Digital reading and digital writing cultures of primary school teachers and prospective teachers

In the research, which aims to investigate the digital reading and digital writing cultures of primary teachers and primary teacher candidates, the study group was recruited by the classroom teachers working in Konya in the 2021-2022 academic year and working within the Ministry of Education, Selçuk and Necmettin Erbakan University, Faculty of Education, Department of Basic Education, Department of Classroom Education 1.2. .3. and 4th-grade classroom teacher candidates. The mixed method, in which quantitative and qualitative data are used together, was used in the research. Quantitative and qualitative dimensions were examined simultaneously and analyzed independently of each other. In the research, the convergent parallel design, design of the mixed method was used. In order to collect quantitative data, a digital reading culture and digital writing culture questionnaire were developed by the researcher. In the first part of the questionnaire, there are questions to determine the demographic characteristics of the participants (gender, age, professional experience, education level, class level of education/class level of education). The second part of the survey aims to reveal the digital reading and digital writing cultures of the participants; There are questions consisting of yes/no, multiple choice, and open-ended questions. The third part consists of 31-item Likert-based survey questions aiming to reveal the beliefs, thoughts, and attitudes of the participants about digital reading, and the fourth part consists of 29-item Likert-based survey questions that aim to reveal the participants' beliefs, thoughts, and attitudes towards digital writing. A 5-point rubric was used in the item response area. Responses to the questionnaire items consist of "I strongly disagree (5), I slightly agree (4), I partially agree (3), I agree (2), I strongly agree (1)". 400 teachers and 150 teacher candidates participated in the survey. In the process of collecting the qualitative data for the research, a semi-structured interview technique was used. In this form, two semi-structured interview forms, each consisting of three parts, were prepared. The first part is aimed at determining the personal information of the participants. In the second part, there are 6 questions aiming to reveal the views of the participants on digital reading, and in the third part, there are 7 questions aiming to reveal the views on digital writing. After the semi-structured interview forms were prepared, they were presented to the opinion of two field experts in order to measure the language and content validity. In this direction, two questions were removed from the interview form and the interview forms were finalized and made ready for application. Interviews were held with 20 teachers and 20 teacher candidates. In the qualitative part of the research, the content analysis method was used to analyze the interview forms. In the analysis of the quantitative data, firstly, the frequency and percentage values for each of the items in the questionnaires were included in the participation levels. The Chi-Square (χ2) independence test was used to examine whether there is a significant relationship between the views of pre-service teachers about digital reading and digital writing cultures, and their gender and grade levels. Similarly, whether there is a significant relationship between teachers' gender, age, professional experience, education level, and class level they teach, and their views on digital reading and digital writing cultures were again tested with the χ2 independence test. It has been found that the majority of teachers and teacher candidates read through digital devices, the preferred reason for doing this is to provide easy access to information, they use smartphones the most in the digital environment, and the content and environment for reading is social media. It has been found that the participants write digitally, use laptops and smartphones while writing digitally, and find digital writing easy, fun, practical, and indispensable. It has been found that those who prefer to read digital texts can access information quickly, practically, in detail, and with one click, without the need to carry printed materials with them. As a result, the convenience provided by digital reading and digital writing and its presence in all areas of life has caused it to be used more and more and become an indispensable part of life. Keywords: Digital reading, digital writing, classroom teacher, classroom teacher candidate