No abstract

This study examined the effects that computer-assisted instruction had on students' attitudes toward a mathematics lesson and toward learning mathematics with computer-assisted instruction. The computer software we used was based on the ASSURE Instructional Systems Design and the ARCS Model of Motivation, and the software was designed to teach fractions to fourth-grade students. The skill levels of these students were gauged before and after receiving the computer-assisted instruction. We structured our experimental design to use one group for both pre-and post-tests, which is considered to be one of the weak experimental designs. We conducted our research with 28 students studying in Balıkesir, Turkey, for a period of six weeks, using the specifically developed teaching material. We gathered our research data by applying an attitude scale to our mathematics lesson and to computer-assisted instruction. We also applied the Academic Achievement Test for Fractions Unit in Mathematics, a test we developed for our research. We analyzed our gathered data with the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test (n<30) by using the statistical software SPSS 15. The conducted analyses showed that the activities of the developed instructional material had positively affected the attitude of the students toward computer-assisted instruction (z=-2.807, p< 0.05) and increased their academic success (z=-4.623, p<0.05). Although the attitude scale toward our mathematics lesson indicated an increase in their scores, this increase was not found statistically significant (z=-2.807, p>0.05). Based on the research results, we believe that similar materials can also be used for instructing other topics of mathematics, and similar computer-assisted activities can be developed for other courses.

The relationship between pre-service teachers' cognitive flexibility levels and techno-pedagogical education competencies.

This study aims to show the present conditions about the usage of cloud computing in the department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology (CEIT) amongst teacher trainees in School ofNecatibey Education, Balikesir University, Turkey. In this study, a questionnaire with open-ended questions was used. 17 CEIT teacher trainees participated in the study. The aim of this qualitative study was to determine trends about cloud technology. The cloud technology under study included "Dropbox", "SpiderOak", "Google Drive", "IDrive", "pCloud", "OpenDrive", "Bitcasa", "OneDrive", "Tresorit", "Box" and "Yandex.Disk. The CEIT teacher trainees' opinions about cloud storage and its purposes; their opinions about types of cloud storage and the level of importance of cloud storage were investigated. The reliability and validity were taken. The advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing were examined. The study found that CEIT teacher trainees' had used cloud storages such as Dropbox and Google Drive previously and they continue to use primarily Dropbox, followed by Google Drive and OneDrive respectively.

In this study, using ADDIE instructional design model, it is aimed to prepare English language educational material for 4 th grade primary students to teach them numbers. At the same time, ARCS model of motivation's attention, relevance and satisfaction phases are also taken into consideration. This study also comprises of Design Based Research which includes design, theory and application processes. The first phase of the ADDIE method is the analysis where there is a discussion with primary school English language teachers so as to determine the topic, the content and the target groups. During the design phase; objectives, strategies, activities, assessments, and methods of learning are determined to organize and present the content on the basis of learning objectives. In the development phase; images, animations and user interface are created in accordance with students' ages. Additionally, sounds including the pronunciation of digits and numbers are created and the codes of the visual scenarios that are designed are written in ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash CS3 Professional. At the implementation phase, some of the target group students are tested with prototype material that has been implemented. In the classroom, students learn both the pronunciation and the spelling of the numbers. After checking their spelling and typing errors of numbers with quizzes, the students repeat what they have learned and then they take the spelling quizzes. The program checks the misspelled words. Students who correctly complete the quizzes are entitled to have one flag. And when they have all the flags (4 flag), they receive a certificate of achievement. With this rewarding technique, it is intended to raise the motivation of the students. Finally, at the evaluation step, the observed problems in the materials are revised. At every stage of the process, expert evaluations are consulted. With this study that is based on ADDIE instructional designed model and ARCS motivational model, it is * Submitted the manuscript on November 30, 2015. E-mail addresses: abdulkadir.yuzen@baun.edu.tr (Abdulkadir Yüzen), karamete@balikesir.edu.tr (Ayşen Karamete) European Journal of Contemporary Education, 2016, Vol. (15), Is. 1 95 expected that students enjoy learning pronunciation and the spelling of the numbers in a semigame environment.