Examining the usability of an online environment developed for teachers to support students' social-emotional learning

Social emotional skills, which mean being aware of one's feelings and thoughts, managing emotions, empathising, controlling relationships and making responsible decisions, have an important place in order to lead a qualified life. Studies in the field of social emotional learning emphasise that individuals need relevant skills throughout their lives for their well-being. Teachers have an important role in the effective and inclusive implementation of social and emotional development. The aim of this study is to design a web-based training environment for teachers to support students' social emotional learning processes and to evaluate the usability of the developed online environment. The study was conducted with the "Development Research" method and the product design process was carried out with the "Rapid Prototyping Model". The web-based learning environment developed with the rapid prototyping model was created by following the steps of information gathering (analysis), design, prototyping, implementation and evaluation. In the analysis phase, 471 teachers were administered the "Scale for Assessing Teachers' Social Emotional Competencies" together with the literature review and the results were analysed. A web-based teacher training programme was created with experiential learning methodology. In the prototyping process, "Self-Management" skill was designed at primary, secondary and high school levels. 5 field experts evaluated the prototype in terms of design and content within the framework of instructional design principles. In the implementation phase, it was opened to the use of 12 teachers working at different levels. The data obtained through individual interviews with the teachers to whom the usability test was applied were analyzed by content analysis method. The results show that the design is in line with the needs and expectations of teachers and is a usable digital tool to support students' social emotional learning skill development in the digital world.