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Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies, Online ISSN 2278-8808, SJIF 2021 = 7.380, www.srjis.com PEER REVIEWED & REFEREED JOURNAL, MAY-JUNE, 2021, VOL- 8/65 https://doi.org/10.21922/srjis.v8i65.1335 ATTITUDE TOWARDS USING CYBER RESOURCES AMONG PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS S. Manimegalai1 & N. Kalai Arasi2, Ph. D. 1

M.Ed. Scholar, N.K.T. National College of Education for Women, Chennai.

Associate Professor of Computer Science - Education, N.K.T. National College of Education

for Women, Chennai.

Paper Received On: 21 JUNE 2021 Peer Reviewed On: 30 JUNE 2021 Published On: 1 JULY 2021 Content Originality & Unique: 77%

Information and Communication Technology has rigorously impacted upon the way the teaching and learning is being carried out in the classrooms of twenty first century. Digital learning has opened the doors of a new classroom and has made knowledge and information accessible to everyone in any corner of the globe. Cyber resources are a collection of various online resources. The quality of nation depends on the quality of human capital it has, and ultimately the quality of human capital depends on the quality of education. Teaching and learning process is considered very important in education. Teacher plays a vital role in imparting knowledge and influences the students’ learning and their educational accomplishments. The main objective of this paper is to assess the attitude towards using cyber resources among prospective teachers. Sample of the study comprises of 300 prospective teachers randomly selected. Normative survey method was employed for data collection. The Attitude towards using Cyber Resources scale constructed and standardized by Dr. S. Rajasekar (2010) was used for data collection. Three hypotheses were formulated to guide this study. Student’s ‘t’ test was used to analyse the collected data. Results revealed that gender, educational qualification and discipline do not influence the attitude towards using cyber resources among prospective teachers. The prospective teachers have felt the need to use cyber resources for strengthening their knowledge by accessing advanced materials, reach out their students, and to use cyber resources as an effective teaching tool especially in this pandemic period. Keywords: Cyber Resources, Prospective teachers.

Scholarly Research Journal's is licensed Based on a work at www.srjis.com

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Introduction Technology is one of the most important subjects of our lives nowadays. In recent years, cyber resources has become a powerful tool for extending educational efficiency and effectiveness at all levels in both formal and non-formal settings. In this present era of cyber technology, the use of cyber material plays a huge role in education sector. The cyber resources have profoundly influenced our lifestyle thus making digital literacy as one of the prominent elements of today’s children’s development. It has become a wonderful resource for children in order to do research for their school works, socialize and many more. A student can use an online library, like Wikipedia, which will provide him a plethora of information anywhere at, anytime. It’s role is to help the students understand his lesson, and this can be easily achieved by using cyber resources. Review of related literature Singh & Rupa (2020) studied the attitude of B.Ed. trainees’ attitude towards using cyber resources. Survey method has been used for the present study. Simple random sampling technique has been adopted for selecting the sample of 182 B.Ed. Trainees from Nainital District. Findings of the study revealed that majority of B.Ed. trainees have neutral attitude towards using cyber resources. Jha & Bhutia (2019) conducted a study on attitude of B.Ed. Student Teachers towards using Cyber Resources. The study used descriptive method. The study found that the B. Ed student teachers from Shillong have favorable attitude towards using cyber resources. Gender and locale do not affect the attitude of B.Ed. teacher trainees towards cyber resources however those who possess own computer have significantly favorable attitude as compared to those B Ed student teachers not possessing own computers. Chandha (2018) conducted a study of B.Ed. Students’ Attitude towards using cyber resources. The study found out that the male B. Ed students have better attitude towards using Cyber resources but location does not have any effect on attitude towards using Cyber Resources. Puri (2016) investigated the attitude of teachers towards Cyber Resources and their Cognitive Dissonance. The sample of study comprised of 200 prospective teachers, who were selected from Education Colleges of Chandigarh. Attitude towards using Cyber Resource Scale by Dr. S. Rajasekar (2010), and Cognitive Dissonance scale constructed by the Copyright © 2021, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies

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researcher were used for the purpose of data collection. Findings of the study were that there was a significant difference in the attitude of prospective teachers towards cyber resources in government and private colleges of education. Sekar & Lawrence (2015) conducted a study the attitude of B.Ed., students towards information and communication technology (ICT). The study revealed that there was no significant difference in the attitude of B.Ed., students towards ICT with regard to gender, discipline, course of study, and locality. Need for the Study Teacher education is a diverse field, covering numerous subjects and various methods of teaching. Teaching in any field is demanding and is a challenging task. Ultimately, the goal of teacher education is to provide future teachers or teachers looking to further develop their teaching ability with the skills they need to convey essential information to their students. An amalgamation of teaching skills, pedagogical theory and professional skills would serve to create the right knowledge, attitude and skills in teachers, thus promoting holistic development. Cyber resources include mainly and all the online applications of computer, like email, web based application, search engines, Meta search engines and so on. Cyber resources have been used extensively in classrooms of today, as these classrooms become a virtual environment that allows learners to understand practically of what has been taught, and provides experiential learning and also helps learners to have long retention of subject content. So cyber resources are necessary in the digital age of the modern classrooms. Therefore, it has become the need of the hour for the future teachers to develop the habit of using cyber resources to enhance their teaching, enabling the students to learn more easily. The student those who are studying in B.Ed. course need to equip themselves in making use of cyber resources. The education effectiveness of ICT’s depends on how they are used and for what purpose. Teacher can enable better communication and present subject matter with more ease and in effective manner with use of cyber resources. Learning through cyber resources combines learning about them and learning with them. Cyber resources play a dynamic role in every aspect of life. Cyber resources scaffold the teaching to be more interesting by presenting online interactive maps and atlases, encyclopedia, electronic journal and other references. These new ways of teaching and learning are underpinned by Copyright © 2021, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies

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constructivist theories of learning and constitute a shift from a teacher-centered Pedagogy in its worst form characterized by memorization and rote learning to one that is learnercentered. The development of the nation depends upon the development in the field of Science and Technology. The quality of the nation may include the use of modern technologies in the production sectors, the per capita income of citizens of the nation and the ability of the nation to compete with developed countries, especially in the field of Science and Technology. But in order to achieve this, the standard of education that is imparted to its citizens has to be taken into consideration. The quality of education depends much on the availability of the competent and committed teachers. The teacher of present era has to use variety of sources to keep his/her knowledge updated. Teachers can share novel ideas and use different methods of teaching with suitable examples among themselves from anywhere in the world through cyber resources. This approach emphasizes and enhances teacher's professional competency. Not only this, but also the usage of cyber resources helps the teacher to get updated with what is new in the day to day world. Hence, usage of cyber resources and utilizing cyber facilities are necessary for the student teachers in order to manage today’s technology enabled classroom. Thus, student teachers should develop a positive attitude towards using cyber resources. The teachers of today and tomorrow need to possess the knowledge of how to integrate and implement technology in order to be successful in their career particularly to handle the online classes in this pandemic situation, which is the need of the hour. Hence, this study is an honest attempt to know the attitude towards using Cyber Resources among prospective teachers. Statement of the Problem The problem of the study is stated as “Attitude towards using Cyber Resources among Prospective Teachers.” Operational Definition of variables Cyber Resources: Cyber resources play a dynamic role in every aspect of life. Learning with technology can be the means of learning ends across the curriculum, as it includes: Presentation and demonstration; use of curriculum-specific application educational content, drill and practice, simulation, tutorials, virtual laboratories, visualization and Copyright © 2021, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies

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graphical representation of concept; and make the teaching more interesting by presenting online interactive maps and atlases, encyclopedia, electronic journal and other references. Cyber resources are a collection of various online resources like audio files, video resources, power point presentation, pdf files, images and maps and editable resources. Attitude towards using Cyber Resources: Attitude is more or less permanent enduring state of readiness of mental organization which predisposed and individual to react in a characteristics way to any subject or situation with which it is related. Attitude towards using cyber resources is an expression of favour or disfavour toward cyber resources, which play an important role in learning. It enhanced learning process and makes learning accurate and upto-date. In this study, it refers to the attitude of prospective teachers towards using cyber resources for teaching learning process. Prospective Teachers: Teacher candidates who were enrolled in a teacher education program and in their final year of education. It refers to those student teachers who are studying in B.Ed. second year. Hypotheses of the Study The following hypotheses were formulated to guide this study. 1. There is no significant difference between male and female prospective teachers in their attitude towards using Cyber Resources. 2. There is no significant difference between prospective teachers of Arts and Science disciplines in their attitude towards using Cyber Resources. 3. There is no significant difference between Graduate and Post Graduate prospective teachers in their attitude towards using Cyber Resources. Methodology Normative survey method was used for the study. The sample of the present study comprised of 300 prospective teachers drawn from Colleges of Education in Chennai District. Random sampling method was used for data collection. Instrumentation The Attitude towards using Cyber Resources Scale developed by Dr. S. Rajasekar (2010) was used for data collection. It consists of 24 items which were categorized under the six dimensions namely (1) Cyber communication system ; (2) Cyber Educational blogs; (3) Copyright © 2021, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies

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Educational websites in the Cyber world; (4) Cyber Searching system; (5) Cyber Instructional materials; (6) Cyber Space for Storage of data There were about 14 favourable statements and 10 unfavourable statements in the Cyber Resources Scale. Each statement is set against a five point Likert type scale of “Strongly Agree’’, “Agree”, “Undecided”, “Disagree” and “Strongly Disagree”. Weightage of 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 are given in the order for the favourable statements and the scoring is reversed such as 1,2,3,4 and 5 for the unfavourable statements. The scores in this scale range from 24 to 120 in the direction of the most unfavourable to the most favourable. The reliability of the Attitude Scale was calculated using Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient method. The reliability and the validity of the attitude scale is 0.86 and 0.88 respectively which shows that the scale is highly reliable. Data Analysis and Interpretation Data collected from the respondents were subjected to appropriate statistical analysis to draw up inferences from it. Student’s‘t’ test was used for data analyses. Hypothesis 1: There is no significant difference between male and female prospective teachers in their attitude towards using Cyber Resources. Table -1 showing significance of mean difference between Male and Female Prospective teachers in their attitude towards using Cyber Resources Variables

Gender

Mean

Attitude towards using Cyber Resources

Male Female

150 150

109.30 109.01

Standard Deviation 2.384 2.604

t Level of value significance 0.998 NS

NS – Not significant From the ‘t’ value presented in the table-1, it is observed that there is no significant difference between male and female prospective teachers in their attitude towards using Cyber Resources. Hence, it is evident that both male and female prospective teachers are similar in their attitude towards using Cyber Resources. Therefore, the formulated hypothesis that there is no significant difference between male and female prospective teachers in their attitude towards using Cyber Resources is accepted.

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Hypothesis 2: There is no significant difference between prospective teachers of Arts and Science disciplines in their attitude towards using Cyber Resources. Table-2 showing significance of mean difference between prospective teachers of Arts and Science disciplines in their attitude towards using Cyber Resources Variables

Discipline N

Mean

Attitude towards using Cyber Resources

Arts Science

109.20 109.13

112 188

Standard Deviation 2.802 2.303

t value 0.213

Level of Significance NS

NS – Not Significant From the ‘t’ value presented in the table-2, it is observed that there is no significant difference between prospective teachers of Arts and Science disciplines in their attitude towards using Cyber Resources. Hence, it is evident that prospective teachers of both Arts and Science disciplines are similar in their attitude towards using Cyber Resources. Therefore, the formulated hypothesis that there is no significant difference between prospective teachers of Arts and Science disciplines in their attitude towards using Cyber Resources is accepted. Hypothesis 3: There is no significant difference between Graduate and Post Graduate prospective teachers in their attitude towards using Cyber Resources. Table-3 showing significance of mean difference between Undergraduate and Post Graduate prospective teachers in their attitude towards using Cyber Resources Variables

Educational qualification Attitude towards UG using Cyber PG Resources

Mean

194 106

109.21 109.07

Standard Deviation 2.543 2.419

t value 0.464

Level of Significance NS

NS – Not Significant From the ‘t’ value presented in the table-3, it is observed that there is no significant difference between Graduate and Post Graduate prospective teachers in their attitude towards using Cyber Resources.

