Comparing student teachers´ perceptions of the risks of the internet for people without intellectual and developmental disabilities
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Abstract
Although the Internet has multiple benefits for the society, it also involves some risks that must be identified. These risks may be perceived to be greater for some vulnerable groups such as children or people with disabilities. However, these inherent risks should not prevent people, and especially those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), from gaining online access. Instead, they should learn about the dangers and how to manage them. The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions that student teachers have about risks of Internet use by people with and without IDD in order to compare them. A convenience sample of 121 student teachers was recruited into the study from which 77% were female students (n = 93) and the mean age was 21.79 years old (SD = 4.23). Participants had to respond to a questionnaire that included some demographic data and 30 potential Internet risks that were presented in a five-point Likert scale (1 = totally disagree; 5 = totally agree). Student teachers had to rate each risk twice, one for each of the groups investigated (people with IDD and without IDD). Although participants perceive Internet risks to be high for everyone, significant differences were found between groups. Student teachers perceive the Internet to be more risky for people with IDD than for the general population. Differences were particularly greater for questions related to cyberbullying, being exposed to inappropriate content, communicating with people not known to them or their families, spending too much time on social networking sites, and spending money online, among others
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