Information and Communication Technology Skills of Students Using the Distant Education Management System to Complete Their Theology Undergraduate Education

Abstract

Considering several variables, the present study aimed at examining the information and communication technology skills of university students taking their courses with the distant education system. In the study, the singular and relational survey model, one of general survey models, was used. The research sample was made up of 381 students attending the Distant Undergraduate Education Completion Program in Theology (DUECPT) at Dicle University in the Diyarbakir in Turkey in the academic year of 2013-2014. The first part of the questionnaire used the data collection tool in the study covered such demographic information about the students to reveal personal information about them as well as their use of information and communication technologies. As for the second part of the questionnaire, it included a scale to determine the participants’ information and technology skills. In the study, such descriptive statistics as frequencies, percentages, mean scores, mod and median as well as such parametric tests as t-test and one-way analysis of variance were applied. The results revealed that the university students’ information and communication technology skills differed significantly with respect to their gender, Internet use time, years of experience in computer use and their preferences of mobile device and that there was no significant difference with respect to their preferences of instructional methods (face-to-face or blended), their foreign language proficiencies, their preferences for studying (as a group or individual) and their preferences in learning.