3. Results
3.1. Instructors’ Opinions on Distance Education Policies of Education Faculties
First, instructors were asked to evaluate the distance education policies of their faculties in this research. While evaluating the distance education policies of their faculties, instructors emphasized “centralized” and “formal” policies. In
Table 2, themes and codes created based on the opinions of instructors on the distance education policies of their faculties are shown.
As seen in
Table 2, instructors emphasized that “centralized” policies were applied while evaluating the distance education policies of their faculties. They also drew attention to the adoption of formal policies rather than functionality. Most instructors stated that their universities follow a centralist policy and carry out distance education through joint programs for all faculties and departments. It has been ensured that a certain percentage of the courses are given through distance education in universities; these are focused on functional, seamless, and uninterrupted education. In addition, most of the universities have adopted the policies of other universities that successfully implement distance education and have implemented distance education applications based on the infrastructure of these universities.
Expressing that the distance education policies of their faculties are the same as all other faculties and departments, X expressed his opinion:
The education policy of our university and faculty is centralized, and practices are common for each unit or faculty. I think there should be different policies in education faculty even on a departmental basis, however, the distance education policies and practices of the education faculty and those of the engineering faculty are the same.
Y, who emphasized the formal aspect while evaluating the distance education policies, said,
The main criterion in the distance education process is the lecturer’s teaching time. If the video you have taken is less than 30 min, you will receive a warning, this time does not differ according to the course, only the Teaching Practice course is out of this scope.
Similarly, instructor B, while evaluating the policy of their university regarding distance education, stated that a policy focused on temporary solutions was followed by saying,
Our university saved the day in the early days of the distance education that was forced during the pandemic period, frankly, we only uploaded documents at that time. Of course, after some editing was done, we conducted the lessons through online lessons. But it was not helpful, absenteeism and lack of interest in the course were intense. I think our university was also interested in whether the courses were held, thinking that this was a temporary situation.
When the views of the lecturers are examined, it is seen that the distance education policies of the education faculties are shaped within the framework of central policies and the formal aspect comes to the fore in policies and practices. In other words, quality remained in the background of policies.
3.2. Evaluation of Physical/Technical Infrastructure of Universities Relating to Distance Education
The second sub-problem of the research is, “What are the views of instructors in terms of the suitability of physical and technical infrastructures of education faculties for distance education?”. While evaluating the physical and technical infrastructure of their faculties, instructors emphasized the resources and limitations.
When the physical/technical infrastructures of education faculties are evaluated in terms of their suitability for the distance education process, as one can see in
Table 3, there are two themes: resources and limitations. While some of the instructors stated that the programs they use in distance education at their universities are functional and that they can successfully implement measurement and evaluation, some of the instructors stated that they have difficulties in the asynchronous system and that there is no equipment and physical hardware support.
Emphasizing the functionality of the distance education program used, K expressed her opinion:
We taught courses through Teams. For distance education courses, there is an automation system with opportunities such as homework, program, evaluation, file upload, and course follow-up, and it is very useful, I still use it for material shopping, reports, and assignments. There were no internet or connection problems. It is possible to teach for a long time with many students.
Z, who finds the infrastructure of his university insufficient, said,
Our university did not have any preparations for distance education. We used to shoot videos with our personal computers and cameras, upload them to the YouTube channel we opened, and upload the link to the university’s distance education system, allowing our students to access our videos. Online courses were limited. When more than 30 students attended the course, the system was collapsing.
Emphasizing the inadequacy of technical and equipment support, M said,
We had a lot of trouble at first, the program we used did not remove the process, and it took a long time to buy a new one. Afterward, we went through the process in a way that I can say without any problems. We did not have any problems with the internet infrastructure, but we had serious problems with the computers. Computer support with the necessary physical equipment was not provided, we completed the courses with a personal computer. We found our solutions.
