A Research on Academician Opinions on Distance Education in the COVID-19 Process

Abstract

With the Covid-19 pandemic process, educational activities all over the world faced a great challenge. This epidemic, which has a very high risk of transmission, prevented students from taking lessons in the classroom, created social distances and made distance education compulsory. While distance education offers a solution to prevent interruption of educational activities during the pandemic process, on the other hand, it requires teachers and students to adapt to new learning roles through information technologies in order to be successful. However, the adequacy or success of the distance education process is also discussed. The views of the educator (academician) using distance education on this subject are very important. This research is important in terms of reflecting the views of academics. Within the scope of the research, the views of academicians at a state university in the Eastern Anatolia Region on distance education were examined. An online questionnaire was sent to all academicians at this university and evaluations were made over 93 academics who returned to the questionnaires. The data were analyzed with the SPSS 25 package program. As a result of the data obtained, it was seen that the academicians had both positive and negative opinions about distance education. In particular, female academics' opinions on distance education are more positive. However, factors such as age, experience, and title did not affect views on distance education. Again, most of the academicians do not find distance education alone sufficient but think that it will be much more effective when reinforced with formal education.

Perspectives of Faculty Members on Distance Education

“…As a result of the interviews with the faculty members who teach online, the paper shows that faculty members have positive and negative opinions about distance education. Aksoğan and Duman's (2020) research is similar to our study. They reported that academicians have both positive and negative views on distance education.…”

“…Some studies have noted that students' satisfaction with distance education is an essential link between their easy access to distance education and their level of use. Additionally, the ability of students to attend classes comfortably from wherever they want significantly affects their satisfaction (Aksoğan & Duman, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted education systems globally, affecting most students the most.…”

Hemşirelik Eğitimcilerinin COVID-19 Pandemisinde Uzaktan Eğitim Algıları ve Etkileyen Faktörlerin Değerlendirilmesi

“…In addition, few educators reported that theoretical courses should be continued online after the pandemic. The findings are supported in other studies, and previous research has shown that academics think DE is not appropriate in the areas of health and science where practice applications is predominant (Aksoğan and Duman, 2020;Sayan, 2020;Nabolsi et al, 2021;Seren et al, 2020;Şen and Kızılcalıoğlu, 2020).…”

The Determination of History Teacher Candidates' Distance Education Self-Efficacy Belief Levels According to Different Variables

“…These studies support the findings of the research. This situation can also be associated with the increase in individuals' skills and awareness about the use of technology today (Özdoğan & Berkant, 2020).…”