Distance education process in primary schools during COVID-19: Sample of Çankırı

The aim of this research is to examine the opinions of teachers, students and parents about the distance education process in primary schools in Çankırı during the COVID-19 period. The research, in which the qualitative research method was used, was prepared in the descriptive survey model. The revised version of the "Stakeholder Opinions Questionnaire on Distance Education in Primary Schools" prepared by Yadigar and Yadigar (2021) was used as a data collection tool in the research. Purposive sampling method was used in the sample selection of the study. 207 primary school teachers, 627 primary school students and 621 parents of students participated in the online survey. Frequency and percentage calculations were made with the SPSS-22 package program on the data obtained from the questionnaires, and open-ended questions were analyzed with descriptive analysis. In the research, it was found that the distance education period is a challenging process for all participants. Participants evaluated the positive and negative aspects of the distance education process. The opinions of the participants on the positive aspects of distance education were found to provide technology literacy, keep them away from the virus and provide continuity to education. The opinions of the participants about the negative aspects of distance education were found to be lack of technology and infrastructure, not being suitable for the development of primary school students and not being productive. The most striking result of the research is that almost all of the participants prefer face-to-face education instead of distance education.