The Views of Candidate Teachers of Information Technologies about Information Pollution on the Internet

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the views of candidate teachers of Information Technologies about information pollution on the Internet. The participants of the study were 12 fourth-grade candidate teachers of Information Technologies from the Department of Computer and Instructional Technologies, Anadolu University. The study designed on qualitative research methods, semi-structured interview technique was used, and the data were analyzed through inductive analysis. As a result of the analysis of the data obtained, it was found out that the candidate teachers of Information Technologies consider nformation pollution unnecessary, incorrect and out-of-date information found disorganized in an environment; the teacher candidates regard the most important factor causing information pollution on the Internet is the fact that every body can write about anything and may send incorrect information because the Internet is a source open to every body. In addition, it was also revealed that information pollution on the Internet leads to loss of time for the teacher candidates; they tend to use other sources to reach the necessary information; and these problems affect Internet use negatively. In order to avoid such problems, the teacher candidates suggested that information submitted on the Internet be controlled so as to decrease information pollution and that the people sharing information become conscious users.