Examining High School Students' Safe Computer and Internet Usage Awareness.

Abstract

The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is rapidly spreading among high school students. These technologies provide the students to gain learning experiences and also involve many dangers such as addiction, loneliness and stress. The aim of this study is to examine awareness levels of different types of high school students towards Safe Computer and Internet Usage Awareness (SCIUA). The data were collected from 715 students studying in the high school students in Turkey by using a questionnaire developed by the researchers. The data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed based on the pre-determined themes and the students’ information security and computer usage awareness profiles were revealed. It was determined that students mostly use Internet for access to information, playing online games and access to social networks. When the relations among dimensions of students’ awareness towards SCIUA were examined, a strong negative relation was determined between students’ competencies and the problems and threats they faced. Students’ remarks (awareness) vary in terms of social network/communication and dimension of family factor with respect to the places where they connect to the Internet. Also, within the scope of this project, practical information based on the results of this study is offered to implementers of the FATIH project, which is conducted by the Ministry of National Education in Turkey. Article visualizations: