Investigation of pre-service teachers' efficacy perceptions regarding digital wisdom

It is maintained that digital wisdom skills are the essential competencies for todays' teachers and students. Digital wisdom transcends the generational divide defined by the immigrant/native distinction. In this regard, the aim of the current study was to define digital wisdom competencies and indicators regarding teaching profession, and to investigate pre-service teachers' digital wisdom competency perceptions in Turkey. The study was designed as a sequential-exploratory mix model with two phases. In the qualitative phase, unstructured interviews and Delphi technique were conducted to create a framework on digital wisdom with the participation of field experts. In this framework, three dimensions of digital wisdom, namely Thinking and Decision Making, Sociality and Emotionality, were found. After the third Delphi round, field experts had consensus on digital wisdom competencies and indicators. Utilizing these indicators exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were carried out with the participation of pre-service teachers. After these processes "The Digital Wisdom Competency Scale" was developed. The scale has three factors (Thinking and Decision Making, Social Sensitivity and Sharing). For the quantitative phase, data were collected from 1474 pre-service teachers via developed scale, in 2017. According to findings, pre-service teachers' digital wisdom competency perceptions were at high level. Findings revealed that pre-service teachers' digital wisdom competency perceptions differed in terms of their ages and departments. In addition, there is positive, moderate and significant correlation between digital wisdom competency perceptions and technology usage skills. Moreover, it was observed that pre-service teachers' digital wisdom competency perceptions and digital nativity characteristics had a positive, moderate and significant correlation.