A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF
PROBLEMATIC INTERNET USE AND LONELINESS AMONG TURKISH AND KOREAN PROSPECTIVE
TEACHERS
Aylin TUTGUN
Maltepe University, Education Faculty
Computer Education and Instructional Technologies
Department
Istanbul, Turkey
aylintutgun@maltepe.edu.tr
Levent DENİZ
Marmara University, Atatürk Education Faculty
Educational Sciences Department
Istanbul, Turkey
ldeniz@marmara.edu.tr
Man-Ki MOON
The Graduate
School of Advanced Imaging Science, Multimedia & Film,
Chung-Ang
University, Seoul South Korea
moon1915@empal.com
ABSTRACT
The main aim of this study
is to compare the problematic internet use and its relation to loneliness among
two nations’ prospective teachers, Turkey and South Korea. Five hundred and ninety five prospective
teachers from three universities, two from Turkey and one from South Korea
participated in the study. Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale 2 and
UCLA Loneliness Scale were used to collect data. Some of the major findings are
as follows: a) No differences were found between the problematic Internet use of Turkish and Korean prospective teachers;
b) Male Turkish prospective teachers found to have more problematic use of
internet than female counterparts on the other hand no differences were found
among South Korean prospective teachers by means of sex; c) Positive but low
correlations between problematic Internet use and loneliness levels of prospective
teachers of both nations; d) There is a significant difference between Turkish
and Korean prospective teachers. South Korean prospective teachers were found
to be in higher levels of loneliness than Turkish counterparts.
Key
words: Problematic internet use,
internet addiction, prospective teachers, comparative study
INTRODUCTION
In today’s world technology has been prevalently used in almost all
spheres of life and as a consequence the personal ownership ratio of computer
and internet is rapidly increasing each year.
According to a research on Information Technologies Use employed by
Turkish Institute of Statistics, the ratio of computer use and internet
access in enterprises was 88,7% and 85,4% in January 2007 whereas in January
2008 these rates respectively increased to 90,6% and 89,2%. In January 2010,
the ratio of internet access was 90,9% (Turkish Institute of Statistics, 2011).
Meanwhile, statistics (2011) from the Korea
Communications Commission, which is a Korean government organization, show household’s
computer possession ratio was 80.4% and Internet access ratio was 79.8% except
enterprises in 2007, and it was 93.2%, 83.4% in 2010, which was increased
12.8%, 3.8%, respectively. In addition, the subscription ratio of broadband
Internet access system has been rapidly increased since 2005. As of 2010, the
number of broadband Internet access system’s subscribers is estimated that
about 37% of the nation’s population is exploiting the broadband Internet
access system, and the ratio has been sharply increased.
The reason accounting for this
quick rise in internet use is certainly related to the services it provides and
its easy access. Internet has been widely used for a variety of purposes in
several domains. As stated by Deniz and Coşkun (2004) as an educational tool
internet lets access to inexpensive, global, interactive and intensive computer
communication and it also enables the student to improve his/her learning
experience. Online users can easily access internet from a bunch of locations
including their homes, workplaces, houses, school, internet cafes etc. The
researches also put forth that (Ceyhan, Ceyhan and Gürcan, 2007; Deniz, 2001,
2007; Deniz and Coşkun, 2004; Tutgun, 2009; Tutgun and Deniz, 2010) most of the
students reported to have easy access to computers and internet.
The principal functions of
internet are increasing the means of researchers, facilitating the communication
and enabling data share however the uncalculated rise of internet use started
to introduce several problems as well. Some individuals manage to limit their
internet use within the required time whereas certain people face problems at
school, work or social life since they fail to draw the boundaries and
excessively use the internet. The term internet addiction was introduced for
the first time by Goldberg (1996) in a forum website and a list of symptoms was
defined. Right after that, incredible numbers of people from the whole world
sent their complaints to this forum site regarding internet use. Hence a global
research domain emerged and a good number of researchers and clinicians started
to conduct studies on internet addiction. The earliest indicators of internet
addiction were developed by Goldberg (1996), DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders) parallel to the diagnosis measurements of alcohol
addiction, subsequently, for internet addiction and internet misuse Young (1996b)
developed certain criteria in line with diagnosis measurements of Pathologic
gambling presented in DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1995).
Following the cases exemplified by clinicians, a new dispute emerged; whether
the internet caused addiction or excessive usage of internet was simply a
behavioral indicator of already- existing psychological problems that were
manifested through internet (Keser Özcan and Buzlu, 2005; King and Barak,
1999). Further studies employed several new concepts like internet addiction,
internet dependency, problematic internet usage, pathologic internet usage,
internet behavior addiction and cyber addiction.
Young (1996b) favored the term
internet addiction and drew a parallel between internet addiction and drug or
alcohol addiction since they all brought about academic, social and
professional losses. In subsequent researches, Young (1996b) described
“Problematic internet usage” based on “Pathological gambling” criteria (Young
and Rogers, 1998; Young, 1996b). According to Young (1996a) problematic
internet users who spare little time for real people in life prefer to spend
time alone on computer and the same finding is demonstrated in several other
researches as well (Deniz and Tutgun, 2010; Kraut, Kiesler et al., 2002).
Kandell (1998) defined internet addiction as a psychological addiction which
particularly affected teenagers and he emphasized that excessive usage of
internet was likely to introduce problems related to health, social relations
and time management. The researches covering young population, university
students in particular, have manifested rather critical findings and revealed
that university students formed the most risky group (Ceyhan, Ceyhan and
Gürcan, 2007; Deniz and Tutgun, 2010; Kandell, 1998; Lavin, Marvin et al.,
1999; Morahan-Martin and Schumacher, 2000; Tutgun and Deniz, 2010; Young,
2006).
As put forth by Caplan (2005)
Problematic internet usage is a multi-dimensional syndrome composed of
cognitive and behavioral symptoms causing negative social,
academic/professional outcomes. According to this perspective, the term
internet addiction on its own is not encompassing enough hence the terms
pathologic or problematic have also found place in literature. Afterwards based
on the generalized problematic internet usage developed by Davis (2001), Caplan
(2010) developed a multi dimensional measurement tool named as Generalized
Problematic Internet Use Scale 2 (GPIUS2) according to cognitive-behaviorist
model and indicated that people’s self expression habit on internet which is
connected to their lack of self trust brought about significant numbers of
negative consequences on their lives. In present study too, the measurement
tool developed by Caplan (2010) has been used after adapting into Turkey and Korea.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Studies of Problematic Internet Usage in Turkey fall short in describing
pathological dimensions of internet addiction and researchers relate its causes
to several different reasons. Gönül (2002) puts forth that addiction is not to internet
but its context and the means it provides. On the other hand the
clinicians studying this field in Turkey note that internet addictive users
have additional clinical findings (Köroğlu, Öztürk et al., 2006;
Odabaşıoğlu, Öztürk et al., 2007; Öztürk, Odabaşıoğlu et al., 2007).
While investigating the causes
of problematic
internet use, the researchers also attempted to develop measurements
tools to determine the problematic internet usage. In Turkey since the
measurement tools detecting problematic internet use in particular are limited,
these researches have been given priority.
