Positions of turkish teachers using digital content in their courses

The primary aim of this study is to explore the use of digital content in Turkish language teachers' classroom practices. The study employed a case study, one of the qualitative research methods. The working group consisted of Turkish language teachers working in urban centres, districts, and rural areas within a selected province. Two distinct groups participated in the study: the first group comprised 10 teachers whose classes were observed, while the second group included 39 teachers who participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were collected over an eight-week period through classroom observations and interviews. The observation data were analysed through using descriptive analysis, whereas the interview data were examined through content analysis. Observation findings suggested that Turkish language teachers primarily used smart boards in classrooms, and no additional technological equipment was available. While most teachers incorporated digital content into their lessons, such usage was largely limited to platforms such as YouTube, educational websites, and PowerPoint presentations. None of the teachers used the EBA platform in their classrooms. The digital content used by the teachers was categorized into visual, auditory, both visual and auditory, and content that facilitated interaction between the material and the teacher. Digital content was employed primarily for text preparation, vocabulary instruction, and grammar teaching. However, the use of digital content was limited within the 40-minute class period for the 7 teachers who integrated it into their lessons. The durations for which digital content was used varied: one teacher using it for 5 minutes, two teachers for 10 minutes, one teacher for 15 minutes, one teacher for 25 minutes, and two teachers for 40 minutes. Besides, the study revealed that students' reactions to the use of digital content in Turkish lessons were diverse and the researcher's evaluation of the observations was also presented. The interview findings indicated that the majority of Turkish language teachers demonstrated a positive attitude toward the use of digital content in their lessons. However, most teachers had not received in-service training on the effective use of digital content, and those who had found the training insufficient. In addition, a significant number of teachers reported using digital content both in their lessons and in activity-based applications. They categorized the digital content platforms into five main types: websites, Web 2.0 tools, educational portals, social media, and presentation and video tools. Furthermore, most teachers were identified to prefer using pre-existing digital content rather than creating their own. The teachers who created digital content developed the types of materials including presentations, course notes, activity applications, mind maps/concept maps, digital stories, and videos. Teachers reported that students showed interest and actively participated in lessons that incorporated digital content. They found the use of digital content especially beneficial for improving listening skills. In addition, teachers mentioned that they engaged with the content to improve their own skills in preparing and using digital resources. However, the majority of teachers expressed experiencing infrastructure issues related to the use of digital content and technological tools and provided various recommendations regarding these challenges.