مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - Investigation of Relationship Between Habits of Using Social Media and Media Literacy Levels of Teacher Candidates

Abstract :

Communication technologies which are ensured by technology era such as newspaper, magazine, television, computer, internet and social networks require more than reading and writing skills. Lack of increasing in quality of communication channels in spite of increasing in quantity causes the problem of access to correct information. It is highlighted that media companies may infringe ethics for financial or political power. Individuals are safe as much as they have knowledge about production of media messages. So that, individuals of the era should be a media literate for avoiding from these threats. Media literacy consists of abilities. These abilities are to (i) use information and communication technologies, (ii) analyze, (iii) evaluate and (iv) forward information in messages. The aim of this study is to specify media literacy levels and habits of using social media of teacher candidates and to investigate the relation between these variables in terms of different aspects. The study is performed in accordance with correlational research design. Participants were 550 teacher candidates from Faculty of Education at a state university during 2015-2016 academic years. Research data were gathered by Media Literacy Level Scale and Purpose of Using Social Network Websites Scale. Findings of the study were analyzed and presented in terms of disciplines, class, gender and attending media literacy course.