THE INTERNET COMPETENCY LEVELS OF TURKISH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND RELATED CONDITIONS

The purpose of this study is to examine the internet competency scores of high school students according to their various individual features and describe their access conditions at school, at home and at internet cafes. The data has been collected using two instruments namely (1) Student Characteristics and their Internet Access Conditions Questionnaire; and (2) The Internet Competency Scale for High School Students. Instruments have been applied to 516 (220 female and 296 male) students in the metropolitan area of Izmir. There are significant differences between students' internet competency scores and their individual characteristics, such as the type of high school they are enrolled in, where these high schools are located (center or suburb), and their Internet access conditions such as, having computer at home or not, being subscribed to an internet company or not, where they connect, how they have learned and how much time they devote to internet weekly, the most preferred activities on the internet, their level of English and if they are visiting internet cafes or not. There are no significant differences between students' internet competency scores and their individual characteristics such as sex, age, and grade and study area.