Undergraduate students’ views about emergency distance education during the covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

With the Covid-19 pandemic, which was effective all over the world in early 2020, emergency distance education applications started. Universities in Turkey also suffered from this situation and quickly started their own distance education applications using their own facilities. Different applications carried out by universities have had different reflections upon education. For example, while some universities provided compulsory live classes, some universities did not. Students are the most important component of this process. In this respect, the purpose of this study was to examine university students' views about emergency distance education during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this qualitatively designed study, 32 students from 4 different universities were asked for their views. An online questionnaire form made up of open-ended questions was used as the data collection tool. The data were analyzed using the content analysis method, and the themes were created. As a result, two of the four universities used the software of Microsoft Teams as a distance education system, while others preferred the software of Moodle and ALMS. It could be said that the students who used Microsoft Teams, which is an integrated system where live lessons can be held, were more satisfied in this process. In addition, the students' views about the distance education system, the positive and negative aspects of the system, live course practices, communication with the instructor, getting feedback, socialization, motivation, academic performance, comparison with traditional teaching, etc. were reported and interpreted within the scope of the theories of Uses and Gratifications and Diffusion of Innovations. It was seen that among the university students almost all of whom were anxious before the distance education, the worries of those who took live lessons and used an integrated system were completely removed. In this respect, within the scope of the distance education system, it could be stated that the elements of live lessons and interaction have great importance for students.