COVID 19 SÜRECİNDE SINIF ÖĞRETMENLERİNİN ACİL UZAKTAN ÖĞRETİM TECRÜBELERİNİN VE GÖRÜŞLERİNİN İNCELENMESİ

This study covers an examination of primary school teachers' emergency online teaching experiences and views during the COVID-19 pandemic. Within the scope of the research, data was collected from 10 teachers. Data collection took place in 3 stages. First, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants using an online conference tool to measure the classroom teachers' readiness. In the second stage, to collect the experience data, two distance education lessons of each participant was observed. In the last stage, interviews were made with the participants to gather their general opinions. The data was analyzed through the NVivo application. According to the results of the research, it was revealed that the participants had a certain technological readiness but did not have any prior distance education experience. Considering the field competencies of the participants, most of the participants see themselves as competent in their field and associate this with being constantly updated. Participants reported that due to the small age groups of the students, some difficulties experienced in distance education were overcome by receiving parent support. Measurement and evaluation problems were also emphasized in the study. Although the participants did not find measurement and evaluation in distance education reliable, they offered suggestions for improving this process. In addition, this study offers suggestions for individuals and institutions that will switch to emergency distance education. ABSTRACT Distance education is defined as a flexible and planned teaching method and performed using digital technologies regardless of time and place (Moore 2011). Emergency remote teaching is not a systematic and planned distance education; yet it is a method that provides access to teaching and materials for a certain period of time using digital technologies (Hodges, Moore, Lockee, Trust, & Bond, 2020). This study investigates the emergency online teaching experiences and perceptions of primary school teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers applied phenomenological design approach. The research was carried out at a private school in Istanbul. The participants were ten classroom teachers who were conducting their lessons online during the 2020 – 2021 academic year. The participants started teaching the emergency remote education process in March 2020. Due to the pandemic outbreak, data collection (interviews and observations) with the participants were conducted and recorded online. All the interview recordings were transcribed. The findings of this study revealed that the participants did not use online education before the pandemic. When the participants’ readiness for online education was explored, most of them reported using educational technologies in their classrooms before the pandemic. When the competencies of the participants were examined, it was clear how they expressed themselves to be competent in this aspect as they had enough knowledge and readiness on technology integration. Ozdemir (2016) argued that teachers have to be constantly updated about pedagogy, technology and content knowledge as part of their profession because they play a major role in the quality of education they offer.