In Keser Özcan and Buzlu’s
(2005) research, the validity and reliability of Online Cognition Scale
developed in 2002 by Davis to detect problematic internet usage amongst the
sampling of university students has been examined and adapted into Turkish. The
research has been carried out among 148 university students who spent at least
two hours online in a week. At the end of this research, parallel to the
original scale an Online Cognition Scale with 36-item four-factored
(loneliness-depression, lessened motivation control, social support and
distraction) has emerged. On the other hand, Ceyhan, Ceyhan and Gürcan (2007)
in their research have developed a measurement tool to detect problematic
internet usage amongst university students. The researchers detected that 5
Likert type scale consisted of total 33 items and in the development stage of
scale they manifested that according to the data gathered from 1658 university
students, the scale was composed of three factors(negative consequences of
internet, social benefit/ social comfort, excessive usage). The specific scale
has no objective of diagnosing people with internet addiction by measuring
problematic internet usage but aims to exhibit the healthy and unhealthy usage
levels of internet. Kayri and Günüç (2009) conducted a study to detect
structural validity and internal consistency coefficient of the Turkish
adaptation of Internet Addiction Scale originally developed by Nichols and
Nicki (2004). Turkish adapted scale consisted of 30 items which were all
positive and was scaled with 5 Likert type grading. Certain gaps and Internet
addiction levels have been determined according to the scores obtained from
scale. Accordingly the ones receiving above 90 scores were categorized as
internet addicts. In the same research, 31 university students were grouped as
internet addict.
As reported by Öztürk,
Odabaşıoğlu et al. (2007) this addiction type comes to surface when the person
fails to limit internet usage, keeps staying online despite the social or
academic losses or feels deep anxiety when faced with a restriction on internet
usage. This addiction type, diagnosed with above-mentioned symptoms, has been
extensively analyzed in psychiatry literature since the mids of 1990s. The
clinical pictures of excessive internet usage put forth that a typical internet
addict spend 40-80 hours a week online and can stay online 20 hours straight.
Those patients whose sleep routine is diverted may start to use stimulants,
drink excessive amounts of coffee or Coke and as a consequence of lessened
physical activity they may face obesity, carpal tunnel syndrome, backache and
posture disorders.
In Odabaşıoğlu, Öztürk et
al.’s (2007) research case studies have been presented and student groups with
different complaints have been examined. The research findings
demonstrate that internet addiction that is widely common among teenagers in
particular spoils the mental and physical development of patients, adversely
affects social relations and academic success as well. According to the
research, there is a 1,5 year period of time changing between 6 months to 3
years prior to misuse or addiction of internet. As the time spent online a week
is examined it is found that there is an average of 7-8 hours changing between
4 to 20 hours.
Tutgun and Deniz (2010) have
examined problematic internet usage of prospective teachers in Education
Faculties with respect to certain variables (gender, department, university,
daily use etc.). It has been detected in the research that problematic internet
usage of prospective teachers was in medium level. The rest of the findings
revealed that with respect to gender, male and female prospective teachers
differed in terms of problematic internet usage level. As the level of daily
internet usage rose so did problematic internet usage level and prospective
teachers describing themselves fully competent computer users were, compared to
the ones feeling less competent, more oriented towards problematic internet
usage. Another research finding showed that freshmen students were, compared to
senior students, more oriented towards problematic internet usage. The
comparison with respect to department indicated that prospective teachers in
the Department of Computer and Teaching Instructional Technologies were more
inclined to problematic internet usage than the prospective teachers in other
departments (Science-Mathematics, Fine Arts, and Social Sciences).
In a different study Deniz and
Tutgun (2010) analyzed the relation between loneliness levels and problematic
internet usage of prospective teachers. The research finding demonstrated that
there is a correlation between loneliness levels and problematic internet usage
of prospective teachers studying at education faculties. Taking into account
the fact that if a prospective teacher who is expected to be a professional
role model in many aspects for students is trapped in problematic internet
usage and faces academic, social and familial losses, present research signals
even more significance to take necessary precautions with no delay. Another
study, in which the university students have been examined in terms of gender
and loneliness, supports these findings (Odaci and Kalkan, 2010).
In the same way, similar
researches were conducted in South Korea. In particular, led by the government,
the Internet addiction level of the nation for general people and youths has
been analyzed to make public the result every year since 2002. Most of the
university hospitals have run rehabilitation programs related to Internet
addiction based on the result since 2010. Furthermore, this study found that
legislation is recently promoted at the national assembly regarding treatment
and improvement for various digital addiction including game addiction as well
as Internet addiction.
According to ‘Actual condition survey on
Internet addiction of Korean in 2010’ that is conducted through door-to-door
interview method for the entire people by the Korean government and released in
March, 2011, the Internet addiction levels (IALs) of age 9 ~ 39 among the
Korean, who use Internet more than once within recent a month, is represented
as 8.0% (Ministry of Public Administration and Security, 2010). In the survey
for each age group, the numbers of Internet addicted elementary, middle, high
school students are 13.7%, 12.2%, 10.0%, respectively, and adult’s IALs is
estimated 8.0% for 20s, 4.0% for 40s.
Furthermore, the IALs survey conducted according
to the home environment for reflecting in the welfare policy shows the IALs is
also different depending on income. Regardless of age groups, the IALs survey
for each household’s income shows the IALs of households below the middle class
is the highest of 11.9%, and the case of above the middle class is only 6.6%.
On the other hand, the IALs of the poor reaches
11.1%, in particular, a high-risk group[1]
for Internet addiction in this class is as many as 3.7%. Moreover, the
high-risk group of one-parent families (7.3%) is more than 2 times than
both-parent families (3.0%), and the IALs of multicultural families (37.6%) is
high more than 3 times than the average families (12.3%). This result shows the
social low-income and neglected groups are likely to be exposed to the risk of
Internet addiction more than the above middle class.
Especially, a serious problem is that the entire
IALs of youth groups is decreased, however, the number of high-risk youths with
a high immersion level of Internet is 3.1%, which shows 3.1% of increase
comparing to 2009. In addition, the mobile phone’s IALs conducted first in this
survey is 11.1%. Therefore, the need of diversified studies is presented
according to a qualitative problem of Internet addiction and an introduction of
new platforms.
A positive aspect obtained from this result is
that the IALs of the entire people has been gradually decreasing from 2004 when
the survey was begun. The IALs of the entire people is indicated as the
decrease from 8.5% in 2009 to 8.0% in 2010. The IALs of youths is also lowered
from 14.4% in 2007 to 12.8% in 2009 (National Information Society Agency, 2009),
12.4% in 2010. The report says that this is a result from systematic and
scientific actions of Korean government and schoolteachers. Therefore,
considering the importance that students of their adolescence are in
self-formation ages related to a collective-efficacy and self-efficacy for
their studies and society, it could be said that a systematic study is very
important for PIU dependencies of school teachers including would-be teachers.
However, it is indicated that the high-risk
group concentrated in the low-income class is increased from 2.6% in 2009 to
3.1% in 2010. The IALs of elementary school students rises by 2.9% over last
year, so it is analyzed that the addiction age group is tend to be lowered.
