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

doi:10.4236/ce.2012.33047

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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

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: [email protected]

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 (

= 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

= 3.41, that of male teachers is

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

M. TEKEREK, O. ERCAN

298

Table 2.

Independent sample t test analysis results according to gender.

Levene Test

Factor Gender F

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 (

= 3.33)

is higher than that of male teachers (

= 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 (

= 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 (

= 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 (

= 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 (

= 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 (

= 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

(

= 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

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 (

= 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)

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

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 (

= 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 (

= 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 (

= 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 (

= 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 (

= 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

ote: p = 0.05.

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

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 (

= 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 (

= 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 (

= 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 (

= 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.

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 (

= 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 (

= 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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