The rapid expansion of digital technologies has transformed educational practices and increased the importance of technological competence among teachers. Along with the educational opportunities provided by computers and the internet, prospective teachers are increasingly exposed to cyber-related risks, making cybersecurity awareness an important dimension of teacher preparation. The present study examined cybersecurity awareness and technology attitudes among teacher trainees with reference to gender, locale, and academic stream. The study was based on a descriptive survey design and involved 402 prospective teachers selected from colleges of education affiliated with Panjab University, Punjabi University, and Guru Nanak Dev University. Cybercrime awareness was assessed through the Cyber Crime Awareness Scale (CCAS-RS) developed by Rajasekar, while technology-related attitudes were examined through the Computer Attitude Scale developed by Khatoon and Sharma. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests, factorial analysis of variance, and Pearson's product-moment correlation. The findings indicated significant differences in cybersecurity awareness according to gender, locale, and academic stream. Female prospective teachers obtained a mean cybercrime-awareness score of 134.38 compared with 126.71 for male prospective teachers. Urban prospective teachers obtained a mean of 136.43 compared with 121.29 among rural prospective teachers, while science-stream prospective teachers obtained a mean of 136.56 compared with 130.62 among humanities-stream prospective teachers. Significant interaction effects involving gender, locale, and stream were also observed. In relation to computer attitude, no significant gender difference was found, whereas significant differences were observed according to locale and academic stream. A significant positive relationship was found between cybersecurity awareness and computer attitude (r = .59, p < .01). The findings highlight the importance of integrating cybersecurity education, digital safety, and technology-related competencies into teacher education programmes.
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Source dissertation used for the empirical data and study design:
Kumar, S. (2021). Cybercrime awareness and computer attitude among prospective teachers in relation to gender, locale and stream, Doctoral dissertation, CT University, Ludhiana.