Accordingly, this report suggests an active interest of parents and a necessity
of systematic education from kindergarten stage.
Improvements presented in this report by Korean
government are active curative measures such as connected implementation of counseling-treatment
for high-risk people, training experts for counseling-treatment, expansion of
professional counseling organizations for Internet addiction, opening of
‘Internet shelter school’ using vacation-weekend, provision of mobile
counseling services for a neglected class etc., and a necessity of systematic
researches and development of a scale according to new technologies such as
mobile phones.
Suggestions of active solutions to the problem
by Korean government originate from studies’ results provided by numerous
scholars in the meantime. Studies of scholars performed from 2004 to 2010 in
Korea are divided into studies on addiction related to platforms such as
Internet, mobile phones, digital games, portable game players etc. and mixed
studies associated with various fields of study such as counseling, legislation
etc. Especially, it have been provided the results of studies related to
platforms such as mobile phones, portable game players, PMP, MP3 etc. as well
as Internet addiction and systematic studies such as rehabilitation treatment
program etc. from 2005.
As a result of analyzing top 10 papers with a
high quotation index selected from Internet addiction related studies published
from 2007 to March, 2011 in Korea through an academic database, most studies
for age groups of middle, high school students are represented more than 90%.
Recently, the direction of studies also tends to expand into a field of
professionals.
Studies could be divided into comparison of
Internet symptoms (Lee & Lee, 2004a), pattern analysis of
excessive Internet users (Lee & Lee, 2004b), recognitive characteristics according to recognition levels (Chung & Kim,2008), analysis of addiction tendencies related to
stress and depression (Park & Park, 2009), development of diagnostic criteria. Generally, it is used the similar
measurement scales as cases of general international studies as well as Turkey.
However, what’s remarkable is that the government and scholars have jointly
developed to use independent diagnostic sheets suitable to the Korean sentiment
from 2002 (National Information
Society Agency, 2002).
Arguably, Even though a platform is the same, there is a slight difference in
the use form etc. depending on the racial sentiment (Teo et al., 2008).
Accordingly, a supplemented sheet was also developed to release in 2010
(National Information Society Agency, 2010).
RATIONALE OF THE STUDY
Internet is commonly used by young population for a variety of purposes.
Particularly at universities easy access to internet, the need to study courses
or contact with course instructor, desire to contact freely with the opposite
sex etc. make the internet use a favorite activity amongst university students.
As relevant literature also
puts forward, comprehensive research on the problematic internet usage among
university students, points to the gravity of situation. Furthermore
university students are more inclined towards developing excessive internet
usage-related problems on accounts of various factors containing developmental
problems (Ceyhan, Ceyhan and Gürcan, 2007). The tendency of college students to
establish close relations with the opposite sex makes the internet usage
attractive in their eyes. Besides psychological and environmental factors in
university students’ lives may drive them to experience internet addiction. It
is inevitable that college students with low social skills end up being socially
isolated. Internet is a favorite social communication tool for those students
feeling lonely; however it is even harder for such students to provide control
on the internet. According to Erikson (1998) the principal developmental task
of college students is to establish close relations with peers in the same or
opposite sex. It is only natural that college youngsters failing to develop
social skills in natural social environment end up with familial and business
problems in particular as they grow up. The social and academic failures
individuals experience due to problematic internet usage that comes to surface
during university life may constitute the base for the future loneliness and
social isolation and losses in business and family relations. Certain
professions, particularly teaching, require social communication skills. A
teacher is a role model for students at all times. A teacher who goes through
professional and social problems due to uncontrolled internet usage cannot be
expected to provide a healthy data transfer to students or be a good role
model. Hence further analyses are required to discuss problematic internet
usage of prospective teachers studying at faculties of teaching. In that way
the problems shall be detected and comprehensive studies to take relevant
measurements be conducted.
Due to the restrictions on the
researches about problematic internet usage and measurement tools present study
employed Turkish and Korean adaptation of the Generalized Problematic Internet
Use Scale 2 (GPIUS2) developed by Caplan (2010) and enabled the use of this
scale for both countries. Furthermore this study bears additional significance
since it analyzes the topic from a cross-cultural perspective by determining
internet usage characteristics of the two different countries. As indicated by
Caplan (2005) Problematic Internet Usage is a multi-dimensional syndrome.
Knowing no bounds in internet usage and consequent problems may vary with
respect to age groups, different professional groups, psychological state of
individuals, internet usage characteristics etc. Hence it is possible to come
across a variety of problematic internet usages with respect to different
demographic structures in different countries and also there may be a relation
between different characteristics of internet usage and problematic internet
usage. Problematic Internet Usage is a prevalent problem all throughout the
world. From this point of view it is a must to conduct comprehensive studies
covering different cultures and detect whether the responsible causes vary with
respect to cross-cultural characteristics. Such researches shall be beneficial
in clarifying the factors related to problematic internet usage and also enable
to detect characteristics of internet users from different countries and their
cross-cultural diversities.
In the present study, Turkey
and South Korea have been focused in terms of the problematic internet use and
its relation to loneliness. Turkey and South Korea are two different countries
in many ways, such as economic, cultural, demographic, and geographic and so
on. For example in Turkey there are approximately 32,187,000 internet users
which consist of 44% of the population while the number and the percentage are remarkably
higher in South Korea, respectively 41,363,000 and 84%. This remarkable gap
shows itself in the world ranking of these two countries in percentage of
internet users in respect to population (Euromonitor International, 2011a,
2011b). South Korea is in the ninth place whereas the Turkey is the fortieth
(Internet World Stats, 2011). Network Readiness Index shows that South Korea is
one of the best countries (tenth rank) to use ICT effectively as a tool for the
structural transformation of South Korean economy and society (World Economic
Forum, 2011). Turkey is in the seventy first rank in this index among one
hundred and thirty eight countries. In short, although Turkey is supposed to be
an emerging market with power of its young and dynamic population it seems to
have a digital gap between two countries. Based on these facts a comparative
study between Turkey and South Korea about the problematic internet use would
help to understand the structure of the topic deeply.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The present study mainly attempts to compare the
problematic internet use and its relation to loneliness among two nations’ prospective
teachers, Turkey and South Korea. Three major research questions were examined
to realize the main goal:
1.
What are the
main characteristics of prospective teachers of both nations in relation to
having computer facilities and purpose of using Internet?
2.
Are there differences in problematic internet
use by prospective teacher characteristics (such as sex, age etc.) within and
between the nations?
3.
Is there any
relationship between problematic internet use and loneliness levels of prospective
teachers of the both nations?
METHOD
Participants
Participants
were 595 prospective teachers from three universities, two from Turkey and one
from South Korea. Marmara University Atatürk Faculty of Education is one of the
well known teacher training faculties in Turkey, which is located in Istanbul.
The faculty has twenty departments and its prospective teacher (student)
population is over seven thousand. Maltepe University is a foundation (private)
university located in Istanbul too. The third university from South Korea is
Chung Ang University. The ages of the participants ranged from 17 to 37 (M:
21.07; SD: 2.16); and % 68.2 were females in total.
