Investigation of digital education platforms in primary school mathematics course according to the opinion of classroom teachers

The developments in science and technology have influenced learning and teaching processes by changing the ways of accessing information. E-content to be used under the Movement for Increasing and Improving Opportunities (FATİH) project initiated by the Ministry of National Education in 2010 has been developed and the use of digital educational platforms, which have become an indispensable part of the learning and teaching process, has become widespread. In today's learning and teaching process, digital education platforms are widely used. With the transition to distance education with the Covid-19 epidemic, the education and teaching process could only continue on these platforms and the importance of the platforms has increased significantly. Therefore, the level of competence of digital education platforms that affect the learning and teaching process occupy an important place. This study was planned to reveal the impact of the platforms preferred by teachers in their teaching on the learning and teaching process by examining them from different dimensions. The purpose of this study is to find out the opinions of classroom teachers about digital educational platforms used in teaching mathematics in elementary school. In order to obtain data for the purpose of the study, the mixed research model, in which quantitative and qualitative research methods are used together, was used. Descriptive survey model was used in the quantitative dimension of the research, and semi-structured interview form was used in the qualitative dimension. Easily accessible sampling method, one of the sampling methods, was used in the research. The study group of the research consists of 601 classroom teachers working in public and private elementary schools affiliated with the Ministry of National Education in Istanbul. SPSS 23 statistical program was used to analyze the quantitative data. Mann-Whitney U test was used to determine the differences between binary variables and the Kruskal-Wallis test to determine the differences between multiple variables. The content analysis method was used to analyze the qualitative data. Considering the data obtained from the study, when examining teachers' use of platforms about several variables, no significant difference was found according to the variables of gender and educational level. When examining the use of digital education platforms by classroom teachers according to the variable of seniority, significant differences were found only in EBA, and only in Schoolistics when analyzed according to the variable of the type of school they work in. When examining classroom teachers' use of digital education platforms by the variable of grade level taught, it was found that EBA content was not at the same level of performance across all grade levels. When the opinions of elementary teachers about the effectiveness of digital education platforms in mathematics lessons and the proficiency levels of the sub-dimensions of the scale were examined in terms of different variables, significant differences were found. It was observed that teachers use platforms mostly for live lessons, lessons, assignments and studies. It was observed that teachers mostly used EBA, then Okulistik and then Morpa Campus in the distance education process. On the other hand, it is thought that Schoolistics and Morpa Campus then EBA are the most effective in increasing the success. Almost all classroom teachers think that the platforms contribute to the learning and teaching process. Teachers see the biggest advantage of the platforms as having interactive content and different questions, activities, and videos. The biggest disadvantage they see is that not every student can access the platforms. Teachers who mentioned that platforms can create disadvantages in some cases also talked about what needs to be done in order to use platforms more effectively. The contents of EBA were found insufficient and it was suggested that the contents should be improved by the teachers. By providing qualified in-service trainings to all education stakeholders related to digital education platforms, a contribution can be made to the learning and teaching process.