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This study reports on the experiences of an instructor and an undergraduate class who used blogs in their teaching and learning environment at Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey. Qualitative data were collected from observation of students' activities when working on blogs in the classroom, analyses of students' blog documents on the web, and interviews with 42 students. Most students reflected that blogs are user friendly and convenient tools for publishing and sharing studies. Moreover, blog implementations contributed positively to students' information searching and writing skills, despite the limited opportunities that many students had for Internet access outside the university. However, students' ignorance regarding copyright issues and their tendency to copy information from online sources and paste it into their blogs was a common problem.

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The main purpose of the study is to investigate Turkish undergraduate students' perceptions of the Web as a learning tool and to analyze whether their perceptions differ significantly based on gender, socio-economic background, and Web experience. Data obtained from 722 undergraduate students (331 males and 391 females) were used in the analyses. The findings indicated significant differences based on gender, socio-economic background, and Web experience. The students from higher socio-economic backgrounds indicated significantly higher attitude scores on the self-efficacy subscale of the Web attitude scale. Similarly, the male students indicated significantly higher scores on the self-efficacy subscale than the females. Also, the students with higher Web experience in terms of usage frequency indicated higher scores on all subscales (i.e., self-efficacy, affective, usefulness, Web-based learning). Moreover, the two-way ANOVA results indicated that the student's PC ownership has significant main effects on their Web attitudes and on the usefulness, self-efficacy, and affective subscales.

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences and similarities among United States (US) and Turkish university students in technology ownership, uses of technology for academic purposes, perceived importance of technology, and preferences for technology in education. The EDUCAUSE Center for Analytics and Research (ECAR) undergraduate student technology survey was used to collect data from Turkish students (N=384) at Abant Izzet Baysal University and US students (N=399) at Louisiana State University (LSU). The findings revealed significant differences in uses and ownership of most technological devices in favor of the US students in comparison to the Turkish students. The results of the study pointed to differences in information technology (IT) ownership and access, largely as a function of local infrastructure and economic settings rather than cultural diversities between Turkey and the US.

The relationship between problematic Internet use (PIU), depression and quality of life levels of individuals is a growing concern in many societies. One of the main purposes of this study was to examine the relationships or correlations among PIU, depression and quality of life levels of Turkish undergraduate students. Furthermore, this study sought to investigate whether correlated variables; if any, simultaneously predicted students' quality of life levels on different domains of WHOQOL-BREF-TR in a significant manner. Moreover, this research examined whether some or any of study variables had a mediating effect in relationships between domains of WHOQOL-BREF-TR and other study variables. The data collected from 758 undergraduate student participants (431 female and 327 male) attending different faculties and colleges at a public university in Turkey. A demographical information form, the Beck Depression Inventory, the World Health Organization's Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF-TR) and Online Cognition Scale (OCS) were used to collect data from the undergraduate Turkish students. The results indicated that the students' PIU and depression levels were negatively associated with quality of life levels and positively associated with each other in a significant manner. Moreover, the results of hierarchical regression analysis revealed that PIU levels of the students on the diminished impulse control dimension partially mediated the relationships between depression and quality of life levels on all domains of WHOQOL-BREF-TR.

Bu araştırmanın amacı, bilgisayar destekli video öğretiminin (BDVÖ) bankamatikten para çekme becerisinin zihinsel yetersizliği olan bireylere öğretilmesinde etkili olup olmadığını incelemektir. Bu amaç doğrultusunda bankamatikten para çekme becerisi, zihinsel yetersizliği olan üç bireye hazırlanan BDVÖ ile öğretilmiştir. Araştırmaya hafif düzeyde zihinsel yetersizliği olan, 16 yaşlarında üç birey katılmıştır. Araştırmada tek denekli araştırma yöntemlerinden katılımcılar arası yoklama evreli çoklu yoklama modeli kullanılmıştır. Zihinsel yetersizliği olan bireylerin bankamatikten para çekme becerisinin BDVÖ aracılığıyla kazanımları ve hedeflenmeyen bilgi kazanım düzeyleri incelenmiştir. Araştırmanın bulguları, BDVÖ'nün hafif derecede zihinsel yetersizliği olan bireylerin bankamatikten para çekme becerisini kazanmalarında etkili olduğunu göstermiştir. Ayrıca, öğretimin tamamlanmasının ardından öğrenciler kazanılmış beceriyi sergilemeye devam etmiş ve bu beceriyi farklı bankamatiklere, bankamatik kartlarına, farklı miktarda para ve farklı şifrelere genellemişlerdir. BDVÖ aracılığı ile sunulan hedeflenmeyen bilgi kazanım düzeyine ilişkin bulgular, araştırmaya katılan bireylerin hedeflenmeyen bilgi kazanımını edindiklerini göstermiştir. Araştırmanın sosyal geçerlilik bulguları, zihinsel yetersizliği olan bireylerin bilgisayar destekli video öğretimi ile bankamatikten para çekme becerisinin öğretimine ilişkin görüşlerinin olumlu olduğunu göstermiştir.

Executive SummaryThe purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of screencasts on the Turkish undergraduate students' achievement and knowledge acquisitions in spreadsheet applications. The methodology of the study is based on a pretest-posttest experimental design with a control group. A total of 66 undergraduate students in two groups (n=33 in experimental, and n= 33 in control) participated both in the multiple choice and practical pretests and posttests. There was no significant difference between the mean achievement scores of the experimental and control groups in the multiple choice and practical pretests. Nevertheless, there was a significant difference between the mean achievement scores of the experimental group and control group in the multiple choice and practical posttests in favor of the experimental group. Additionally, the students in the experimental group had significantly higher scores in the multiple choice and practical posttests in comparison to the pretest phases. Moreover, the differences between the mean achievement gain scores on multiple choice and practical pretests and posttest are significant in the favor of the experimental group. According to these experimental findings, the screencasts can be used as supplementary media to promote achievement and knowledge acquisitions of the undergraduate students in spreadsheet applications.