Table 1: Distributions of participants by universities
and departments
Departments
|
Name of Universities
|
TOTAL
|
||
Maltepe University
|
Marmara University
|
Chung Ang University
|
||
English Language Teaching
|
35 (18.0)
|
74 (38.1)
|
85 (43.8)
|
194 (100)
|
Early Childhood Education
|
14 (50.0)
|
-
|
14 (50.0)
|
28 (100)
|
Educational Sciences
|
62 (42.5)
|
48 (32.9)
|
36 (24.7)
|
146 (100)
|
Home Education
|
-
|
-
|
28 (100)
|
28 (100)
|
Special Education
|
19 (100)
|
-
|
-
|
19 (100)
|
Physical Education
|
-
|
-
|
44 (100)
|
44 (100)
|
Primary Mathematics Education
|
22 (31.9)
|
47 (68.1)
|
-
|
69 (100)
|
Music Education
|
-
|
24 (100)
|
-
|
24 (100)
|
Turkish Language Teaching
|
-
|
43 (100)
|
43 (100)
|
|
TOTAL
|
152 (25.5)
|
236 (39.7)
|
207 (34.8)
|
595 (100)
|
Data Collection Instruments
Demographic form. A demographic form of 16 questions was used to get data about the some
individual characteristics of the sample (sex, age etc.) and some preferences
and states in relations to computers (having a computer, time spend using
internet etc.)
Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale 2 (GPIUS2). GPIUS2 developed
by Caplan (2010) was used to collect data about the problematic aspects of
Internet use of prospective teachers. GPIUS2 has five sub scales, preference
for online social interaction (POSI), mood regulation, cognitive preoccupation,
compulsive internet use, negative outcomes. GPIUS2 has 15 items and all the
items are on a scale ranging from 1 (definitely disagree) to 8 (definitely
agree). The higher points show more problematic use. As Caplan indicates (2010,
p.1093) GPIUS2 scale can be used in two different ways, as a set of separate
sub-scales or as an overall composite index of GPIUS. In the present study the
use of composite index of the scale was preferred. The scale’s internal
consistency reliability was found α= .91 by Caplan. In the present study
internal consistency reliability was found α= .89 (α= .89 for Turkish and α=
.90 for South Korean participants) which is as high as the original value.
GPIUS2 was translated English to Turkish and Korean in both countries by
the experts of language and the field who has studies in computer/internet
attitudes. After the translation, the scales were applied to the bilingual
(Turkish/English and Korean/English) prospective teachers for test re-tests in
three weeks intervals. High correlations and no differences were found (r: .75,
p<.001; [paired group] t: .34, df: 25, p>0.05 for the Turkish sample and
r: .98, p<.001; [paired group] t: .15, df: 26, p>0.05 for the Korean
sample) between both applications of the Turkish and Korean prospective
teachers. The results showed that the language equivalence and internal
consistency reliability of the scale was approved for Turkish and Korean
versions of GPIUS2.
UCLA Loneliness Scale. The scale developed by Russell, Peplau, & Cutrona (1980) has 20
items on 4 point scale ranging 1 (never)
to 4 (often). The reliability and validity of the scale was done by (Demir,
1989) for the Turkish sample. In the present study the internal consistency of
the scale was found α= .86 (α= .84 for Turkish and South Korean participants
separately).
FINDINGS
The first main research question is to investigate the
main characteristics of prospective teachers of both nations in relation to
having computer facilities and purpose of Internet use.
Table 2: Having own computer by nation
Turkey
|
South Korea
|
TOTAL
|
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
|
Yes, I have
|
323 (83.2)
|
183 (88.4)
|
506 (85.0)
|
No, I don’t have
|
65 (16.8)
|
24 (11.6)
|
89 (15.0)
|
TOTAL
|
388 (100)
|
207 (100)
|
595 (100)
|
Table 2 shows
that higher percentages of the prospective teacher have computers of their own
in both nations.
Table 3: Time spend for chatting in a day by nation
Turkey
|
South Korea
|
TOTAL
|
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
|
Never
|
36 (9.3)
|
95 (45.9)
|
131 (22.0)
|
Less than 1 hour
|
217 (55.9)
|
70 (33.8)
|
287 (48.2)
|
1-3 hours
|
114 (29.4)
|
33 (15.9)
|
147 (24.7)
|
4-5 hours
|
15 (3.9)
|
7 (3.4)
|
22 (3.7)
|
6-8 hours
|
6 (1.5)
|
1 (0.5)
|
7 (1.2)
|
More than 8 hours
|
-
|
1 (0.5)
|
1 (0.2)
|
TOTAL
|
388 (100)
|
207 (100)
|
595 (100)
|
Table 3 shows that 45.9% of South Korean prospective teachers reported
that they never used Internet for chatting with someone else while the
proportion is 9.3% for Turkish prospective teachers. It is clearly seen that
the proportion of Turkish prospective teachers using internet for chatting are
remarkably higher than South Korean prospective teachers.
Table 4: Time spend for meeting with new people in a
day by nation
Turkey
|
South Korea
|
TOTAL
|
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
|
Never
|
241 (62.1)
|
158 (76.3)
|
399 (67.1)
|
Less than 1 hour
|
119 (30.7)
|
40 (19.3)
|
159 (26.7)
|
1-3 hours
|
23 (5.9)
|
6 (2.9)
|
29 (4.9)
|
4-5 hours
|
4 (1.0)
|
2 (1.0)
|
6 (1.0)
|
6-8 hours
|
-
|
1 (0.5)
|
1 (0.2)
|
More than 8 hours
|
1 (0.3)
|
-
|
1 (0.2)
|
TOTAL
|
388 (100)
|
207 (100)
|
595 (100)
|
Table 4 shows that, parallel to the results of Table 3, higher
percentage of prospective teachers (Turkey 62.1% and South Korea 76.3%) from
both nations reported that they have never used internet for the purpose of
meeting new people. But the distribution among both nations shows that Turkish
prospective teachers tend to use internet more hours to meet with new people
than South Korean prospective teachers.
Table 5: Time spend for searching for homework in a
day by nation
Turkey
|
South Korea
|
TOTAL
|
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
|
Never
|
22 (5.7)
|
2 (1.0)
|
24 (4.0)
|
Less than 1 hour
|
180 (46.4)
|
31 (15.0)
|
211 (35.5)
|
1-3 hours
|
171 (44.1)
|
115 (55.6)
|
286 (48.1)
|
4-5 hours
|
14 (3.6)
|
40 (19.3)
|
54 (9.1)
|
6-8 hours
|
1 (0.3)
|
9 (4.3)
|
10 (1.7)
|
More than 8 hours
|
-
|
10 (4.8)
|
10 (1.7)
|
TOTAL
|
388 (100)
|
207 (100)
|
595 (100)
|
As seen in Table
5, majority of Turkish prospective teachers spend less than one hour for
searching for their homework while majority of South Korean prospective
teachers spend 1-3 hours period. Based on the distribution of the data it is
clearly said that South Korean prospective teachers seem to spend more time for
searching for their homework than Turkish prospective teachers.
