Distance Education Activities Research Articles

A RESEARCH ON THE EFFICIENCY OF DISTANCE EDUCATION IN UNIVERSITIES DURING THE PANDEMIC

During the pandemic period, there have been such upheavals from production methods to distribution strategies, and from supply methods to corporate functioning. Accordingly, it would not be wrong to say that all companies and sectors, regardless of national or international, are part of this fundamental transformation. When the education sector was evaluated from the same perspective, it is possible to say that it is one of the sectors most affected by the differences created by this pandemic. For instance, very soon after the pandemic, almost all higher education institutions switched to distance education activities instead of face-to-face education. This study aims to examine the effects of the devastation caused by the pandemic on students at the higher education level in the context of efficiency. In this research, the criteria has been set as which university students’ efficiency was achieved during the distance education process, and the research included 1604 participants from 15 universities, who formed the study’s sample. The data obtained was subjected to reliability and validity analysis, and it was by using the SPSS program, and the results were examined with different dimensions.

Are You Me? Re-Embodiment Process for Telepresence Robots

Accessibility in distance education activities represents a challenge that needs to be addressed with a view to social inclusion and collaboration between the stakeholders of the school system. Also, as a resilient response to the Covid-19 pandemic, today we are witnessing research and experimentation on the theme of connecting people at a distance through solutions and tools designed to facilitate the teaching/learning process and socialisation, to make the impact more human with advanced digital technologies for image transfer. In this direction, telepresence robotics demonstrates a discrete potential regarding pedagogical effectiveness and social inclusion. Still, it also needs to investigate in greater detail the requirements for acceptance and service management. This contribution presents the results of a workshop/laboratory with university students at the Politecnico di Torino to investigate the first requirements related to the physical and cognitive embodiment of the telepresence robot through an interdisciplinary co-designing experience.

Evaluation of Higher Education Students' Distance Education Experiences during and After the Pandemic Period

In the study, it was aimed to evaluate the distance education activities of university students during and after the pandemic period. For this purpose, a survey model, a quantitative research method, was used. To evaluate the distance education attitudes of the students, the 15-item "Distance Education Evaluation Scale" was applied to 524 students during the pandemic period and 1095 students after the pandemic. The data obtained were analyzed using both descriptive and predictive methods. As a result the analysis observed a significant difference between the groups in terms of variables such as the units where the students studied, their educuation levels, class levels, gender, and age groups. However, when the scores of the students with distance education experience and the students without experience were compared, no statistically significant difference was found between the groups. As a result, it is suggested that new studies should be carried out to develop innovative methods in order to improve distance education evaluation scores of students and to make more effective and interesting distance education activities. In addition, it is recommended to carry out new studies, including different provinces with the transition of educational activities after the natural disasters such as earthquakes to emergency distance education.

Covid-19: Pandemi Sürecinde Sosyal Bilgiler Eğitiminin Uzaktan Eğitim Faaliyetleri ile Verilmesine Yönelik Öğrenci Görüşleri

