant difference (t(95) = 3.586;
p < 0.05) between gender and the mean of total attitude points
of use of Internet in communication.
Similarly Table 2 shows that there is not a significant dif-
ference between gender and the mean of total attitude points in
use of Internet in exchange of information (t(95) = 0.393; p >
0.05).
In the study we also aimed to analyze the attitude of teachers
towards use of Internet as regards the type of school they teach
at, and we applied one way ANOVA. The results are given in
Table 3.
When Table 3 is analyzed, it can be seen that the mean of the
total attitude points towards use of Internet in teaching is the
highest (
X
= 2.17) for the chemistry teachers teaching at gen-
eral high schools. There is no statistically significant difference
between type of school served and the mean of total attitude
points towards use of Internet in teaching (F(3.93) = 0.980; p >
0.05).
The mean of the total attitude points towards use of Internet
in research is the highest (
X
= 2.85) for the chemistry teachers
teaching at Anatolian high schools. There is no statistically
significant difference between type of school served and the
mean of total attitude points towards use of Internet in research
(F(3.93) = 1.516; p > 0.05).
The mean of the total attitude points towards use of Internet
in social interaction is the highest (
X
= 3.19) for the chemistry
teachers teaching at Anatolian high schools. There is no statis-
tically significant difference between type of school served and
the mean of total attitude points towards use of Internet in so-
cial interaction (F(3.93) = 0.791; p > 0.05).
The mean of the total attitude points towards enjoying the
use of Internet in teaching is the highest (
X
= 3.06) for the
chemistry teachers teaching at natural sciences high schools.
There is no statistically significant difference between type of
school served and the mean of total attitude points towards
enjoying the use of Internet in teaching (F(3.93) = 0.313; p >
0.05).
The mean of the total attitude points towards use of Internet
in communication is the highest (
X
= 3.23) for the chemistry
teachers teaching at Anatolian high schools. Hence it can be
said that teachers at Anatolian high schools have more positive
attitude towards enjoying the use of Internet in communication.
There is a significant difference between type of school served
and the mean of total attitude points towards use of Internet in
communication (F(3.93) = 4.622; p < 0.05). In order to find out
from which group this difference results; we applied Scheffe
analysis in ANOVA and the results are summarized in the ta-
ble.
Table 4 shows that there is a significant difference between
teachers serving at natural sciences high schools and teachers
serving at public high schools in total attitude points in use of
Internet in communication (p > 0.05). There is no significant
difference between teachers serving at natural sciences high
schools and teachers serving at Anatolian high schools in total
attitude points in use of Internet in communication (p < 0.05).
These results suggest that there is a significant difference in
favour of teachers serving at Anatolian high schools and voca-
tional high schools in use of Internet in communication.
Table 3 shows that the mean of the total attitude points to-
wards use of Internet in exchange of information is the highest
(
X
= 2.43) for the chemistry teachers teaching at vocational
M. TEKEREK, O. ERCAN
Table 3.
One way ANOVA for the attitude of teachers towards use of Internet as regards type of school they teach at.
Factor Type of school n
X
SD Source of
variance
Sum of
squares df F p
Natural Sciences High School 13 2.09 0.55
Anatolian High School 40 2.04 0.55
Between
groups 0.965 3
General High School 18 2.17 0.67
Use of Internet in teaching
Vocational High School 26 1.88 0.55
Within
group 30.533 93
0.980 0.406
Natural Sciences High School 13 2.73 0.32
Anatolian High School 40 2.85 0.31
Between
groups 0.493 3
General High School 18 2.67 0.38
Use of Internet in research
Vocational High School 26 2.76 0.32
Within
group 10.077 93
1.516 0.215
Natural Sciences High School 13 3.17 0.95
Anatolian High School 40 3.19 0.87
Between
groups 2.086 3
General High School 18 3.15 1.05
Use of Internet in social
interaction
Vocational High School 26 2.85 0.96
Within
group 81.794 93
0.791 0.502
Natural Sciences High School 13 3.06 0.57
Anatolian High School 40 3.02 0.48
Between
groups 0.246 3
General High School 18 2.92 0.64
Enjoying of the use of
Internet in teaching
Vocational High School 26 2.94 0.43
Within
group 24.356 93
0.313 0.816
Natural Sciences High School 13 2.77 0.35
Anatolian High School 40 3.23 0.40
Between
groups 2.629 3
General High School 18 2.99 0.60
Use of Internet in
communication
Vocational High School 26 3.22 0.40
Within
group 17.633 93
4.622 0.005
Natural Sciences High School 13 2.42 0.71
Anatolian High School 40 2.31 0.78
Between
groups 2.594 3
General High School 18 1.97 0.63
Use of Internet in exchange
of information
Vocational High School 26 2.43 0.72
Within
group 49.698 93
1.618 0.191
Note: p = 0.05.
