Examination of the relationship between primary teachers' information technology self-efficiency perception and their attitude towards distance education

The purpose of this research is to examine primary teachers' self-efficacy perception of information technologies, their attitudes towards distance education, the relationship between these variables and their predictive ability. In addition, it was purposed to investigate whether these two variables differ significantly according to the variables of gender, age, experience, grade taught, in-service training on information technologies or distance education. In this research, the correlational survey model, one of the quantitative research methods, was utilized. The research population includes the elementary teachers working in public schools in the 4 central districts of Adana, which are Seyhan, Çukurova, Yüreğir and Sarıçam districts, in the 2021-2022 academic year. The sample of the research consists of 372 primary teachers working in the four central districts of Adana, selected through simple random sampling -one of the random sampling methods- and the ones who volunteered to participate in the study and actively engaged in education and training activities in distance education. In the research, "Personal Information Form", "Teachers' Information Technologies Self-Efficacy Perception Scale" and "Teachers' Attitudes Towards Distance Education Scale" were utilized as data collection tools. Descriptive statistical analysis; independent samples t-test and one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with normally distributed groups; moreover, correlation and regression analysis were conducted via SPSS 26 version. In addition to the two main variables of the research, perception of self-efficacy in information technologies and attitude towards distance education, many separate sub-variables were also examined for significance and the obtained results were presented in the study. According to the results of the research, primary teachers' self-efficacy perceptions of information technologies were determined as high, while their attitudes towards distance education were determined as low. A positive, weak and linear relationship was detected between primary teachers' perceptions of information technology self-efficacy and their attitudes towards distance education, and no significant predictive role of their perceptions' was found out regarding attitudes. Keywords: Elementary teachers, information technologies, distance education, self-efficacy, attitude.