Covid-19 Pandemi döneminde Dünya Sağlık Örgütünün 08.02.2021 verilerine göre dünya üzerinde 105 milyondan fazla kişiye virüs bulaşmış ve iki milyondan fazla insanın ölümüne sebep olmuştur. Pandemi eğitim öğretimin okulda yürütülmesini engel olmuş ve dünyada olduğu gibi ülkemizde de eğitim, uzaktan eğitim faaliyetleri şeklinde gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu süreçte eğitimin kalitesini arttırmak, uygulanan uzaktan eğitim faaliyetlerinin verimliğini arttırmak için uzaktan eğitimin olumlu yönleri ve sınırlılıklarını gerçekçi bir biçimde ortaya koymak gerekmektedir. Bunu yapabilmek içi öğrencilerin uzaktan eğitime yönelik görüşleri önem taşımaktadır. Buradan hareketle çalışmanın amacı uzaktan eğitim sürecinde Sosyal bilgiler dersine yönelik öğrenci görüşlerinin belirlenmesidir.
 Çalışma nitel araştırma yöntemi ile yürütülmüştür. Nitel araştırma desenlerinden görüngübilim (fenomenoloji) deseni kullanılmıştır. Çalışma grubu Kırşehir ilinde bir devlet okulunda okuyan 37 öğrenciden oluşmaktadır. Çalışma grubu ölçüt örneklem yöntemi ile belirlenmiştir. Çalışma grubunda 5. Sınıftan 12, 6. Sınıftan 11, 7. Sınıftan 14 öğrenci olmak üzere toplam 37 öğrenci bulunmaktadır. Çalışmada veri toplama aracı olarak araştırmacı tarafından hazırlanan yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formu kullanılmıştır. Görüşme formu 5 sorudan oluşmaktadır. Veriler araştırmacı tarafından öğrencilerden on-line görüşme programları kullanarak toplanmıştır. Verilerin analizinde içerik analizinden faydalanılmıştır. 
 Çalışma sonucunda Pandemide Sosyal Bilgiler dersinde uzaktan eğitimle başarılı olamayacağını düşünenlerin sayısının başarılı olacağını düşünenlerden daha fazla olduğu ortaya konulmuştur. Başarılı olamayacağını düşünme sebeplerinin yoğunlukla uzaktan eğitimin yüz yüze eğitim kadar faydalı olmadığını düşünmeleri ve uzaktan eğitimle sosyal bilgiler dersini anlamakta zorlanmaları olduğu bulunmuştur. Öğrencilerin uzaktan eğitimle sosyal bilgiler dersini anlamakta zorlandıklarında dersin içeriği ve uzaktan eğitimde yaşanan teknik sorunlar ve sınıf ortamının olmayışının etkili olduğu buna rağmen öğretmenlerinin etkisi ile uzaktan eğitimle sosyal bilgiler dersini sevdikleri belirlenmiştir. Uzaktan eğitimle sosyal bilgiler dersinin verimli geçmesi için öğrencilerin çoğunluğunun tavsiyelerinin; Derslerde farklı bölümlerin olması (oyun, sohbet, ödev kontrol vb.), derslerdeki etkinliklerin çeşitlendirilmesi (oyun, yarışma vb.), içerisinde dersle ilgili etkinlik, oyun, yarışmaların bulunduğu elektronik kitap oluşturulması, ders saatinin artması, bağlantıda yaşanan teknik sorunların çözülmesi şeklinde olduğu ortaya çıkmıştır.

"Nothing replaces meeting my students at class": Analysing academics' views regarding distance education.

Distance education, also called distance learning, e-learning, and online learning, is a practice of teaching and learning in which teachers and learners are not in a closed class or room in person, but where education takes place through various new-media technologies and all parties (student-teacher, teacher-teacher, student-student) are able to communicate, interact and exchange information and emotions. Being on the agenda of educational science for a long time now and gaining further importance during COVID-19 lockdowns, both advantages (e.g., reducing social anxiety, and a flexible schedule) and disadvantages (lack of social interactivity, and miscommunication) of distance education are highly debated in the related literature. Therefore, this study, through a qualitative method (i.e., a case study design and semi-structured interviews), aims to analyse the opinions and experiences of academics regarding distance education and its applications. The participants consist of 36 lecturers working at 16 different Turkish universities selected by the purposeful sampling method (i.e., typical case sampling). The results suggest that the participants still have doubts about online distance education, and they mention both ups (ease of connection, and cost-effectiveness) and downs (lack of self-motivation, socialization, and the sense of isolation) of it. Nonetheless, none of the academics thinks distance education will replace an in-person learning environment in the near future. Thus, this study presents a general illustration of distance education activities through the views of Turkish academics and gives recommendations for future digital/distance/online learning activities and functionalities.

Academician Perspective on the Implementation of Distance Education in Universities during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The purpose of this research was to examine the perspectives of academicians on distance education activities during the pandemic from various aspects. The research study was carried out using a case study design, which is one of the qualitative research methods. The perspectives of 24 academicians working at a state university were explored, and the data collected through an online platform using a structured interview form were analyzed by utilizing the content analysis method. The findings were reported in the form of themes, sub-themes, and codes, supported by participant expressions. Results indicated that academicians faced infrastructure-related problems during the pandemic process, which arose from various aspects. They expressed that distance education applications would be appropriate to use, especially in social sciences, theoretical courses, and crowded classrooms in the post-pandemic period. However, using distance education in math, sciences, and engineering may be inconvenient and create an inequality of opportunity. Academicians also stated that they experienced technical issues during the distance education process, open-to-abuse exams, low participation in classes, and problems in accessing education for students. They emphasized that encountering cases of cheating and plagiarism regarding the measurement and evaluation processes is an important deficiency. Furthermore, academicians made suggestions regarding distance education applications such as maintaining the hybrid teaching model, examining the practices of leading universities, introducing a new model, integrating virtual classroom applications into the process, or introducing existing interactive systems into the system.

