Investigation of Parents’ Opinions About Distance Education During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the distance education given via the Education Information Network platform, TRT EBA-TV and EBA live lesson during the Covid-19 pandemic on the basis of parents' opinions. The current study employing the survey model was conducted with the participation of 709 parents. The research data were collected by an online questionnaire prepared by the researchers. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. As a result of the study, it was determined that during the distance education process, parents ensured that their children followed the lessons and motivated them, and students were eager to participate in the lessons. It was determined that student motivation was negatively affected for reasons such as connection problems and being closed at home during the pandemic. Parents stated that their awareness of their children's education increased and they better understood the value of the teacher and school. It was revealed that there were technical problems in the process but support was received for the problems encountered. Though the parents think that face-to-face education cannot be replaced by distance education, they are of the opinion that distance education was good during the pandemic so that their children did not get alienated from the school.

Challenges encountered by in-service K12 teachers at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic period: the case of Turkey

“…There are similar studies in the literature reporting that low attendance of students is expressed as a problem in the distance education process (Alvarez, 2020;Bakioğlu and Çevik, 2020;Başaran et al, 2020;Bayburtlu, 2020;Code et al, 2020;Klapproth et al, 2020;Nalaskowski, 2020;Nambiar, 2020;Noor et al, 2020;Shraim and Crompton, 2020). A study by Demir and Demir (2021) on the opinions of parents on the state of the emergency remote education in Turkey illustrate that, more than half of the study participants report a drop in their children's course motivation due to problems of technical nature; whereas half of the participants mention a loss in motivation due to "cabin fever" experienced by children under lockdown. Under such detrimental conditions, the importance of high self-discipline as a factor for effective distance education is once again understood.…”

“…It can therefore be said that children of families with lower income levels or families where adults are constantly preoccupied may be more prone to experiencing difficulties in remote education. However, Demir and Demir (2021) put forth in their study that more than half of the participating Turkish parents are concerned and attentive with their children's remote education process, with almost all participating parents reporting ensuring supervision for their children during the course of education. Nevertheless, increasing the course hours and the number of?…”

Challenges and Positives Caused by Changing Roles during Emergency Remote Education in Estonia as Revealed by Facebook Messages

“…Further, parents noticed that several teachers lacked basic technological skills, which challenged remote teaching (Koskela et al 2020). Parents were also troubled about technology, including unreliability of Internet connections and lack of necessary electronic devices (Ferri et al 2020;Demır and Gologlu Demır 2021). Parents were concerned about the well-being of their children and excessive use of information and communications technology (Koskela et al 2020;Demır and Gologlu Demır 2021).…”

“…Parents were also troubled about technology, including unreliability of Internet connections and lack of necessary electronic devices (Ferri et al 2020;Demır and Gologlu Demır 2021). Parents were concerned about the well-being of their children and excessive use of information and communications technology (Koskela et al 2020;Demır and Gologlu Demır 2021). Management of daily life with the lack of a peaceful place for work and study for every family member and management of the schedules and needs of every member was another worry for parents (Koskela et al 2020).…”

“…Parents were positive about teachers' efforts during emergency remote education, especially in keeping contact with students and in giving creative tasks (Bubb and Jones 2020). Parental involvement and role increased during homeschooling and parents gained more knowledge about their children's learning, skills and characteristics (Bubb and Jones 2020;Koskela et al 2020;Demır and Gologlu Demır 2021). Parents were grateful to their children for taking responsibility for their studies and being very motivated in emergency remote learning, as well as for resources outside the family, e.g., considerate employers and family and support networks (Koskela et al 2020).…”