Are Digital teachers anxious? An investigation of the relationship between teachers’ Digital Citizenship behaviors and online privacy concerns

This study aims to investigate the effect of teachers’ digital citizenship behaviour on their online privacy anxiety levels. The sample of the study consists of 7,465 volunteer teachers randomly selected from among teachers in different branches working in public and private schools in eighty-one provinces affiliated to the Ministry of National Education of the Republic of Turkey. The data were collected using the sociodemographic characteristics information form, the digital citizenship behaviour scale (DCBS) and the online privacy anxiety level scale (OPCAS). Teachers were selected by the quota sampling method and descriptive analysis, t test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation analysis as well as multiple regression analysis methods which were used for the data analysis. There was a low level positive relationship between the teachers’ digital citizenship and their online privacy anxiety levels. The teachers’ online privacy anxiety and their digital citizenship levels are at a medium level. The online privacy anxiety levels of the preschool teachers are lower than those of the high school teachers. The digital citizenship levels of the preschool teachers are higher than those of the high school teachers. As the age of teachers increases, their online privacy anxiety levels increase. Digital citizenship levels of the female teachers are higher than those of the male teachers. The digital citizenship levels of the teachers who spent a long time on the Internet are higher than other teachers. As the age of the teachers increases, the average digital citizenship score decreases. This study reveals that there is a positive relationship between the teachers’ level of digital citizenship and their online privacy concerns. Increased online anxiety encourages the teachers to develop their digital citizenship skills. In this context, increasing the teachers’ awareness of digital citizenship and online privacy will contribute to the development of digital citizenship skills by supporting the idea that they should be concerned about their online privacy.