Mathematics Teachers and Pre-service Teachers' Opinions about Distance Education

Abstract

School closures during the COVID-19 pandemic have made education dependent on online teaching. It turned into an unprecedented experience for teachers and students. Therefore, this study aims to examine the views of mathematics teachers and pre-service mathematics teachers on distance education practices. The data of the study were collected through a written and online questionnaire to thirty-seven mathematics teachers working in secondary/high schools in Turkey and final year pre-service mathematics teachers continuing their education in universities. The data were analyzed through descriptive and content analysis. At the end of the study, pre-service teachers expressed a high level of positive opinion about distance education practices. Teachers, on the other hand, expressed an approximately equal number of positive and negative opinions about distance education practices. In addition, participants characterized distance education practices in similar categories as negative. These categories are the inadequacy of technological infrastructure, the inadequacy of teacher-student interaction, and the impossibility of access. Similarly, participants expressed positive opinions in different categories. These categories were easy to access, repeatability, and economy. In addition, students and parents expressed concerns about the functionality of distance education applications in mathematics education as insecurity, family unrest, and financial problems.