Examination of reasons for technology addiction of primary school teacher candidates during the pandemic process

The aim of this study is to examine the reasons of technology addiction of primary school teacher candidates during the pandemic period. The aim is to determine the problems experienced by prospective classroom teachers due to technology addiction. The universe of the research consists of prospective classroom teachers studying at Fırat University, Hatay Mustafa Kemal University and İnönü University in the 2020-2021 academic year. The quantitative sample of the research consists of 405 students studying at Fırat University, Hatay Mustafa Kemal University and İnönü University, while the qualitative sample consists of 20 students studying at Fırat University, Hatay Mustafa Kemal University and İnönü University. In accordance with the purpose of the research, "Technology Addiction Scale" was used. Statistical analyzes for the quantitative part of the research data were performed on a computer using SPSS 22.0 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). In the analysis of the data, % and frequency were taken, t test and analysis of variance were applied. For the qualitative part, it was interpreted by making a "content analysis". It was found that the technology addiction levels of the teacher candidates participating in the research were at a moderate level. In general, it was seen that male teacher candidates' technology addiction levels were higher than female teacher candidates. It was observed that the class levels of the participants participating in the research did not affect the technology addiction dimension, which is the main topic of the research. It was observed that as the socio-economic level increased, the dependency dimension also increased. Qualitative questions were formed in accordance with the quantitative results, in accordance with the "exploratory sequential design" model, together with the specified quantitative results. Qualitative questions were formed by taking the opinions of two field experts after the quantitative results. According to the study, it was revealed that the duration of use of technological products increased during the pandemic process of the participants. According to the research, it was seen that the participants generally used technology products to spend their free time. Most of the participants described themselves as technology addicts.