Evaluation of classroom teachers' attitudes towards interactive whiteboards, and their purposes and levels of using the interactive board in the learning process

Technology remarkably affects almost every field, as well as the learning process. Today, interactive smartboard is one of the most important education and teaching technologies. It is seen that the interactive smartboard has been integrated into the education system with the FATIH Project (Movement to Increase Opportunities and Improve Technology) implemented in Turkey in 2010. In this study, the goal was to evaluate the attitudes of primary school teachers towards interactive smartboard and the purposes and levels of using interactive smartboard in the learning process. The survey model, which is one of the quantitative research methods, was used in the research. The study group of the research consists of 301 primary school teachers working in 10 different primary schools in the central districts of Diyarbakır in the 2020-2021 academic year. The data collection tool developed by the researcher was used in the research and the data were analyzed with the SPSS computer package program. According to the research results, it was found that more than half of the primary school teachers have not received in-service training for interactive smartboard and their proficiency with respect to this area was low. In addition, it was found out that interactive smartboard is an important tool in the learning process, it makes the lesson fun, it saves time and it is beneficial for teaching, the use of interactive smartboard does not pacify teacher, it does not prevent creative thinking, interactive smartboard is not the same as traditional whiteboard in terms of learning process, it is an indispensable element of teaching, it makes teachers feel successful, primary school teachers prepared materials compatible with interactive smartboard and spent more effort to learn the use of interactive smartboard. It was also reported in the study that although variables such as gender, level of education, class being taught, and in-service training did not have an effect on teachers' attitudes towards interactive smartboard in general, it was found that variables of class size and teaching experience made a significant difference on teachers' attitudes towards interactive smartboard use. Furthermore, it was observed that the primary school teachers used the interactive smartboard for many purposes in their lessons. EBA (Educational Technology Network), usage level of which has significantly increased through the widespread adoption of distance education, is one of them. Finally, it was revealed in the study that the majority of primary school teachers actively use interactive smartboard in Turkish, life studies, mathematics, science and social studies lessons. Keywords: Interactive smartboard, attitude, FATIH project, primary school teacher, educational technology network, technology.