Table 6: Time spend for surfing the Internet for new
information in a day by nation
Turkey
|
South Korea
|
TOTAL
|
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
|
Never
|
18 (4.6)
|
2 (1.0)
|
20 (3.4)
|
Less than 1 hour
|
193 (49.7)
|
89 (43.0)
|
282 (47.4)
|
1-3 hours
|
154 (39.7)
|
87 (42.0)
|
241 (40.5)
|
4-5 hours
|
19 (4.9)
|
16 (7.7)
|
35 (5.9)
|
6-8 hours
|
4 (1.0)
|
7 (3.4)
|
11 (1.8)
|
More than 8 hours
|
-
|
6 (2.9)
|
6 (1.0)
|
TOTAL
|
388 (100)
|
207 (100)
|
595 (100)
|
Table 6 shows that very few number of prospective teachers do not use
internet for searching new information. The majority of the prospective
teachers of both nations spend up to three hours of time for seeking for new information.
Table 7: Time spend for surfing the Internet for
reading news in a day by nation
Turkey
|
South Korea
|
TOTAL
|
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
|
Never
|
58 (14.9)
|
13 (6.3)
|
71 (11.9)
|
Less than 1 hour
|
232 (59.8)
|
102 (49.3)
|
334 (56.1)
|
1-3 hours
|
85 (21.9)
|
72 (34.8)
|
157 (26.4)
|
4-5 hours
|
12 (3.1)
|
11 (5.3)
|
23 (3.9)
|
6-8 hours
|
1 (0.3)
|
6 (2.9)
|
7 (1.2)
|
More than 8 hours
|
-
|
3 (1.4)
|
3 (0.5)
|
TOTAL
|
388 (100)
|
207 (100)
|
595 (100)
|
As seen in Table
7, majority of students in each nation spend less than one hour to read news.
Table 8: Time spend for playing gamble in a day by
nation
Turkey
|
South Korea
|
TOTAL
|
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
|
Never
|
340 (87.6)
|
199 (96.1)
|
539 (90.6)
|
Less than 1 hour
|
29 (7.5)
|
5 (2.4)
|
34 (5.7)
|
1-3 hours
|
15 (3.9)
|
2 (1.0)
|
17 (2.9)
|
4-5 hours
|
3 (0.8)
|
-
|
3 (0.5)
|
6-8 hours
|
1 (0.3)
|
-
|
1 (0.2)
|
More than 8 hours
|
-
|
1 (0.5)
|
1 (0.2)
|
TOTAL
|
388 (100)
|
207 (100)
|
595 (100)
|
As seen in Table 8, playing gamble is not the focus of interest for the
majority of prospective teachers of both nations. On the other hand Turkish
prospective teachers seem to spend slightly more time playing gamble compare to
South Korean prospective teachers.
Table 9: Time spend for searching porno sites in a day
by nation
Turkey
|
South Korea
|
TOTAL
|
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
|
Never
|
344 (88.7)
|
190 (91.8)
|
534 (89.7)
|
Less than 1 hour
|
36 (9.3)
|
13 (6.3)
|
49 (8.2)
|
1-3 hours
|
3 (0.8)
|
4 (1.9)
|
7 (1.2)
|
4-5 hours
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
6-8 hours
|
1 (0.3)
|
-
|
1 (0.2)
|
More than 8 hours
|
4 (1.0)
|
-
|
4 (0.7)
|
TOTAL
|
388 (100)
|
207 (100)
|
595 (100)
|
Table 9 shows
that, as in Table 8 for gambling, searching porno sites reported no focus of
interest majority of prospective teachers. The rest of the distributions seem
to be in balance for both nations.
Table 10: Time spend for playing interaction games in
a day by nation
CHATTING
|
Turkey
|
South Korea
|
TOTAL
|
Never
|
274 (70.6)
|
149 (72.0)
|
423 (71.1)
|
Less than 1 hour
|
83 (21.4)
|
35 (16.9)
|
118 (19.8)
|
1-3 hours
|
24 (6.2)
|
18 (8.7)
|
42 (7.1)
|
4-5 hours
|
5 (1.3)
|
2 (1.0)
|
7 (1.2)
|
6-8 hours
|
-
|
2 (1.0)
|
2 (0.3)
|
More than 8 hours
|
2 (0.5)
|
1 (0.5)
|
3 (0.5)
|
TOTAL
|
388 (100)
|
207 (100)
|
595 (100)
|
As seen in Table
10, approximately 30% of prospective teachers in each nation spend an amount of
time to play interaction games. The majority of the student teachers among the
players reported that they spend less than one hour for playing interaction
games.
Table 11: Time spend for downloading music in a day by
nation
Turkey
|
South Korea
|
TOTAL
|
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
|
Never
|
101 (26.0)
|
67 (32.4)
|
168 (28.2)
|
Less than 1 hour
|
183 (47.2)
|
107 (51.7)
|
290 (48.7)
|
1-3 hours
|
89 (22.9)
|
24 (11.6)
|
113 (19.0)
|
4-5 hours
|
11 (2.8)
|
4 (1.9)
|
15 (2.5)
|
6-8 hours
|
2 (0.5)
|
-
|
2 (0.3)
|
More than 8 hours
|
2 (0.5)
|
5 (2.4)
|
7 (1.2)
|
TOTAL
|
388 (100)
|
207 (100)
|
595 (100)
|
As seen in Table 11, half of the prospective teachers of each nation
spend less than one hour on internet for downloading music. Turkish prospective
teachers reported that they slightly more time for downloading music than South
Korean counterparts.
Table 12: Time spend for downloading photos in a day
by nation
Turkey
|
South Korea
|
TOTAL
|
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
|
Never
|
121 (31.2)
|
61 (29.5)
|
182 (30.6)
|
Less than 1 hour
|
207 (53.4)
|
114 (55.1)
|
321 (53.9)
|
1-3 hours
|
54 (13.9)
|
20 (9.7)
|
74 (12.4)
|
4-5 hours
|
3 (0.8)
|
7 (3.4)
|
10 (1.7)
|
6-8 hours
|
2 (0.5)
|
1 (0.5)
|
3 (0.5)
|
More than 8 hours
|
1 (0.3)
|
4 (1.9)
|
5 (0.8)
|
TOTAL
|
388 (100)
|
207 (100)
|
595 (100)
|
As seen in Table 12, majority of prospective teachers of both nations
reported that they spend less than one hour for downloading photos. The rest of
the distribution seems to be balanced for Turkish and South Korean prospective
teachers.
Table 13: Time spend for using e-mail in a day by
nation
Turkey
|
South Korea
|
TOTAL
|
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
|
Never
|
24 (6.2)
|
16 (7.7)
|
40 (6.7)
|
Less than 1 hour
|
259 (66.8)
|
148 (71.5)
|
407 (68.4)
|
1-3 hours
|
86 (22.2)
|
23 (11.1)
|
109 (18.3)
|
4-5 hours
|
14 (3.6)
|
13 (6.3)
|
27 (4.5)
|
6-8 hours
|
3 (0.8)
|
4 (1.9)
|
7 (1.2)
|
More than 8 hours
|
2 (0.5)
|
3 (1.4)
|
5 (0.8)
|
TOTAL
|
388 (100)
|
207 (100)
|
595 (100)
|
As seen in Table
13, very low percentages of prospective teachers in each nation seem not to
spend time using e-mail correspondence. Majority of prospective teachers
reported that they spend e-mail less than one hour a day.
