Information Technology in Developing Nations: a study of lecturers’ attitudes and expertise with reference to Turkish teacher education

This paper reports a survey of lecturers from six Turkish teacher education institutions. The study specifically aimed to investigate the fundamental issues, concerns, and challenges of implementing information technology (IT) in teacher education. The survey consisted of four sections. The first section of the survey comprised several aspects of IT familiarity, namely the use of twelve common IT applications. The second section investigated benefits of IT to lecturers and teachers seeking to reveal how teacher educators view the role of new instructional technologies for teaching and learning. The third section dealt with the factors which are vital to implementing IT in teacher education, and the final part drew attention to the issues affecting employment and retainment of competent lecturers in teacher education. Most lecturers had a rather positive image and enthusiasm towards the use of IT in teacher training, despite a lack of experience. Recommendations are made for future strategies in Turkey on the basis of this survey and the associated literature.