Opinions of Teacher Candidates on the Special Education Course Conducted by Distance Education

Abstract

The aim of the study is to contribute to the field with the content of the course and the problems that the pre-service teachers have about the special education course, and the solutions for these problems. In the study, phenomenology, one of the qualitative research models, was used. The participants of the study are university students studying at a private university in the 2022-2023 academic year. In line with this scope, 45 pre-service teachers constituted the participants of the study. In the study, a semi-structured interview form created by the researcher was used to collect data. The opinions of the pre-service teachers were shown with the determined themes and sub-themes and quotations were made when necessary. As a result of the study, the majority of the participants claimed that they were satisfied with the special education course through distance education. They stated that they experienced difficulties due to internet connection problems of the special education course taken with distance education, and from this point of view, it can be concluded that distance education courses are not effective compared to face-to-face education. Another result of the study emphasized the importance of the participation of those who took the special education course with distance education. The participants stated that even if it is a distance education course, it is important to attend the course in terms of course success. The majority of the participants stated that they recommend the distance education system. From this point of view, the distance education system is important for those who work in a job. A limited part of the participants also emphasized that individuals have the practicality of using technological tools due to the opportunity to meet with technology. The participants also stated that they recommend distance education because it does not force individuals economically. In addition, another result obtained from the study was emphasized that students had difficulties in their education due to the lack of technology/material in distance education courses.