Table 14: Time spend for downloading films in a day by
nation
Turkey
|
South Korea
|
TOTAL
|
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
|
Never
|
174 (44.8)
|
42 (20.3)
|
216 (36.3)
|
Less than 1 hour
|
118 (30.4)
|
91 (44.0)
|
209 (35.1)
|
1-3 hours
|
66 (17.0)
|
61 (29.5)
|
127 (21.3)
|
4-5 hours
|
22 (5.7)
|
9 (4.3)
|
31 (5.2)
|
6-8 hours
|
3 (0.8)
|
3 (1.4)
|
6 (1.0)
|
More than 8 hours
|
5 (1.3)
|
1 (0.5)
|
6 (1.0)
|
TOTAL
|
388 (100)
|
207 (100)
|
595 (100)
|
Table 14 shows that 44.8% of Turkish prospective teachers reported that
they have never spent time for downloading films compare to 20.3% of South
Korean prospective teachers. South Korean prospective teachers seem to spend
more time in internet to download films than Turkish prospective teachers.
Table 15: Time spend for producing/developing web
sites/blogs in a day by nation
Turkey
|
South Korea
|
TOTAL
|
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
|
Never
|
334 (86.1)
|
90 (43.5)
|
424 (71.3)
|
Less than 1 hour
|
38 (9.8)
|
87 (42.0)
|
125 (21.0)
|
1-3 hours
|
10 (2.6)
|
22 (10.6)
|
32 (5.4)
|
4-5 hours
|
6 (1.5)
|
5 (2.4)
|
11 (1.8)
|
6-8 hours
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
More than 8 hours
|
-
|
3 (1.4)
|
3 (0.5)
|
TOTAL
|
388 (100)
|
207 (100)
|
595 (100)
|
As seen in Table 15, majority of Turkish prospective teachers (86.1%)
are not interested in spending time for producing/developing web sites or
blogs. On the other hand more than half of the South Korean participants
reported that they spend some amount of time, mostly less than one hour, for
web site or blog production/development.
Table 16: Time spend for shopping on line in a day by
nation
Turkey
|
South Korea
|
TOTAL
|
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
f (%)
|
|
Never
|
286 (73.7)
|
32 (15.5)
|
318 (53.4)
|
Less than 1 hour
|
82 (21.1)
|
119 (57.5)
|
201 (33.8)
|
1-3 hours
|
16 (4.1)
|
41 (19.8)
|
57 (9.6)
|
4-5 hours
|
4 (1.0)
|
9 (4.3)
|
13 (2.2)
|
6-8 hours
|
-
|
2 (1.0)
|
2 (0.3)
|
More than 8 hours
|
-
|
4 (1.9)
|
4 (0.7)
|
TOTAL
|
388 (100)
|
207 (100)
|
595 (100)
|
As seen in Table 16, 73.7% of Turkish prospective teachers reported that
they don’t spend anytime for shopping online while only 15.5% of South Korean
prospective teachers reported in the same way. The data clearly shows that
South Korean prospective teachers spend more time than Turkish prospective
teachers.
Second main
research question is to find out the differences of problematic internet use of
prospective teachers by their demographic characteristics. First of all, the data
obtained from two main scales of the research, GPIUS2 and UCLA, were
analyzed.
Table 17: Problematic Internet Use By Nations
n
|
Mean
|
sd
|
df
|
t
|
p
|
|
Turkey
|
388
|
39.56
|
19.36
|
593
|
0.33
|
n.s.
|
South Korea
|
207
|
40.08
|
16.09
|
As
seen in Table 17, no differences were found between the problematic Internet use
of Turkish and Korean prospective teachers. The means also shows that
problematic internet use of the participants is below average which means the
Internet is not a problematic medium for both nations’ prospective teachers.
Table 18: Loneliness by Nations
n
|
Mean
|
sd
|
df
|
t
|
p
|
|
Turkey
|
388
|
31.76
|
9.33
|
593
|
11.80
|
0.000
|
South Korea
|
207
|
40.66
|
7.55
|
Although
loneliness, alone, is not the major investigation of this study, results of the
Table 19 shows us that there is a significant difference between Turkish and
Korean prospective teachers. South Korean prospective teachers were found to be
in higher levels of loneliness than Turkish counterparts.
Table 19: Correlation between problematic internet use and age
Problematic Internet Use vs. age
|
n
|
r
|
p
|
Turkey
|
388
|
- 0.12
|
0.02
|
South Korea
|
207
|
- 0.09
|
n.s.
|
As seen in Table 19 the results indicate a
negative and low correlation between problematic Internet use and age only in
Turkish prospective teachers. The result means that as the age grows up the
level of problematic Internet use drops down. It can be explained by being
mature as the years pass in relation to proper use of Internet. But on the
other side no relationship found for the South Korean prospective teachers.
This can be, probably, explained by the age difference of both groups. South
Korean participants’ age has been found statistically higher (Mean age/Turkish:
20.51, Mean age/S. Korean: 22.13, t: 9.28, p<0.001) than Turkish prospective
teachers. The way of this difference
would be an explanation of the contradictory result.
Table 20: Problematic Internet Use By Sex
Sex
|
n
|
Mean
|
sd
|
df
|
t
|
p
|
|
Turkey
|
Male
|
120
|
43.70
|
20.31
|
386
|
2.84
|
0.005
|
Female
|
268
|
37.72
|
18.67
|
||||
South Korea
|
Male
|
69
|
41.75
|
17.53
|
205
|
1.05
|
n.s.
|
Female
|
138
|
39.25
|
15.33
|
Table 20 shows that there is
a significant difference between male and females in relation to problematic
internet use only among Turkish prospective teachers. Male Turkish prospective
teachers found to have more problematic use of internet than female
counterparts.
Table 21: Problematic Internet Use by Computer
Sufficiency
Sufficiency
|
n
|
Mean
|
sd
|
F
|
p
|
|
Turkey
|
Never
|
8
|
40.38
|
24.89
|
2.09
|
n.s
|
Few
|
159
|
36.70
|
17.72
|
|||
Quite
|
196
|
41.35
|
19.79
|
|||
Completely
|
25
|
43.56
|
22.84
|
|||
TOTAL
|
388
|
39.57
|
19.37
|
|||
South Korea
|
Never
|
4
|
36.50
|
4.65
|
0.21
|
n.s
|
Few
|
58
|
39.40
|
16.10
|
|||
Quite
|
121
|
40.17
|
15.99
|
|||
Completely
|
25
|
41.96
|
18.30
|
|||
TOTAL
|
207
|
40.09
|
16.10
|
Table
21 shows that there is no difference between problematic internet use in
relation to computer sufficiency levels of prospective teachers in both
nations.
