A study on distance education experiences of social studies teachers during the pandemic period

In this study, it is aimed to reveal the opinions of social studies teachers who have experienced distance education in their classes due to the pandemic, which has been effective since the spring semester of the 2019-2020 academic year, on the positive and negative aspects of the process. The research was designed according to the explanatory design, which is one of the mixed method research approaches. First, quantitative data were revealed with the answers given by the teachers to the scale of "Distance Education Perceptions". To explain the results obtained in the quantitative data, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the teachers and qualitative data were collected. The data of this research were obtained from social studies teachers working in 5 central districts of Antalya province. The study group of quantitative data consists of a total of 211 social studies teachers. A study group was formed with 15 of these teachers, in which qualitative data were obtained. As a result of the quantitative research, it was examined whether the data obtained from the "Distance Education Perceptions" scale showed significant differences according to teachers' gender, age, marital status, length of service, school type and weekly teaching time. In the analysis of the data, independent sample t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used due to the normal distribution of the data. Content analysis and descriptive analysis methods were used together in the analysis of qualitative data. In the research, interview recordings were listened and written. In the content analysis, all opinions were coded. Then, frequencies were determined for each code. As a result of the analysis, it was found that teachers' perceptions of distance education differed significantly according to gender, marital status, school type and age; It was determined that there was no significant difference according to the length of service and weekly teaching time. According to the findings obtained because of semi-structured interviews, the positive aspects of this process are continuing education even under difficult conditions, being independent of time and place, the opportunity to teach in a healthy environment away from the crowd, the increase in the use of technology in lessons, the elimination of transportation costs, and time savings. The negative aspects can be stated as the decrease in student-teacher communication, lack of peer education, loneliness due to decreased socialization, low participation due to lack of infrastructure, difficulties in acquiring achievements and increased screen addiction in students.