Opinions of Teacher Candidates about Intended Use of Social Networks and Social Media

Abstract

In this modern age witnessing a rapid change in information & communication technologies, internet and internet applications have now gained a nascent dimension with the introduction of web 2.0 concept by Tim O'Reilly in 2004-dated conference organized by MediaLive International. Amongst these applications, social web has emerged as one of the most eye-catching changes. Social network software and applications have gained increasing dominance in our daily lives. The purpose of current study is then to explore prospective teachers’ views on the use objectives of social networking sites and overall social media. The research has been conducted on 159 prospective teachers studying at Sakarya University, Faculty of Education. As data collection tool, “Social Networking Site Use Objective Scale” developed by Karal and Kokoç (2009) and “Views on Social Media Form” prepared by Dikme (2013) have been utilized. Research findings manifest that prospective teachers’ use of social network sites for “Social Interaction and Communication” and “Know and be known” is in average level; use for educational purposes is in upper level. It has also been detected that gender, department, internet-use experiences and internet-use durations create no significant differentiation on the use objectives of social networking sites. Furthermore this research has also pointed out that prospective teachers hold the belief that social media leaves an effect on society and people in addition to overall life.