Table 4.
Scheffe analysis as regards use of Internet in communication.
(I) Type of school (J) Type of school(I - J) Difference be-
tween significance levelsp
Anatolian high
school 0.45577 (*) 0.017
General high
school 0.21688 0.601
Natural sciences
high school
Vocational high
school 0.45192 (*) 0.030
Note: p = 0.05.
high schools. There is no significant difference between type of
school served and the mean of total attitude points towards use
of Internet in exchange of information (F(3.93) = 1.618; p >
0.05).
In the study we also aimed to analyze the attitude of teachers
towards use of Internet as regards the years they’ve been on the
job. For this analysis we applied one way ANOVA to the data
and the results are given in Table 5.
When Table 5 is analyzed, it is seen that the mean of the to-
tal attitude points towards use of Internet in teaching is the
highest (
X
= 2.20) for the chemistry teachers, who have been
on the job for 16 years or more. There is no statistically sig-
nificant difference between years on the job and the mean of
total attitude points towards use of Internet in teaching (F(3.93)
Copyright © 2012 SciRes. 299
M. TEKEREK, O. ERCAN
Table 5.
Single factor ANOVA analysis for attitude towards Internet use as regards years on the job variable.
Factor Years on the job F
X
SD Source of varianceSum of squares df F p
6 - 10 24 2.02 0.74 Between groups1.299 2
11 - 15 45 1.92 0.48
Use of Internet in teaching
16 - + 28 2.20 0.53 Within group 30.200 94
2.021 0.138
6 - 10 24 2.81 0.33 Between groups0.048 2
11 - 15 45 2.76 0.32
Use of Internet in research
16 - + 28 2.79 0.36 Within group 10.522 94
0.215 0.807
6 - 10 24 3.40 1.01 Between groups4.546 2
11 - 15 45 3.10 0.95
Use of Internet in social
interaction
16 - + 28 2.80 0.78 Within group 79.334 94
2.693 0.073
6 - 10 24 2.99 0.50 Between groups0.529 2
11 - 15 45 3.05 0.48
Enjoying of the use of Internet
in teaching
16 - + 28 2.88 0.54 Within group 24.072 94
1.034 0.360
6 - 10 24 3.31 0.49 Between groups1.285 2
11 - 15 45 3.03 0.41 Use of Internet in communication
16 - + 28 3.10 0.47 Within group 18.976 94
3.183 0.046
6 - 10 24 2.38 0.82 Between groups.938 2
11 - 15 45 2.35 0.74
Use of Internet in exchange
of information
16 - + 28 2.14 0.66 Within group 51.354 94
0.858 0.427
Note: p = 0.05.
= 2.021; p > 0.05).
The mean of the total attitude points towards use of Internet
in research is the highest (
X
= 2.79) for the chemistry teachers,
who have been on the job for 16 years and more. There is no
significant difference between years on the job and the mean of
total attitude points towards use of Internet in research (F(3.93)
= 0.215; p > 0.05).
The mean of the total attitude points towards use of Internet
in social interaction is the highest (
X
= 3.40) for the chemistry
teachers, who have been on the job for 6 - 10 years. There is no
statistically significant difference between years on the job and
the mean of total attitude points towards use of Internet in so-
cial interaction (F(3.93) = 2.693; p > 0.05). The mean of the
total attitude points towards use of Internet in enjoying of the
use of Internet in teaching is the highest (
X
= 3.05) for the
chemistry teachers, who have been on the job for 11 - 15 years.
There is no statistically significant difference between years on
the job and the mean of total attitude points towards enjoying of
the use of Internet in teaching (F(3.93) = 1.034; p > 0.05).
