First-Grade Teachers’ Attitudes Towards The Distance Education Process Who Have Educated The First-Grade Classes With Distance Education During The Pandemic Period (Adana Case)

Abstract

This study aims, in line with the opinions of classroom teachers working in Adana, to identify and reveal the attitudes of teachers who taught first grade through distance education during the pandemic period.

In the schools where the teachers were determined in the research, schools and teachers were selected by taking into consideration the geographical and demographic elements of the Adana province at a level that could meet the selected population, paying attention to the sampling principles. Data obtained from 50 teachers were included in the study. In this study, carried out with the help of the scanning model, the Attitude Scale Towards Distance Education developed by Ağır (2007) was used to find out the attitudes of teachers who were selected from the districts of Adana Province in the 2020-2021 academic year and taught first grade through distance education, towards the distance education process. Using the form containing the demographic information of the teachers, the data collected from the teachers who worked in Adana and taught first grade through distance education during the pandemic period were processed into the SPSS-22 package program. While the total Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient was 925 in the Attitude Towards Distance Education scale, the Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient values ​​were 905 in the "Advantages of Distance Education" dimension and the Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient values ​​were 830 in the "Distance Education Disadvantages" dimension. These results show us that the scale which will be used has high reliability. The scale in our study is developed with a fivefold Likert system consisting of 21 main items and two sub-dimensions. While there are 14 advantage items in the attitude scale prepared for distance education, there are 7 limitation items. According to the data obtained, the t-test was applied in groups with two variables, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied in groups with three or more variables. According to the findings of our research, it was concluded that the attitudes of classroom teachers who taught first grade through distance education during the pandemic period were generally positive towards distance learning. In addition, variables such as age group, gender, seniority, education level, distance education qualification and previous distance education status were examined and no significant difference was found. However, although the attitudes of the teachers participating in the research towards distance education were positive, 88% stated that distance education was not suitable for the developmental characteristics of the age group. In addition, as can be seen from the data obtained, it was concluded that the family member who helped the child the most during the distance education process was the mother with a rate of 82%.