Preservice teachers' perceptions regarding smartphone addiction

The purpose of this research is to determine the perceptions of prospective teachers about smartphone addiction. Parallel mixed design was used in the research. The study group of the research consists of 300 teacher candidates studying at the Faculty of Education of Siirt University in the 2021-2022 academic year. In the research, data were collected both qualitatively and quantitatively. The Personal Information Form developed by the researcher and the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Form developed by Noyan et al. (2015) were used as quantitative data collection tools. In order to collect qualitative data, the Semi-Structured Interview Form developed by the researcher was preferred. The data obtained from the quantitative data collection tools were analyzed using a computer program. In the analyzes, the test of normality was first examined. As a result of normality test, independent sample t-test was used for gender and ANOVA technique was used for other variables. As a result of the quantitative research; while there was no significant difference between smartphone addiction scores according to gender, department, class and smartphone usage experience variables; there was a significant difference between smartphone addiction scores according to monthly consumed internet amount, daily usage time (hours) and usage purpose variable. Qualitative data were subjected to content analysis. In the qualitative dimension, as a result of the smartphone addiction of the participants; it was concluded that they could not use communication channels effectively, ignored the time factor, could not manage cognitive and affective processes, and had problems in using technology. Key Words: Addiction, Smartphone, Smartphone Addiction, Teacher candidates