The Perceptions on Digital Citizenship Among Prospective Teachers: A Survey-Explorative Study in Westkalimantan-Indonesia

Abstract

Digital citizenship has become a priority in education almost all over the world. This study aims to explore the level of perception of prospective teacher students regarding digital citizenship and analyze differences in the level of perception of digital citizenship in terms of gender, educational background, and various regional geographical characteristics. This research applies descriptive method with survey-explorative study. A total of 345 student teacher candidates in the sixth semester of the 2020/2021 Academic Year at Westkalimantan of Educational Personnel Education Institute (LPTK) were involved as samples. To explore the level of perceptions of digital citizenship of prospective teachers, this study adopted a questionnaire of Likert scale. Based on data analysis, it was found; (1) the perception profile of students (prospective teachers) about digital citizenship is quite varied; (2) there is no significant difference in the level of perceptions between female and male students; (3) there are significant differences in the level of student perception in terms of various educational backgrounds and geographical conditions from the area where they live. Prospective teachers  need to be trained on the knowledge, skills, and values of digital citizenship before they provide learning services in schools.