Transition to Distance Education in COVID-19 Period: Turkish Pre-Service Teachers’ E-Learning Attitudes and Readiness Levels

Abstract

In this study, pre-service teachers’ attitudes and readiness towards e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic were examined. This research was carried out in the Fall Semester of the 2020-2021 Academic Year, with the participation of 519 pre-service teachers from Balıkesir University Necatibey Faculty of Education and Faculty of Sport Sciences, Department of Physical Education and Sports Education. In the collection of data, the General Attitude Scale towards e-learning developed by Haznedar and Baran (2012) and the Online Learning Readiness Scale adapted to Turkish Culture by İlhan and Çetin (2013), were used. In this study, it was found that pre-service teachers had a negative attitude towards e-learning and that they considered themselves competent in terms of e-learning readiness. There was no difference in terms of e-learning attitudes and readiness of the teacher candidates according to the department they studied. In addition, it was found that there was a significant relationship between pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards e-learning and their readiness, and that e-learning readiness was an effective factor in the adoption of the e-learning process.