Opinions of Social Studies Teachers on Distance Education

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the whole world, has caused serious problems in many areas. Undoubtedly, one of the most important of these areas is education. Education-teaching processes were continued remotely during the pandemic period, which caused the closure of schools almost all over the world. In this study, it is aimed to examine the views of social studies teachers, who have given lectures with the help of distance education during the pandemic period, about distance education. Phenomenology, which is one of the qualitative research designs, was used in the research. The study group of the research consists of 12 social studies teachers who work in a secondary school affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in the city of Bayburt and have given lessons with the help of distance education. A semi-structured interview form was used as a data collection tool to examine teachers’ views on distance education. The collected data were analyzed with thematic analysis method. The data obtained were shown in themes and the findings were supported by direct quotations from the views received from the participants. As a result of the study, it was demonstrated that the negative thoughts of the social studies teachers about distance education were higher than the positive thoughts, and they also expressed problems such as slow connection, internet infrastructure, low participation in the course and insufficient devices for accessing distance education. In addition, it was concluded that all of the participants agreed that social studies teachers should take in-service training, seminars and courses in order to improve themselves in the distance education process and using technology effectively. In this context, it is recommended to give educational seminars on technology literacy to social studies teacher candidates and teachers.