An analysis of class teachers' lifelong learning tendencies and self-efficacy perceptions of computer and internet usage

This study aimed to examine the lifelong learning tendencies of primary school teachers and their self-efficacy perceptions regarding computer and internet use. The research employed a relational survey model. The sample of the study consisted of 507 primary school teachers working in public primary schools in Şanlıurfa, Turkey. Data collection tools included the "Lifelong Learning Tendencies Scale (LLLTS)" developed by Gür-Erdoğan and Arsal (2016), the "Computer and Internet Self-Efficacy Perception Scale for Primary School Teachers" developed by Şad and Demir (2015), and the "Personal Information Form" created by the researcher to determine the demographic characteristics of the participants. To determine whether the data showed a normal distribution, the skewness and kurtosis values of the obtained scores were examined. The data collected were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 software. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation analyses were employed for data analysis. The results revealed that the arithmetic means for the subdimensions and the total scores of the lifelong learning tendencies scale indicated a high level of lifelong learning tendencies among primary school teachers. It was determined that the teachers perceived their self-efficacy in computer and internet use between the levels of "I can partially do it" and "I am absolutely confident that I can do it." There were no significant differences in lifelong learning tendencies based on gender, professional seniority, or educational attainment. However, the self-efficacy perceptions of teachers regarding computer and internet use differed significantly in favor of male teachers based on the gender variable, in favor of postgraduate degree holders based on the educational attainment variable, and showed no significant differences based on the professional seniority variable. Furthermore, a moderate positive correlation was found between the lifelong learning tendencies of primary school teachers and their self-efficacy perceptions of computer and internet use. Keywords: Primary school teacher, Lifelong learning tendency, Computer self-efficacy perception, Internet self-efficacy perception.