Investigation of the pre-service teachers' concerns about interactive whiteboard usage

The main purpose of this study is to determine pre-service teachers' concerns about the interactive white board. It was also aimed to determine whether the anxiety levels of the pre-service teachers' differ significantly regarding some different variables. Both survey and causal comparative designs were used in this research based on the quantitative research model. The population of the research was the senior students who are studying at the programs of Inönü University Faculty of Education in spring semester of the 2016-2017 academic year. A total of 1,014 students were studying at the Faculty of Education during the course of the research. The sample of the research was determined by using stratified sampling method. Gender was taken as a strata in this study and the distribution of the pre-service teachers by gender was also tried to be preserved in the sample. Personal information form and Smartboard Phobia Scale were used as data collection tool in the research. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS packet programs. Descriptive statistical calculations were made on the obtained data firstly, t-test and one way ANOVA tests were also used for the independent variables. The Scheffe post-hoc test was used to determine the difference between the groups after the analysis of variance. Result of the descriptive statistics showed that while participating pre-service teachers get higher scores form the convenience sub-scale (consisting of positive items about interactive White board usage) they get lower scores from the personal failure and teacher-interactive white board ambiguity sub-scales (consisting of negative expressions about interactive white board usage). In line with this result it can be asserted that pre-service teachers has positive attitudes about the use of interactive White boards in education, at the same time they experience lower levels of personal failure. Statistical analysis about the gender variable showed that there was no significant difference between the scores of male and female pre-service teachers. It has been found that compared to the pre-service teachers who do not belong any personal computers, pre-service teachers belonging any personal computers experience less problems when using the interactive white boards. Similarly it was found that pre-service teachers belonging a personal computer find to use interactive white boards in education more suitable. Considering the teaching branch variable it was detected that pre-service teachers who thought that their branch was unsuitable or less suitable for interactive white board usage had more personal failure when using white boards. According to perceived white board usage skills, it was seen that there was a statistically significant difference between the scores of the pre-service teachers in the sub-scales of personal failure and convenience. Pre-service teachers who perceive themselves as beginners experience more personal failure compared with the pre-service teachers who perceive themselves as new and expert, and they also thought that interactive white boards as useless. These results suggest that some precautions should be taken during the undergraduate education period in order to reduce the anxiety and to increase the proficiency about the use of interactive white-boards. It would be beneficial for pre-service teachers to take practical training during some lessons (i.e. educational technologies, special teaching methods) given through the undergraduate education that would enhance knowledge and skills regarding the use of smartboards in general and also field-specific activities. Key Words: Pre-service teachers, interactive white boards, concern, and technophobia