The mean of the total attitude points towards use of Internet
in communication is the highest (
X
= 3.31) for the chemistry
teachers, who have been on the job for 6 - 10 years. Hence
teachers, who have been on the job for 6 - 10 years have more
positive attitude towards use of Internet in communication.
There is a significant difference between years on the job and
the mean of total attitude points towards use of Internet in
communication (F(3.93) = 3.183; p < 0.05). In order to find out
among which group this difference results from, we applied
Scheffe analysis in ANOVA and the results are summarized in
Table 6 below.
When Table 5 is analyzed, it is seen that the mean of the to-
tal attitude points towards use of Internet in exchange of infor-
mation is the highest (
X
= 2.38) for the chemistry teachers,
who have been on the job for 6 - 10 years. There is no signifi-
cant difference between years on the job and the mean of total
attitude points towards use of Internet in exchange of informa-
tion (F(3.93) = 0.858; p > 0.05).
In the study we also aimed to analyze the attitude of teachers
towards use of Internet as regards the weekly use of Internet
variable. For this analysis we applied one way ANOVA to the
data and the results are given in Table 7.
When Table 7 is analyzed, it is seen that the mean of the to-
tal attitude points towards use of Internet in teaching is the
Table 6.
Scheffe analysis towards use of Internet in communication.
(I) Years on
the job
(J) Years on the
job
(I - J) Difference between
significance levels p
11 - 15 0.28472 (*)
6 - 10
16 - + 0.21429
0.048
N
ote: p = 0.05.
Copyright © 2012 SciRes.
300
M. TEKEREK, O. ERCAN
Table 7.
One way ANOVA for the attitude of teachers towards use of Internet as regards the weekly use of Internet variable.
Factor Duration/hours n
X
SD Source of varianceSum of squares df F p
1 - 3 19 2.17 0.71
4 - 6 19 2.16 0.63
Between groups1.230 3
7 - 9 22 1.91 0.42
Use of Internet in teaching
10 - + 37 1.95 0.54
Within groups 30.268 93
1.259 0.293
1 - 3 19 2.79 0.28
4 - 6 19 2.80 0.40
Between groups0.040 3
7 - 9 22 2.79 0.21
Use of Internet in research
10 - + 37 2.75 0.38
Within groups 10.530 93
0.119 0.949
1 - 3 19 3.53 0.85
4 - 6 19 3.09 0.98
Between groups5.071 3
7 - 9 22 3.02 0.92
Use of Internet in social
interaction
10 - + 37 2.90 0.93
Within groups 78.809 93
1.995 0.120
1 - 3 19 3.37 0.51
4 - 6 19 2.88 0.33
Between groups3.497 3
7 - 9 22 2.88 0.48
Enjoying of the use of
Internet in teaching
10 - + 37 2.91 0.52
Within groups 21.105 93
5.137 0.002
1 - 3 19 3.12 0.46
4 - 6 19 3.11 0.53
Between groups0.215 3
7 - 9 22 3.05 0.38
Use of Internet in
communication
10 - + 37 3.17 0.48
Within groups 20.047 93
0.332 0.802
1 - 3 19 2.55 0.75
4 - 6 19 2.33 0.79
Between groups2.316 3
7 - 9 22 2.08 0.75
Use of Internet in exchange
of information
10 - + 37 2.28 0.68
Within groups 49.975 93
1.437 0.237
Note: p = 0.05.
highest (
X
= 2.17) for the chemistry teachers, who use Internet
for 1 - 3 hours/week. There is no significant difference between
the duration of weekly use of Internet and the mean of total
attitude points towards the use of Internet in teaching (F(3.93) =
1.259; p > 0.05).
The mean of the total attitude points towards the use of
Internet in research is the highest (
X
= 2.80) for the chemistry
teachers, who use Internet for 4 - 6 hours/week. There is no
significant difference between the duration of weekly use of
Internet and the mean of total attitude points towards the use of
Internet in research (F(3.93) = 0.119; p > 0.05).
The mean of the total attitude points towards the use of
Internet in social interaction is the highest (
X
= 3.53) for the
chemistry teachers, who use Internet for 1 - 3 hours/week.
There is no significant difference between the duration of
weekly use of Internet and the mean of total attitude points
towards the use of Internet in social interaction (F(3.93) =
1.995; p > 0.05).