Table 22: Problematic Internet Use by Internet Using
Place
Place
|
n
|
Mean
|
sd
|
F
|
p
|
Difference
|
|
Turkey
|
Home
|
280
|
41.03
|
19.89
|
3.23
|
0.02
|
Home> Internet café
Home> Library
|
Internet cafe
|
23
|
31.74
|
14.53
|
||||
Library
|
20
|
30.85
|
14.24
|
||||
Other
|
65
|
38.72
|
18.86
|
||||
TOTAL
|
388
|
39.57
|
19.37
|
||||
South Korea
|
Home
|
157
|
38.65
|
15.96
|
1.96
|
n.s
|
|
Internet cafe
|
3
|
37.67
|
19.66
|
||||
Library
|
27
|
45.37
|
17.64
|
||||
Other
|
20
|
44.60
|
12.98
|
||||
TOTAL
|
207
|
40.09
|
16.10
|
As
seen in Table 22, ANOVA results put differences between problematic internet
uses in relation to mostly preferred internet using place among Turkish
prospective teachers. The post-hoc LSD analysis revealed that home users seem to
have higher problematic levels compared to internet café and library users in
Turkey. No differences have been found in South Korean participants.
Table 23: Problematic Internet Use by Time Spend on
Internet in a Day
Time
|
n
|
Mean
|
sd
|
F
|
p
|
Difference
|
|
Turkey
|
Less than 1 hour
|
141
|
30.46
|
13.21
|
26.56
|
0.000
|
Less than 1 hour<1-4 hours
Less than 1 hour<5-8 hours
Less than 1 hour<+8 hours
1-4 hours<5-8 hours
1-4 hours<+8 hours
|
1-4 hours
|
213
|
42.70
|
18.58
|
||||
5-8 hours
|
26
|
57.96
|
24.95
|
||||
+ 8 hours
|
8
|
56.75
|
31.73
|
||||
TOTAL
|
388
|
39.56
|
19.37
|
||||
South Korea
|
Less than 1 hour
|
23
|
26.78
|
11.73
|
7.16
|
0.000
|
Less than 1 hour<1-4 hours
Less than 1 hour<5-8 hours
Less than 1 hour<+8 hours
|
1-4 hours
|
134
|
40.82
|
15.35
|
||||
5-8 hours
|
36
|
43.36
|
15.35
|
||||
+ 8 hours
|
14
|
46.50
|
20.86
|
||||
TOTAL
|
207
|
40.09
|
16.10
|
As seen in Table 23 significant differences found between problematic
internet uses of prospective teachers in relation to time they spend on
Internet in a day. The results show that heavy users have more problematic in
Internet use in both Turkish and South Korean prospective teachers. If the
analyses have been investigated in details, South Korean prospective teachers
who spend less than one hour on Internet in a day have less problematic in
internet use than the other heavy users. On the other hand, in Turkish
prospective teachers the differences were found between not only among less
than one hour and the other heavy users but also 1-4 hours users and the
others.
Table 24: Problematic Internet Use By Number of Years
Using Internet
Time
|
n
|
Mean
|
sd
|
F
|
p
|
|
Turkey
|
Less than 1 year
|
9
|
28.67
|
10.94
|
0.92
|
n.s.
|
1-3 years
|
53
|
39.26
|
20.43
|
|||
4-5 years
|
124
|
38.98
|
17.83
|
|||
6-8 years
|
132
|
40.98
|
20.49
|
|||
+8 years
|
70
|
39.59
|
19.78
|
|||
TOTAL
|
388
|
39.56
|
19.37
|
|||
South Korea
|
Less than 1 year
|
2
|
25.00
|
2.83
|
0.89
|
n.s.
|
1-3 years
|
6
|
33.33
|
14.51
|
|||
4-5 years
|
17
|
42.94
|
20.39
|
|||
6-8 years
|
39
|
41.28
|
13.51
|
|||
+8 years
|
143
|
39.92
|
16.32
|
|||
TOTAL
|
207
|
40.09
|
16.10
|
As
seen in Table 24 no significant differences found between problematic internet
use in relation to the number of years using Internet of prospective teachers
in both nations.
Third main
research question is to investigate the relationship between problematic internet
use and loneliness levels of prospective teachers.
Table 25: Correlation between problematic internet use and loneliness levels of prospective teachers by
nations
Problematic Internet Use vs. loneliness
|
n
|
r
|
p
|
Turkey
|
388
|
0.11
|
0.02
|
South Korea
|
207
|
0.29
|
0.00
|
Table
25 shows that there are positive but low correlations (p<0.05) between
problematic Internet use and loneliness levels of prospective teachers of both
nations.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
First, prospective teachers were examined by computer ownership and the
purpose of Internet use. The findings show that South Korean prospective
teachers have slightly higher percentages (88.4% - 83.2%) of having their own
computers. Although this slight difference in favor of South Korean prospective
teachers it can easily seen that majority of prospective teachers have computer
in both nations.
The purpose of Internet use of Turkish and
South Korean prospective teachers shows some differences in many cases. The
most remarkable cases are the ones which are related with social interactions.
Turkish prospective teachers reported that they spend more time for chatting
and meeting with new people than South Korean counterparts. The result shows
that 45.9% of South Korean prospective teachers reported
that they never used Internet for chatting with someone else while the
proportion is 9.3% for Turkish prospective teachers. It is clearly seen that
the proportion of Turkish prospective teachers using internet for chatting are
remarkably higher than South Korean prospective teachers. Another difference can be caught in online
shopping. Higher percentages of Turkish prospective teachers (73.7%) reported
that they have never used internet as an online shopping medium while 84.5% of
Korean prospective teachers use some amount of time. Playing gambling and
searching porno sites have been reported very low in percentages for both
nations’ prospective teachers.
The second main research question is to
investigate the possible differences on problematic internet use of Turkish and
South Korean prospective teachers. No significant differences were found
between the problematic internet use of Turkish and South Korean prospective
teachers. The level of problematic internet use was also found below average. Studies
conducted in order to examine problematic usage of the internet do not diagnose
addiction, but only focus on whether an internet usage level, which can cause
problems, exist or not. Therefore, the fact that the level of problematic
internet use was found below average indicates that there is no tendency, in
any of the countries, towards a level of internet use that can cause problem.
Also in another study where the problematic internet usage levels of the
prospective teachers in Turkey were examined, this tendency has been found out
to be below average (Tutgun and Deniz, 2010). According to ‘Actual condition
survey on Internet addiction of Korean in 2010’, the internet addiction levels
(IALs) of the entire people has been gradually decreasing from 2004 when the
survey was begun. The IALs of the entire people is indicated as the decrease
from 8.5% in 2009 to 8.0% in 2010. The IALs of youths is also lowered from
14.4% in 2007 to 12.8% in 2009, 12.4% in 2010. The report says that this is a
result from systematic and scientific actions of Korean government and
schoolteachers (Ministry of
Public Administration and Security,2010).
Problematic internet use was positively and
significantly (p<0.05) related to loneliness. But the levels of the
correlations were low. Although it is not the main concern of the present
research the loneliness levels of both nations’ prospective teachers have been
found statistically different. South Korean prospective teachers’ loneliness
levels were found higher than the Turkish counterparts. It is hard to guess the
reasons of this difference but the low percentages of using internet for
chatting and meeting new people by South Korean prospective teachers compare to
Turkish counterpart should be taken into consideration to make an evaluation of
this case.