Perception Levels of High School Students on Distance Education Activities During COVID-19 Pandemic Period

Bu araştırma, Eskişehir ilinin Odunpazarı ve Tepebaşı İlçe Millî Eğitim Müdürlüğüne bağlı liselerde öğrenim gören ve COVID-19 pandemi döneminde uzaktan eğitim ile ders işlemiş olan öğrencilerin uzaktan eğitime yönelik algı düzeylerini çeşitli değişkenler açısından incelemek amacıyla yapılmıştır. Bu amaç doğrultusunda, nicel araştırma yönteminin kesitsel tarama modeliyle yürütülen araştırmaya toplam 526 ortaöğretim öğrencisi katılmıştır. Araştırmanın verileri Doğrukök, Kurnaz, Barışık ve Kaynar (2021) tarafından geliştirilen “Lise Öğrencileri Uzaktan Eğitim Algıları Ölçeği” kullanılarak çevrim içi ortamda toplanmıştır. Araştırmada elde edilen bulgulardan bazıları şu şekildedir: (1) Öğrencilerin uzaktan eğitim algıları cinsiyet, gelir durumu, sınıf düzeyleri ve örgün öğretim sırasında okulu sevme durumlarına göre anlamlı bir farklılık göstermemektedir. (2) Devlet liselerine sınavsız şekilde giren öğrencilerin uzaktan eğitime ilişkin algı düzeylerinin devlet liselerine sınav puanı ile giren öğrencilere göre daha yüksek bir seviyede olduğu görülmüştür. (3) Hazırlık sınıfı, onuncu sınıf ve on ikinci sınıf öğrencilerinin uzaktan eğitim döneminde verilen ödevlere yönelik algıları ile uzaktan eğitime ilişkin tutumları dokuzuncu ve on birinci sınıf öğrencilerine göre daha yüksek bir seviyededir. (4) EBA sistemine girişte hiçbir sorun yaşamayan öğrencilerin, ara sıra veya her zaman sorun yaşayan öğrencilere göre hem uzaktan eğitim algıları bakımından hem de uzaktan eğitimde kendilerine, öğretim uygulamalarına ve ödevlere ilişkin algı düzeyleri bakımından daha yüksek puanlara sahip oldukları tespit edilmiştir.

COVID-19 Pandemisinde Uzaktan Eğitim: Tıp Öğrencileri Ne Düşünüyor?

Aim: Although distance education is used as an education method from time to time, it has started to be used as a more compulsory method due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Opinions and attitudes towards distance education may change due to differences in education and technical infrastructure between countries. This difference may also differ between faculties in universities. This study aimed to evaluate the attitudes of the students studying at the medical faculties in Turkey towards distance education and the factors affecting these attitudes.Methods: 490 volunteer students studying at various medical faculties in Turkey were included in the study. Attitudes of students towards distance education with Online Learning Attitude Scale; Other variables that may affect their attitudes were evaluated through the sociodemographic form and questions prepared by the researchers about distance education, and it was applied to the students through an online questionnaire.Results: It has been found that students studying in medical school have an almost neutral attitude towards distance education. While the flexibility of time and space, the ease of following the lessons, the convenience of disadvantaged students, the environmental friendliness and the increase in attendance are seen as the advantages of distance education; disadvantages of distance education were found to be difficulties in focusing on the screen and motivating to the lectures, creating difficulties in self-control to attend the lectures, technological problems, low interaction during the lectures, feeling isolated and having difficulty in finding a suitable place to participate in the lectures. Technological problems (internet connection, power shortage, etc.), some courses not suitable for distance education in terms of content, and the lack of technical knowledge and skills of instructors regarding distance education are seen as obstacles to the effective implementation of distance education. Although more than half of the students think that distance education reduces their academic success, only 5% of them stated that they want to study only with distance education in the following years.Conclusions: Although distance education activities have various advantages, in the current study, it was seen that medical faculty students mostly thought that it reduced their academic success and a very small part of them wanted to continue their education with distance education only. Because of technological improvements, it can be predicted that distance education which have been used more actively with the COVID-19 pandemic, can be implemented more frequently in the future. Therefore, It is thought that it would be beneficial to consider it as a holistic approach in order to organize the curriculum, train the instructors and provide access to distance education in order to implement the education-teaching activities more efficiently.