Hence, it is evident that both Graduate and Post Graduate

prospective teachers are similar in their attitude towards using Cyber Resources. Therefore, the formulated hypothesis that there is no significant difference between Graduate and Post Graduate prospective teachers in their attitude towards using Cyber Resources is accepted. Copyright © 2021, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies

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Educational Implications Cyber Resources are contributing to a great extent in the teaching and learning process. Both teachers and learners are being benefitted from internet and Cyber knowledge but too much dependence on these may adversely affect the cognitive abilities as suggested by Greenfield (2009) in his study. So both teachers and learners should try to avoid the overdependence on these resources and should try to work depending on their insight. Cyber Resources have been created by human mind and growing trend of enslaving human mind by excessive use of these should be avoided. Prospective teachers should keep in mind about the bad consequences of using cyber resources. The information received by cyber resources mostly lack authentication. Hence, each and every prospective teacher should be also made aware of the disadvantages of using cyber resources while teaching and also insist the parents to keep an eye on their children while using cyber resources.

Cyber resources play a

significant role in education. Teachers are the agents of change in the society and school. But these days, many online courses such as MOOCs, SWAYAM etc., are available which demands extensive use of cyber resources. These cyber resources as technology are helping many enthusiastic learners to gain new knowledge every day. In other words,

attitude

towards cyber resources, whether positive or negative, is the outcome of how teachers use technology in a learning environment. The use of the cyber resources may provide great educational benefits to students. It makes learning precise and up-to-date. The internet presents several prospects to involve students more actively in their learning and develop communication between students and between faculty and their students. It also provides the immediate feedback, enhancing active participation of the students, sharing ideas and information within the teachers and students. Conclusion From the present study it is being realized the inevitable role played by cyber resources in educational environment. It enhances the learning process and makes learning precise. The effective combination of Educational Technology and teaching skills contribute solutions to the problems of the country by developing desirable understanding of attitudes, skills and abilities of the students. Teacher education programmes must also equip their preservice teachers on using cyber resources efficiently and constructively and to teach cyber security topics and safe computing practices so that future generations will know how to Copyright © 2021, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies

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behave ethically, as well as to keep themselves safe and secure in online. While online learning in the new normal provides many opportunities for learners and teachers alike, it is more significant than ever to strengthen usage of cyber resources to deal with new and emerging challenges in education. References Chanda, C. (2018). A study of B.Ed Student’s Attitude towards Using Cyber Resources. Innovation the Research Concept, 3(2), 233-236. Greenfield (2009). "Is Technology Producing A Decline In Critical Thinking And Analysis?" Science Daily. Jha, K.K., & Bhutia, Y. (2019). Attitude of B.Ed. Student Teachers towards using Cyber Resources, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), 8(7), 1088 – 1093. Lepcha, M.O. & Devi, J., (2019). A Study on the Attitude of B.Ed Trainees towards Cyber Resources of Biswanath District, Assam. International Journal of Science and Research, 8(7), 940-945. Mallick, P.K. (2013). Study of the Awareness of Online Learning among Teacher Trainees. International Journal of Research and Development, 2(3), 73-76. Puri, A. (2016). Attitude towards Cyber Resources and Cognitive Dissonance of Prospective Teachers. International Journal of Advanced Research in Management and Social Sciences, 5 (1), 111-117. Rajasekar, S. (2010).Manual, Attitude towards using Cyber Resources scale. Agra: National Psychological Corporation. Sang, G., Valcke, M., Van Braak, J., Tondeur, J. (2010). Student Teachers' Thinking Processes and ICT Integration: Predictors of Prospective Teaching Behaviors with Educational Technology, Computers & Education, 54, 103-112. Sekar, J.M. & Lawrence, A.S. (2015). Attitude of B.Ed students towards information and communication technology (ICT).International Journal of Applied Research 2015, 1(8). Sharma, A., Pyase, R. &Sapna, J. (2015). A Study & Survey of B.Ed Students: Attitude towards Using Internet. International Journal of Science and Research, 4(12). Singh, B.D. & Rupa, P. (2020). A Study of the Attitude of B.Ed. Trainees towards the use of Cyber Resources. Retrieved from https://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:quest&volume=13&issue=3&article=003 Upadhyaya, P. (2013). Attitude towards computer among B.Ed. students. International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts, 1(5).