Mathematics teachers’ perspectives on distance education in Turkey

Abstract

The aim of the study is to examine in detail the perspectives of mathematics teachers towards distance education, their positive, and negative experiences in the process and their views on the development of the process. Phenomenological design, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study. The sample of the study consisted of 32 mathematics teachers working in different parts of Turkey who were selected through convenience sampling method. A semi-structured interview form was used as a data collection tool. Descriptive analysis and content analysis methods were used to analyze the data. It was found that mathematics teachers mostly used Education Information Network (EBA) live lesson and Zoom platforms in distance education, more than half of the teachers considered themselves technologically competent for distance education, and they generally did not have any problems in accessing and using web-based teaching materials. In addition, teachers rated distance education positively in terms of access to information and ease of time and space, and negatively for reasons such as lack of face-to-face communication.