Covid-19 Salgın Sürecinde Uzaktan Eğitim Ortamlarının Kullanımına İlişkin Yükseköğretim Öğrencilerinin Tutumları

The aim of this research is to examine the attitudes of students studying in undergraduate departments of universities towards the use of distance education environments due to the COVID-19 epidemic detected in the city of Wuhan, Hubei province of the People's Republic of China. The method of the research; mixed method. The population of the research consists of 152 undergraduate students. Data collection tools of the research; the first vehicle; "Attitude scale regarding the use of distance education environments in the pandemic process" is the second tool in the research; it consists of a semi-structured interview form prepared by the researcher. Analysis of data; the data were analyzed in two ways. Firstly, ward technique, one of the hierarchical clustering analysis methods, was used and square Euclidean distance was chosen as a distance measure. Differences in attitudes towards the use of distance education environments according to ward's cluster analysis technique; it is classified into three clusters: Effectiveness and Satisfaction, Motivation and Dissatisfaction. After the classification, a random semi-structured interview form was applied to two students in each cluster formed. As a result; it has been concluded that students have positive and negative opinions about distance education activities.

Broken Wings: Evaluation Of Distance Education Activities In Rural Areas In The Shadow Of The Pandemic: A Phenomenological Study

This study investigates the distance learning experiences of rural teachers during Covid-19 pandemic. The study employed phenomenological qualitative research design. In the study, 8 classroom teachers working in rural areas of Malatya province in eastern Turkey participated in the 2020-2021 academic year. Research data was collected through semi-structured interviews using ZOOM videoconferencing. The research results show that teachers pleaded for more positive experiences, even though negative experiences were more dominant. It further reveals that they did everything they could to boost the disadvantaged students’ motivation. Positive experiences are classified under three sub-headings. First of all, students have borderless access to information on virtual platforms. Secondly, they learn to express themselves and follow the rules in online environments. Thirdly, they improve research skills and expose to repeating experiences. Negative experiences, on the other hand, are grouped under two categories, i.e., the problems caused by ”individual and family“ and ”physical conditions". These findings suggest several courses of action for future researches.

Quality Assurance in Distance Education through Data Mining

Learning Management Systems (LMS) are software applications that facilitate the management and monitoring of online teaching courses and/or training programs, workshops, webinars, forums, and other similar learning activities. The LMS provides learning and teaching benefits and possibilities for synchronous, asynchronous, and hybrid training. For instance, learning management systems (LMS) can store a wide variety of large-scale educational data. The stored data can be analyzed by employing educational data mining methods. Educational data mining (EDM) is a new discipline that deals with methods for exploring the unique and large-scale data generated by digital platforms to better understand students’ learning progress and the learning environment itself. In this study, the data stored in the LMS used by Balıkesir University during the fall semester of the 2021–2022 academic year were analyzed by using educational data mining methods in order to reveal the current status of distance education activities and make suggestions to improve the quality.

Examination of the Opinions of Pre-School Teachers Regarding the COVID-19 Pandemic Period's Reflection of Pre-School Education

In this study, it was aimed to examine the opinions of preschool teachers about the distance education process in preschool education in the COVID-19 pandemic. The research is designed as a case study, one of the qualitative research designs. The working group consists of 22 preschool teachers. A semi-structured interview form was used as a data collection tool. The data obtained in the research were examined separately by the two researchers and content analysis was carried out. Miles and Huberman's formula was used to calculate reliability among researchers and the harmony was found to be 86. When the views of the preschool teachers who participated in the study are investigated, it is seen that the teachers carried out distance education activities through "the use of technology and the cooperation of the family" during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this process, teachers stated that they had problems with "children, families, participation and technology". It is seen that there are teachers who use different methods and techniques when preparing daily plans, as well as teachers who cannot perform activities that support social development. All preschool teachers participating in the research think that the COVID-19 pandemic process has negative effects on children such as social-emotional development, physical and psychological violence in the family environment. In distance education, it is seen that families support children especially in "preparing a learning environment". Teachers expressed that the COVID-19 pandemic process leads to a different experience in their professional development and that they use new methods and techniques.