The mean of the total attitude points towards enjoying of the
use of Internet in teaching is the highest (
X
= 3.37) for the
chemistry teachers, who use Internet for 1 - 3 hours/week.
Hence teachers, who use Internet for 1 - 3 hours/week have
more positive attitude towards enjoying of the use of Internet in
teaching. There is a significant difference between the duration
of weekly use of Internet and total attitude points towards en-
joying of the use of Internet in teaching (F(3.93) = 5.137; p <
0.05). In order to find out among which group this difference
results from, we applied Scheffe analysis in ANOVA and the
results are summarized in Table 8.
It is understood by Table 8 that there is no significant dif-
ference in enjoying of the use of Internet in teaching among
teachers, who use the Internet for 1 - 3 hours/week and teachers
who use the Internet for 4 - 6, or 7 - 9 or 10 hours or more/week
(p < 0.05). The results suggest that there is a significant differ-
ence in favour of teachers, who use the Internet for 1 - 3 hours/
week.
Copyright © 2012 SciRes. 301
M. TEKEREK, O. ERCAN
Table 8.
Scheffe analysis towards enjoying of the use of Internet in teaching.
(I) Duration of
weekly use (hours)
(J) Duration of
weekly use (hours)
(I - J) Difference between
significance levels p
4 - 6 0.48684 (*) 0.024
7 - 9 0.49342 (*) 0.015
1 - 3
10 - + 0.46302 (*) 0.011
Note: p = 0.05.
When Table 7 is analyzed, it is seen that the mean of the to-
tal attitude points towards use of Internet in communication is
the highest (
X
= 3.17) for the chemistry teachers, who use
Internet for 10 hours or more during the week. There is no sig-
nificant difference between the duration of weekly use of
Internet and the mean of total attitude points towards the use of
Internet in communication (F(3.93) = 0.332; p > 0.05).
The mean of the total attitude points towards use of Internet
in exchange of information is the highest (
X
= 2.55) for the
chemistry teachers, who use Internet for 1 - 3 hours/week.
There is no significant difference between the duration of
weekly use of Internet and the mean of total attitude points
towards the use of Internet in exchange of information (F(3.93)
= 1.437; p > 0.05).
Results and Discussions
In this study, which aims to determine the attitude of chem-
istry teachers towards use of Internet, we have reached the fol-
lowing results:
One of the remarkable results of the study is that the teachers
in general have positive attitude towards use of Internet in
teaching. We consider the fact that the technological advances
have been reflected upon teaching materials within the recent
years increases the positive attitude towards use on Internet,
which is also a technological product, in teaching. Moreover it
is also understood that “learning from Internet” has also
speeded up recently with the fact that many encyclopedic in-
formation is available on Internet. It is an incontrovertible fact
that Internet will be more evident in teaching by the increase of
distance education practices. Thus Okay (2010) found out in a
study about use of Internet by teacher candidates that Internet is
intensely used for homework and research. Luan et al. (2005)
found out that Internet is mostly used in obtaining information
by university students. Similarly Usta, Bozdoğan and Yıldırım
(2007) found in their study that students mostly use Internet for
educational purposes. An interesting finding is that the teachers,
who have been on the job for 21 years or more, have the most
positive attitude towards use of Internet in teaching.
The reason of this may be the tendency of experienced
teachers to use Internet more functionally and usefully. Kara-
man and Açıkyıldız (2006) found in their study on attitude of
chemistry teacher candidates towards use of Internet sources
that the teacher candidates have positive attitude towards use of
Internet in generating teaching materials.
The most remarkable finding of the study is that female
teachers have more positive attitude than male teachers in use
of Internet in social interaction and communication. This find-
ing is in line with the use of Internet in communication. That is
to say female teachers have more positive attitude than male
teachers towards use of Internet in communication. Teachers,
who have been on the job for 1 - 6 years have the most positive
attitude towards use of Internet in social interaction as regards
years on the job variable (see Table 5).
In today’s world where unsynchronized and Internet based
education-teaching practices have become more common, the
attitude of teachers towards use of Internet in applied subjects
such as chemistry, is an important factor that needs to be taken
into account when applying these models.
Our study can be considered to elucidate practices to be de-
veloped and further studies to be carried on.
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