The effect of pre-service teachers' lifelong learning tendencies on their e-learning readiness

This study aims to investigate the association between pre-service teachers' lifelong learning tendency and e-learning readiness. To this end, this quantitative study adopted a relational survey design. The population of the study consisted of 2777 pre-service teachers studying at Sakarya University Faculty of Education in the 2021-2022 academic year; the sample included 378 pre-service teachers who were reached through convenient sampling method from this population. "Personal Information Form", "Lifelong Learning Tendency Scale" and "Scale of University Students' Readiness for E-learning" were used to collect data. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the validity of the data collection tools and Cronbach's Alpha internal consistency coefficient was calculated for reliability. The findings can be summarized as follows. Pre-service teachers' lifelong learning tendencies were "positive", and their e-learning readiness levels were "high". The comparisons conducted in the context of demographic variables indicated that pre-service teachers' lifelong learning tendency did not differ statistically significantly by gender, grade level, regular internet access, or mother's education level; while it differed statistically significantly by daily internet usage time, family income level and father's education level. On the other hand, pre-service teachers' e-learning readiness level did not differ significantly by the variables of gender, regular internet access, family income level, and mother's or father's education level, but differed statistically significantly by grade level and daily internet usage time. Finally, there is a statistically significant moderate positive relationship between pre-service teachers' lifelong learning tendency and e-learning readiness level and lifelong learning tendency predicts e-learning readiness in a statistically significant way. The findings were discussed on the basis of the previous literature and some suggestions were made based on the findings.