Is It "Writing on Water" or "Strike It Rich?" The Experiences of Prospective Teachers in Using Search Engines

Information searching skills have become increasingly important for prospective teachers with the exponential growth of learning materials on the web. This study is an attempt to understand the experiences of prospective teachers with search engines through metaphoric images and to further investigate whether their experiences are related to the variables of years spent in the program and years of experience with computers. Participants were comprised of 335 prospective classroom teachers registered at Pamukkale University, Faculty of Education, Primary School Teaching Program (1-5) in the Department of Elementary Education. In this descriptive study, data were collected through asking participants to produce a metaphor with reasoning that demonstrates their experiences with search engines. Gathered data were analyzed by using the techniques of content, frequency, and percentage analyses. Upon this procedure, themes were emerged. Chi-square test was used to identify whether participants' experiences relate to their years of computer experience and years spent in the program. Findings drew attention to the categories of provisions, opportunities, and problems in searching for information and demonstrated the dominance of problems with respect to other themes. Participants' experiences were not related to their experiences with computers but were related to their years in the program. Findings revealed a need to off er learning experiences to enhance prospective classroom teachers' searching skills.