Kırgızistan’da Uzaktan Eğitime Yönelik Öğretmen Tutumlarının İncelenmesi

Bu araştırmada Kırgızistan’da uzaktan eğitime yönelik öğretmen tutumlarının incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Betimsel tarama modelindeki araştırmanın örnekleminde 3818 öğretmen bulunmaktadır. Çalışmanın verileri 2021-2022 eğitim öğretim yılında “Uzaktan Eğitim Tutum Ölçeği” ile toplanmıştır. Ölçek, Uzaktan Eğitimin Avantajları ve Uzaktan Eğitimin Sınırlılıkları adlı iki faktörden oluşmaktadır. Verilerin analizinde betimsel istatistikler, t-testi ve ANOVA analizleri kullanılmıştır. Elde edilen bulgulara göre, araştırmaya katılan öğretmenler uzaktan eğitimin sınırlılıklarının, avantajlarına göre daha fazla olduğunu düşünmektedir. Katılımcıların uzaktan eğitimin avantajları ile ilgili tutumları cinsiyete, kıdeme ve eğitim durumuna göre farklılaşmamakta; ancak branşa, kendine ait bilgisayar sahibi olma durumuna, internet bağlantısı sahibi olma durumuna, günlük internet kullanma süresine, uzaktan eğitim uygulamalarına katılma durumuna ve zorluk yaşama durumuna göre farklılaşmaktadır. Öğretmenlerin uzaktan eğitimin sınırlılıkları ile ilgili tutumları branşa, kıdeme, eğitim durumuna, kendine ait bilgisayar sahibi olma durumuna, internet bağlantısı sahibi olma durumuna, günlük internet kullanma süresine ve uzaktan eğitim uygulamalarına katılma durumuna göre farklılaşmamakta; cinsiyete ve zorluk yaşama durumuna göre farklılaşmaktadır. Enformatik öğretmenleri, Kendine ait bilgisayarı olan öğretmenler, internet bağlantısı sahibi olan öğretmenler, interneti günlük 5-10 saat kullanan öğretmenler, uzaktan eğitim uygulamalarına katılan öğretmenler ve uzaktan eğitim sürecinde zorluk yaşamayan öğretmenler uzaktan eğitimin avantajları konusunda daha olumlu tutuma sahiptir. Kadın öğretmenler ve uzaktan eğitim sürecinde zorluk yaşayan öğretmenler uzaktan eğitimin sınırlılıkları konusunda daha olumsuz tutuma sahiptirler. Yukarıdaki sonuçlar dikkate alındığında, öğretmenlere yönelik uzaktan eğitim sürecinde gerçekleştirilen etkinliklerin öğretmenlerin gelişimlerine yönelik olumlu etkilerinin de olduğu görülmektedir. Bundan dolayı uzaktan eğitim etkinliklerinin ve öğretmenlerin bilgi ve iletişim teknolojilerini daha fazla kullanacakları ortamların oluşturulması önerilebilir.

The Thoughts of School Directors About Distance Education and Their Work in This Process

The purpose of this research is to put forward the views of school directors about distance education studies that have been carried out during the covid 19 epidemic period in Turkey. The study used a case study method included in the qualitative research approach. The sample of the study was determined by the purposeful sampling method. The study was carried out with 27 school principals working in different school types (middle school and highs chool). The data were collected through an open-ended questionnaire form prepeared by the researchers and six questions. The data obtained from the study were analyzed by content analysis method. As a result of the study, it was found that principals maintained regular continuation of distance education activities with programs such as EBA and Zoom, resolved systematic problems in the distance education process, ensured student attendance, and established EBA live course support points in their schools during the epidemic period. It has been suggested that school administrators may focus more on the delivery of live.

Development of Android Application-Based Early Childhood Learning Devices (PAUDPEDIA) During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Early Childhood Education has an important role in the development of a child. When talking about Early Childhood Education quality is the most critical, especially during the Covid-19 Pandemic as it is today and coincides with the era of the industrial revolution 4.0 where the education system underwent drastic changes. This study aims to (1) produce an Early Childhood Education application based on android; (2) test the effectiveness of the Early Childhood Education application. The development of the Android-based PAUDPEDIA application will be carried out using the 4D Model Research and Development method proposed by Thiagarajan and Semmel. This research and development are divided into four stages, namely define, design, develop, and disseminate. The results of this study indicate that researchers can achieve the expected output targets, namely (1) the results of the expert trial of the Android-based PAUDPEDIA Application showed a percentage of 86.7%. This means that the Android-based PAUDPEDIA Application is very feasible to be distributed to users and ready to use; while the results of user trials on the Android-based PAUDPEDIA application showed a percentage of 86.2%. This means that the Android-based PAUDPEDIA Application is effective for use by users; and (2) the Android-based PAUDPEDIA application is effective to be used to facilitate distance education activities in Early Childhood Education. It can be concluded that the Android-based PAUDPEDIA application is very suitable for use by users and is effectively used for distance education activities in PAUD, especially during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