Male Turkish prospective teachers have
significantly higher scores than females while there is no difference in South
Korean side by sex. This finding
supports other studies made on the differentiation by gender of the problematic
internet use in Turkey (Odaci and Kalkan, 2010; Tutgun, 2009; Tutgun and Deniz,
2010). In their studies Tutgun and Deniz (2010) have suggested that male and
female students to be provided with the same internet usage facilities in
various environments where internet is used. On the other hand, it can be
considered that in internet usage environments in Korea, internet usage facilities
are positively provided for the both genders. There are studies that emphasize
on the problematic internet uses of the males also in other countries than
Turkey (Anderson, 2001; Kubey, Lavin and Barrows, 2001; Morahan-Martin and
Schumacher, 2000). In Morahan-Martin and Schumacher (2000)’s research as well,
similar findings have been obtained. Here too the individuals diagnosed with
pathologic internet use are mostly composed of men and these people use
internet to make new friends, receive emotional support, play interactive games
and find social comfort. This deduction is also a one-to-one reference to the
finding of present research for Turkish side. Turkish prospective teachers reported that they spend more time for
chatting and meeting with new people than South Korean counterparts. The fact
that male prospective teachers in Turkey tend more to use internet at
problematic levels in comparison with females may result due to the excessive
times they spent in internet with the purposes of chatting and meeting with new
people.
There is a significant difference (p<0.000)
between hours spend online in a day and problematic internet use in both
nations. Due to the excessive time spent
by prospective teachers in both nations on the net, we can reasonably assume
that the daily time spent on the net is one of the greatest risk factors in
this group and this deduction is parallel to other researches that analyzed the
relation between internet use lengths and negative results associated with
excessive internet use (Anderson, 2001; Caplan, 2005; Davis, 2001; Griffiths ,
2000; Rotunda, Kass et al., 2003; Young, 1999).
According to the statistics from the Korea
Communications Commission (2011), the ratio using Internet within recent a
month was the average 1.9 hours a day in 2007’s statistics and 2.3 hours in
2010, which is analyzed as an increase of 0.4 hour. Especially, as of 2010,
average Internet use period of Internet users over age 3 of the Korean is 85.2
months, and the case using Internet for more than 7 years is also founded as
55.1%. Examining the changes of average usage for each year, the case using
‘more than once a day’ was 77.2%, ‘more than once a week’ was 21.0% in 2007.
Average weekly Internet usage was 13.7 hours, and the case using for more than
average 14 hours a week (average 2 hours a day) was also founded as 50.2%. In
the 2010’s survey, the case using Internet ‘more than once a day’ is 78.4%,
‘more than once a week’ is 21.8%, and the average weekly Internet usage is
founded as 13.9 hours, which shows it gradually increases.
As stated by Caplan (2005) individuals who
lack skills to show themselves prefer online communication instead of
face-to-face interaction and consequently online social interaction drives
these individuals to spend longer periods of time on internet. On the other
hand the social environment established on internet may drive people to use
internet continuously and this situation can go so far as to cause some
psychological disorders. In Griffiths’ (2000) research, it has been underlined
that excessive internet users do so in order to overcome or inactivate their
insufficiencies (social defencelessness in real life, low self-esteem, physical
incompetence). Accordingly these particular individuals go through serious
problems due to excessive usage of internet.
On the other hand, in this study it has been
found out that, unlike South Korean prospective teachers, the prospective
teachers in Turkey tend to use the internet for the purpose of establishing
social interaction and meeting and chatting with new people. This may cause the
Turkish prospective teachers to spend more time on a daily basis in the
internet and consequently use internet in a problematic way. As for the
prospective teachers of South Korea, in comparison with their Turkish
counterparts, spend more time for researching and shopping on the internet and
spend lesser time for chatting and meeting with new people.
Yet, the finding indicating that the level of
loneliness of the Korean prospective teachers differentiate in comparison with
the Turkish prospective teachers suggest that they may be spending more time on
the internet with the purpose of social interaction, in other words developing
websites and blogs. Internet usage for producing and developing websites and
blogs has been found out to be higher in South Korea in comparison with the
Turkish prospective teachers. According to this result, majority of Turkish prospective teachers (86.1%) are
not interested in spending time for producing/developing web sites or blogs. On
the other hand more than half of the South Korean participants reported that
they spend some amount of time, mostly less than one hour, for web site or blog
production/development. This finding suggests that South Korean prospective
teachers may have social interactions through blogging. This point should be
assessed with an in-depth research to be conducted in South Korea, through
personal interviews.
Other findings show that no differences were
found between number of years using internet; computer sufficiency and
problematic internet use.
As the last word, when all the findings
evaluated altogether, it would be clearly said that the problematic internet
use of Turkish and South Korean prospective teachers seem alike in terms of
level and related factors although two countries have been reported (World Economic Forum, 2011) in different technological (network) readiness levels.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
As indicated by present research, problematic internet usage tendency of
prospective teachers is clearly a warning for the potential negativities they
can go through in future. As a conclusion it is urgent that in Education
Faculties where prospective teachers are trained, immediate precautions be
taken. Driven by this deduction, in this research several suggestions are
stated.
It is inevitable for the
university students, who cannot develop their social skills in their natural
social environment, to face serious problems in their future family and
business environments. Particularly in the occupational groups where the
effective utilization of social interaction skills is required, such as
teaching, social interaction has a vital importance. This is because of the
fact that, a teacher who experiences problems with its social and occupational
environment due to its excessive internet use, will not be able to transfer
knowledge to its students in a healthy way and will not present a good model. In
present research, it is clear that the tendency of prospective teachers to
problematic internet usage because of their loneliness is an indicator of
possible problems they may experience in the future. Therefore, studies can be
conducted to measure the level of problematic internet usage by prospective
teachers periodically.
Besides, studies on how to
control problematic internet usage by prospective teachers can also be
conducted. In order to prevent excessive internet usage by university students
due to the lack of the ability to adapt to new social environments and
establishing new friendships, the academic staff can support especially
freshmen with group projects and cooperative study techniques which provide
them new opportunities to socialize.
It is natural to have some limitations of
conducting and interpreting this research as it is the first comparative study
in its field between Turkey and South Korea. Further researches should be done
to understand the state and effects of information communication technologies
on different samples and by using different research methodologies, such as qualitative
ones.
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[1] The meaning of the high-risk
group noted in this study is a case that the Internet addiction level is at a
serious condition requiring counseling treatment based on the scale presented
by the medical profession in Korea.
Tam Metin:
http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ946606
http://www.tojet.net/results.asp?volume=10&issue=4&year=2011
Cite:
·
Tutgun,
A., Deniz, L. & Moon, Man-Ki (2011). A Comparative Study of Problematic
Internet Use and Loneliness Among Turkish and Korean Prospective Teachers, TOJET- The Turkish Online Journal of
Educational Technology, ISSN: 2146-7242, 10 (4), 14-30.
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