Investigation of teacher candidates' views about behaviours related to social media ethic: Eskisehir sample

With the development and wide-spread use of technology, it is now easier to demonstrate unethical behaviors. Considering not only the events experienced but also the behaviors observed, it could be stated that a number of unethical behaviors are regarded as normal, and numerous people frequently demonstrate such behaviors. In general, the media, known as a communication environment, could be said to be an environment for sharing information. The concept of information sharing, in a sense, refers to spread of information. When such basic functions of media as giving news, informing, entertainment, education and inspection are taken into account, it could be stated that there are several ethical issues like the correctness and up-to-datedness of the news or information, personal rights and personal privacy. In this respect, it is important to pay attention to ethical principles with respect to both the environment and individuals. Today, considering the current state of media, people, apart from the printed media, use online environments and social media to get news and information services. Therefore, besides media ethics, the focus should also be on computer ethics, Internet ethics as well as on the ethics related to social media which is used by a number of people and which is thought to result easily in unethical behaviors. In this information age, ethical problems are gathered by Mason (1986) under four main headings: privacy, accuracy, property and accessibility. The main purpose of the present study, which was based on this model, was to reveal the profiles related to preservice teachers' ethical behaviors in social media. Within the scope of the study, there were two important reasons for selecting preservice teachers. First of all, individuals using the social media most frequently are those aged between 18 and 29. The second reason was that it is important to determine the related thoughts and behaviors of preservice teachers, who will act as a model for future generations. In addition, when studies in literature are examined, it is seen that most of these studies focused on privacy, one of ethical problems. Considering this fact, the present study is important in terms of putting forward a holistic perspective regarding social media. The study was carried out with the survey model for the purpose of determining the variables which predicted the ethical behaviors of preservice teachers in social media. Within the scope of the study, a total of 3488 students from the Education Faculties of Eskişehir Osmangazi University and Anadolu University were reached. In order to collect the research data, a 35-item data collection tool developed by the researcher was applied to the students. Following this, focus group interviews were held with 23 students in three groups. For the focus group interviews, ethical dilemma scenarios authored by the researcher were used, and the students made discussions based on these scenarios. The quantitative research data collected in the study were analyzed with the package software of SPSS, and the qualitative data were analyzed with content analysis method. For the item analysis conducted in the study, the items differing in terms of the variables related to the dimensions of privacy, accuracy, property and accessibility were not included in data analysis. When examined with respect to the variable of gender, it was seen that the female participants demonstrated more sensitive behaviors in relation to the dimensions of property and accessibility than the male participants. When the items were examined in terms of the variable of field, a statistically significant difference was found, and this difference was thought to be due to the number of the participants. When the items in the dimensions were examined, it was seen that especially in terms of the dimensions of property and accessibility, there were more prominent differences with respect to class grades. When the data were examined depending on the number of forums used, it was found that the participants using forums more frequently tended to demonstrate more ethical behaviors and that those spending much time on the Internet had a higher tendency to demonstrate unethical behaviors. In the study, according to the focus group interviews, except for a few of the students, all of them reported that the related benefits outweighed their ethical behaviors and that they would not hesitate to demonstrate unethical behaviors for the sake of their own benefits. Considering the research process and the findings obtained in the study, several suggestions were put forward for future research and practice. Key words: Ethic, Preservice teachers, PAPA, Social media ethic