When Higher Education is Infected by Covid-19: An Analysis of the Experiences of Students and Academics in Distance Learning Activities during the Pandemic

During the Covid-19 pandemic, many sectors, especially the education and health sector, have encountered new urgencies that they had never experienced before. One domain most affected by the pandemic has been higher education. This study aims to evaluate the distance education activities that have occurred at higher education institutions in Turkey during the pandemic. The distance education experiences of 46 academics and 115 students of 10 universities in Turkey during the pandemic were surveyed through a question form. A qualitative research method, phenomenology, was adopted and the data were analyzed using the content analysis technique. The findings show that the distance education model presents both practical difficulties and advantages. The system can be improved by considering the results obtained from the experiences and detecting the deficiencies of distance education.

#NotHolidayButDistance Education: a study on social media use for K-12 education during the COVID-19 pandemic

PurposeThis study aims to explore Twitter posts of Turkish government agencies and the public under a specific hashtag, #NotHolidayButDistanceEducation, specifically related to online distance education during the Covid-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a thematic analysis on 22,547 original tweets posted by 6,970 users during the first month of online distance education in Turkish K-12 schools. Based on like and retweet counts, the study further explored the extent of stakeholders’ engagement with the observed themes.FindingsThe findings showed that government agencies and citizens used Twitter to provide technical and psychological support, appreciate and motivate stakeholders, demonstrate sample distance education activities, share information and offer suggestions about the ongoing online distance education. It was also observed that the hashtag has been used for expressing negative views about online distance education and for political purposes. A positive relationship was found between social media engagement and providing technical support or sharing information for online distance education.Practical implicationsThis study highlights the role of social media in providing practical and emotional support to education stakeholders in times of crisis. Thus, governments can use social media to provide evidence-based psychological and physical health support to their citizens during a pandemic. Social media can serve to improve education practices in schools through the interactions between the public and policymakers.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study can be considered unique because it demonstrates the civic use of social media for educational crisis management. This study highlights the influence of social media in educational policy and practice development in the contemporary era.

Evaluation of the Distance Education Process based on Teachers’ Opinions during the Covıd-19 Pandemic

This study aims to examine the quality of distance education activities carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on teachers’ feedback from primary and secondary schools. In this context, the research was structured in a phenomenological design by employing a qualitative approach. The study participants consisted of 10 teachers determined by the maximum variation sampling method and the snowball sampling method. A semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers were used as data collection tools. The research data were collected through online interviews and also recorded. Research data were analyzed by the content analysis method. According to the findings of the study, teachers mostly used the EBA platform to conduct their distance education activities, school administrations provided limited support to teachers during the distance education process, students and parents had not shown significant interest in the distance education activities, students’ participation in the live classes, and their desire to learn, motivation were quite low, and teachers during the distance education process have experienced some systemic and technical problems on the EBA platform. Within the scope of the research, various suggestions were presented as per the research results.

An investigation of distance education activities of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic

An investigation of distance education activities of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic

Students’ Views Regarding Instruction during the Pandemic Process

The aim of this study was to determine the views of secondary and high school students regarding the distance education activities carried out during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the blended learning activities conducted afterwards, and the post-pandemic back-to-school process. The study consisted of 982 students and was conducted utilizing the descriptive survey method, one of the quantitative research methods. Data were collected using the “Scale of Evaluating Instruction in Pandemic Process”. The findings indicated that most of the students used smartphones alone for distance education during the pandemic process and most of them participated in distance education only via live lessons. In addition, no significant difference was found between genders with regard to students’ satisfaction with the distance education process and their expectations. On the other hand, most of the students did not receive sufficient psychological and academic support during this process. It was also noted that the students with internet access were more satisfied with the instruction activities in this process and that their access to the internet and technologies were higher than the students without internet access. Based on our findings, we recommend that students should be provided with academic and psychological support, security precautions should be tightened in schools to minimize the effects of the pandemic, and equal opportunities should be provided to students regarding hardware and internet support.