Opinions of gifted and non-gifted students about an online Turkish course

The study aims to examine the opinions of 4th-grade students who are diagnosed as gifted and non-gifted, about the online Turkish course. The study covers the online Turkish course held during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants of the study consist of 12 gifted students and 12 non-gifted students in a private school in Izmir province in the 2020-2021 academic year. The case study method, which is one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study. The research data were obtained by conducting three sessions with each student using the Zoom program, which is a digital interview platform, via a semi-structured interview form prepared in line with expert opinions. Data were analysed using the MAXQDA program. The findings obtained from the interviews were under two main themes: opinions on the online Turkish course and opinions on the online education process. It is seen that both gifted and non-gifted 4th-grade students mostly stated that they prefer to read from a book instead of reading on a screen in online Turkish courses and to write in a notebook instead of writing in digital media in writing activities. However, it is seen that they mostly look up words they do not know the meaning of on the internet and that they mostly have difficulty in online Turkish exams. It was determined that the majority of the students (75.0%) experienced problems during the online education process. It is seen that students stated that they mostly experience technical problems in the online education process, that they often get support to solve the problems they experience, and that they prefer face-to-face education instead of online education. It is seen that gifted and non-gifted students express their opinions intensively on satisfaction, technical problems, and face-to-face education. Keywords: Giftedness, Online Turkish Education, Covid-19 Pandemic