In line with the opinions of the instructors, it can be said that the physical and technical infrastructure of education faculties for distance education has limitations. However, faculty members try to eliminate these limitations with their efforts.
3.3. Effects of Distance Education Process on Education Faculties Reaching Their Goals
The third sub-problem of the research is, “What are the opinions of the instructors on the impacts of the distance education process on education faculties reaching their goals?”. Instructors evaluated the process of reaching the goals in the context of the factors that supported reaching the goals and the factors that prevented reaching the goals. In
Table 4, the themes and sub-themes regarding the views of the instructors on the distance education system reaching their goals are presented.
As can be seen in
Table 4, the instructors consider that the distance education system has reached its goals with the help of the experienced and qualified technical team and the devoted work of the instructors, the theoretical nature of the courses, and the programs that allow material diversity. On the other hand, they evaluated the issues arising from the administration, instructors, students, and physical structure/equipment in the context of the factors that prevent reaching the goals of distance education in their faculties.
Evaluating the factors that prevent reaching the goals within the framework of the factors related to the teacher educator, C said,
Because I was at home and I had a baby, I had difficulty not only focusing on myself but also managing the process. Although there is a caregiver at home, it was challenging to continue the lesson by hearing your child crying from the room while you were teaching inside. Since there was no attendance to the classes, teaching in a non-interactive way was tiring, boring, and not satisfying professionally.
Emphasizing the “student” as one of the factors that hinder reaching the goals, D said,
I don’t think it has been achieved much unless the purpose is just to teach… Namely, we held online lessons, and the students could actively participate in the lesson whenever they wanted, but of course, they didn’t. Some only attended classes for absenteeism, and they did not listen. The exams were also not reliable. We increased the number of questions and each student had different questions. Measures were taken such as the same question could not be returned, but it was not very sufficient. If I were to evaluate ourselves, we taught our lesson and did our best, but I do not think it is beneficial when there is no face-to-face interaction with the student.
Based on the opinions of the lecturers, it is possible to say that the distance education process negatively affects the process of achieving the aims of the education faculties, and the teacher training process is a process that should be carried out face-to-face.
3.4. Precautions Taken in the Case of Continuation of Distance Education
The fourth sub-problem of the research is, “What are the precautions taken by the instructors in case of the continuation of the distance education process?”. Instructors have evaluated the measures they took within the scope of psychological, individual, physical, and technical precautions. The views of the instructors on the precautions they take in the case of continuing distance education are presented in
Table 5.
Stating that he has lecture notes ready for the next education semester and that he will benefit from these notes in case of resumption of distance education or continuing distance education, teacher educator T said,
At first, we did not have materials ready and notes to conduct distance education courses. While trying to adapt to the system, understand the system, and solve systemic problems, we were also trying to create course materials and shoot videos. But now I feel equipped, I understand the system, my problem-solving skills have improved, and I have enough notes and video recordings related to that lesson. In this process, I have also created a document archive for myself.
They also explained the precautions taken for the continuation of distance education.
Expressing her opinion on strengthening their own equipment, instructor B said that, “My computer was incapable of handling the distance education system. I also have had trouble running online classes since I didn’t have a camera. I had to go and buy a fully equipped computer.”
Teacher educator N, who stated that he was insufficient in technical knowledge, said,
I was not very successful in using technology, did not know most computer programs. I had serious problems in the first weeks with the transition of our university to distance education. I immediately received support from experts to improve and deepen my technical knowledge.
He also explained the measures taken in case of the continuation of distance education.
3.5. Instructors’ Views on Teaching Teacher Education through Distance Education
The fifth sub-problem of the research is, “What are the instructors’ views on the giving of teacher education via distance education?”. While evaluating the teaching of teacher education via distance education, the instructors assessed within the scope of theoretical courses and applied courses and expressed a negative opinion. The themes created based on the instructors’ views are presented in
Table 6.
As seen in
Table 6, instructors stated that the quality of teacher education was negatively affected due to limited communication in distance teacher education, low participation rates, and lack of technical experience and equipment, and they emphasized that teacher education programs should be conducted face-to-face. X’s views on this subject are as follows:
Distance education is not a convenient approach for teacher training. Being a teacher requires using a classroom, organizing a certain amount of people, and initiating and conducting a learning process within an appropriate teaching plan. Even if there is theoretical learning in distance education, I think theory is a small requirement for teaching.
Y, on the other hand, explained her opinions as,
In distance education, we can only convey the subject of area and legislation knowledge to the students. However, this knowledge is not at the application, analysis, or synthesis stage. For this to happen, interaction is necessary. Students need active participation in the lesson; this is not possible in distance education. Apart from that, professional skills and attitudes are not sufficient at all regarding competencies in values. Learning does not only consist of formal learning; students in distance education are deprived of informal learning. S/he learns her/his personal and professional development, communication, and how to approach students through informal learning by observing us, interacting, and supporting formal education. Other than that, we carry out the transfer of information to the application process together by getting feedback from the students; we discuss together possible examples and problems. Unfortunately, this does not happen without student participation.
Instructor L also explained her views stating that the distance education system is unsuitable for teacher training:
In my opinion, distance education is an application that reduces the quality of education. As I said, the absence of attendance prevents the use of many methods such as interaction, questioning, brainstorming, question-answer, and learning through discovery; hence the lesson progresses monotonously. In addition, in this process, students were deprived of all the experiences they would have with children in the classroom as they did the teaching practice remotely.
3.6. Opinions of Instructors Regarding Teaching Practice Courses via Distance Education
The sixth sub-problem of the study is, “What are the instructors’ views about the teaching practice courses being conducted via distance education?” They mentioned the positive and negative aspects of the process. The views of the instructors regarding the teaching practice courses through distance education are presented in
Table 7.
X, emphasizing the positive effects of the process on “cooperation with the prospective teacher, instructor, and practice teacher”, expressed his views as,
Their experience in preparing materials in advance increased, and their cooperation with the teacher increased. The teacher could not stop teaching and could not leave the classroom, the teachers watched and were able to ensure feedback to the prospective teachers. Likewise, the lecturer was able to contribute to the lesson in addition to the feedback from the teacher by regularly connecting to the lesson every week. In normal times, the frequency of the lecturer going to school for monitoring was low, in distance education s/he was able to monitor every student every week. Pre-service teachers sought ways to use digital tools effectively, used some web tools 2, 3, 4, and tried them out.
T, who defined the teaching practice with the metaphor of the “front”, expressed his views as,
Teaching practice was a situation where students who received theoretical education faced the realities. It’s like a soldier being temporarily deported to the front for war experience. The knees of the students I took to the teaching practice were loosened on the first day. But the next day they would come with great memories. It was like they had only watched a short series during distance education.
On the other hand, X, who emphasized that teaching practice through distance education is equivalent to training imaginary teachers, expressed his opinion as,
We trained imaginary teachers, lessons were conducted remotely due to the conditions, but, certainly, they were not efficient. When the pre-service teacher does not see the classroom environment, does not communicate with the students, is not supported by the teacher, and does not provide classroom management, he/she only learns to prepare a daily plan/lesson plan.
Instructors stated that the process of conducting teacher education through distance education in general was negative, and they also stated that conducting the teaching practice process through distance education was not effective.
3.7. Opinions of Instructors on the Elements Required for the Success of Distance Teacher Education Programs
The seventh sub-problem of the study is, “What are the views of the instructors regarding the necessary elements for the success of distance teacher education programs?”. They touched on topics on the support and needs relating to technical, human, and managerial practices.
Table 8 shows the views of the instructors about the necessary elements for the success of distance teacher education programs. They stated that there are three basic needs to achieve success in distance education and that they can achieve quality teacher education if these supports are provided. By emphasizing the technical needs, instructor X expressed his opinion:
First, it is necessary to work together with software engineers. Student behaviors and teacher behaviors should be simulated in detail. An online game software should be prepared for each course in line with the course contents in harmony with these behaviors and by considering the appreciation criteria of our students on social media. The lesson should flow in an algorithm determined and directed by the instructor, who is the playmaker. It must be in real-time. Student avatars should be able to communicate with each other.
Instructor L, emphasizing the support of administrators for the success of distance teacher education programs, stated,
It should not be forgotten that the driving force of this process is the administrators, especially the instructors, who have insufficient technical knowledge and experienced a loss of motivation in this process. Instructors who are well-versed in the area, who closely follow the current developments in the area, but who are not accustomed to the distance education system, could not perform sufficiently in the lecture process by looking at the camera, in other words, they could not adapt to the situation. In particular, motivating the instructors in this situation by the administrators and guiding them when they need it are essential elements for the success of the process.
When the views of the instructors on the elements necessary for the success of the distance education process are examined, it is seen that not only the technical support but also the philosophy of distance education is one of the important shortcomings. Even if technical support is provided physically, not mastering the philosophy and procedure of distance education is seen as one of the biggest obstacles to the success of the process.
4. Discussion, Conclusions, and Recommendations
In this research, the findings indicate that teacher education institutions are far from functional; they adopt more formal policies, centralized policies are implemented, distance education is carried out through joint programs in all faculties and colleges in the university, and there is no distance education policy specially prepared and implemented for teacher education over distance education. Moreover, it has been concluded that instead of developing and implementing a distance education policy for themselves in the distance education process, some universities adopt the policies of other universities that successfully implement distance education and implement distance education applications based on the infrastructure of these universities. In the study conducted by Durak and Çankaya [
75], it was revealed that academics generally experienced a high level of dissatisfaction with the distance education policies of universities and the distance education system used in the 2019–2020 period. On the other hand, the results of the study conducted by Refae et al. [
75] reveal that instructors and students are highly satisfied with the institutional readiness for distance education. Since this difference in the results of the study is related to the distance education implementation status of institutions in different countries, their distance education experiences, and their preparedness for risk situations, it can be considered as a possible situation that there are differences between institutions and countries. Research emphasizes how critical preparedness plans are for the education sector to provide safe and functional education in times of crisis [
27]. In this context, it is important that every teacher training institution adopts a systematic, applicable, and understandable distance education policy based on their distance education experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and implements these policies in possible risk periods. Burns [
11] emphasizes that education institutions should develop standards for teaching in an online environment and that online instructors should exhibit qualifications in line with these standards. Similarly, she stated that administrators of distance education programs need professional development and support to be aware of teaching changes and necessary inputs (standards, good teaching, robust design).
Our research results revealed that most of the instructors had difficulties in the distance education system, there was no equipment or physical equipment support, most of the universities did not have any preparation for distance education, and the instructors tried to solve the problems on their own, but they felt very inadequate in this process. It has been seen that teachers and instructors have encountered situations that support our research results during the COVID-19 pandemic in most of the research that has been conducted. Flores and Gago [
64] stated that there are some limitations related to technical issues, lack of equipment and hardware, and no internet access. Similarly, the lack of sufficient experience of the instructors has been shown as a significant problem in many studies. Safi, Wenzel, and Spalding [
79] stated that some instructors do not have distance learning experience. Casacchia et al. [
72] emphasize the effect of the technical, didactic, and psychological difficulties of distance education. Similarly, many studies [
28,
45,
51,
74,
76,
77] have shown that limited interaction, infrastructure problems and lack of equipment, and limited access to digital learning materials are crucial factors that negatively affect the distance education process. Yıldız [
78] stated in his study that the instructors did not find distance education useful due to the lack of interaction and communication compared to face-to-face environments, and they defined distance education as an inefficient and problematic system. In the study conducted by Şeren et al. [
62], instructors also mentioned the disadvantages of distance education for the points of the teaching–learning process, communication, and measurement–evaluation. Gürer, Tekinarslan, and Yavuzalp [
83] stated that since distance education is a new process for related universities and instructors, it is likely that instructors will encounter various problems. In the study of Özok and Kancınar [
30], it was emphasized that the instructors experienced technological infrastructure problems during the distance education process and that the problems that occurred caused the efficiency of the lesson to decrease. During the teacher education process, prospective teachers try to gain the knowledge, skills, and values necessary for the teaching profession by preparing them to become professional practitioners [
93]. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the unpreparedness of instructors, prospective teachers, and faculty administrations due to the unplanned nature of the sudden transition to the distance education system has seriously reduced the quality of teacher education. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the transition from traditional classrooms to emergency distance learning has created intense complexity for all students and teachers [
82]. The most important responsibility of the teacher to increase the success of online learning is to integrate content, technology, and pedagogy [
94]. The ability of teachers and instructors to harmoniously present technology, pedagogy, and content in online teaching depends on having particular skills and technical support [
95,
96]. In this context, strengthening and improving the physical and technical infrastructure of universities and teacher training faculties in the sense of distance education will have a great effect on improving the quality of distance teacher education.
According to the instructors’ views in this research, the elements that enable the distance education process to reach its goals and support its success in teacher education are the elements related to human capital and the program. Instructors stated that distance education’s aims could be achieved with a dynamic and qualified technical team and the devoted work of instructors. In addition, courses being theoretical and the programs that allow material diversity have an important function in the realization of the purposes of distance education. On the other hand, the central government policies implemented by the faculty administrations, policy uncertainty, inability to master the technology, managing the process from home, loss of motivation, student absenteeism, lack of ability to make the measurement and evaluation system reliable, and limited capacity of the distance education software are the factors shown as to prevent the achievement of the goals of distance education in teacher education. İbicioğlu and Antalyalı [
97] stated that the possibility of using computers, motivation, and perception of distance education have primary importance in success in distance education. Bekele [
44] evaluated the factors affecting success in distance education in five main categories: human factor, course factor, leadership factor, pedagogic factor, and technological factor. Individuals’ ICT competencies, motivations, attitudes and experiences, quality content, technical competence, professional support, and user-friendly technical tools were presented under the factors affecting distance education’s success. These views of Bekele [
44] support this finding of our study.
In the research, within the scope of the measures taken by most of the instructors for the continuation of distance education, they stated that they strengthened their computer/technical equipment, etc., tried to improve their technical knowledge such as digital literacy, developed content for online education, and took measures to increase exam security. Simamora et al. [
63] stated that infrastructure facilities need to be further developed and improved to support online learning in the future. The key to remote teacher preparation is to have instructors at the university who can use it properly [
17]. However, the sudden transition period from usual education to distance education has created an urgency for the development of digital skills of instructors and their professionalization in terms of digitalization. The lack of pedagogical and technical strategies needed by the instructors in the emerging distance education environment has hindered the functional realization of distance education. The fact that the instructors do not know how to adapt the teaching practices and pedagogical techniques used in traditional education to distance education has reduced the quality of distance education. For distance education programs to successfully develop students’ knowledge and skills in certain disciplines, distance educators need rigorous professional development in the distance education method they will teach [
11]. In this context, it is necessary to increase the knowledge and skills of the instructors regarding distance education, and to provide the necessary technical equipment and support, considering the possibilities of emergency distance education due to possible risks in the future.
In this study, instructors stated that distance education applications are not suitable for teacher education. The limited communication of the prospective teachers with the instructors and the practice teacher, the low rate of participation in the course, technical problems, the short duration of the lesson, the unsuitability of distance education platforms for teaching practice courses, and the prospective teachers’ inability to experience real classroom management and lack of opportunity to observe were presented as the biggest reasons for not being suitable for the teacher education process. Moreover, the lack of experience of the instructors in distance teacher education, the lack of clear and understandable distance teacher education directives/policies and practice examples of the faculties, and the inability to provide effective counseling to prospective teachers in the distance education process are among the negative opinions of the instructors about distance teacher education. In addition, the instructors emphasized that applied courses cannot be conducted through distance teacher education and the course contents are not suitable for distance education. The results of the research conducted by Kırbaş [
77] also revealed that the instructors thought that giving theoretical and applied courses through distance education would not be appropriate. Similarly, Perraton [
20] stated that teacher education should be based on classroom practices and emphasized that distance education is an inappropriate method for teacher education. It is important to recognize that distance education cannot replace face-to-face learning but can supplement existing classroom-based education models [
29]. Teacher education is an important phase where theory and practice are combined to provide opportunities for prospective teachers to expand their learning [
93]. In this context, it is important to develop teaching programs and software that will support prospective teachers’ active participation in applied courses in the distance education process.
In our study, the instructors stated that the teaching practice via distance education has some positive and negative effects. The positive effects of conducting teaching practice courses with distance education were stated to increase the cooperation of the prospective teacher with the practice teacher, to ensure their effective use of technology in the education and training process, and to use new technologies. On the other hand, the fact that prospective teachers cannot gain sufficient knowledge and experience in classroom management through distance education, are unable to gain experience regarding crises that can be experienced in the face-to-face education environment, have poor communication, and fail to perform lecture observation successfully have been shown among the negative effects of distance education. Similar to the findings of our study, Can [
51] states that the teaching practices carried out via distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic are not sufficient, and there are problems in teaching practice, such as participation in the course, infrastructure, technical equipment, learning environment, and internship practice. The study conducted by Şeren et al. [
62] concluded that distance education is unsuitable for the structure and functioning of applied courses, and the applied courses had to be taught more like theoretical courses in this process, according to the instructors’ views. In addition, it has been highlighted by the instructors that distance education is disadvantageous regarding points such as crowded classrooms, limited students’ technological equipment and internet access, taking time to plan lessons, low student readiness, not allowing students to work cooperatively, minimizing student–student interaction and student–instructor interaction, not having effective communication, mechanization of teaching, and lack of reliability in online exams. One of the biggest challenges in teacher education in the distance education process is related to internships. Prospective teachers had to abruptly cancel their school visits and monitor the activities of their collaborating teachers online during the distance education process [
64]. This situation prevented prospective teachers from having an effective teaching experience. With the need to replace teaching practices online, instructors had to rapidly redesign and re-imagine the traditional teacher training process [
70]. Prospective teachers learn to put theory into practice through teaching practice courses and acquire more comprehensive information about teaching such as classroom management [
81]. In addition, prospective teachers’ professional knowledge and skills, attitudes, and self-esteem are developed and strengthened [
80]. In this process, prospective teachers find the opportunity to develop reflective thinking by collaborating with their peers and teachers [
98]. Since in distance education, the interaction of students with each other and with teachers is minimal, it does not develop communication or teamwork skills [
5]. For this reason, it is advised to supply infrastructure, access to technical support, organization of teaching and learning environments, and student participation for teaching practice to be successful in pandemic conditions [
20].
In the research, it has been revealed that instructors need support in technical, human, and managerial issues to be successful in teacher education in distance education. Instructors need professional technical infrastructure. In addition, the provision of technical equipment and cooperation with software engineers are also included in the list of technical needs. It has been concluded that with the aim of distance teacher education programs to be successful, instructors, prospective teachers, and teachers should have knowledge of information technologies. In addition, it was concluded that clear and understandable policies should be developed, training on distance education should be given, and infrastructure problems should be resolved.
As a result, according to the opinions of the instructor, it can be stated that the distance education process policies of teacher education institutions in Turkey are structured to ensure that work is not disrupted rather than prioritizing quality. It is thought that the inadequacies in the process of supporting the instructors towards distance education also arise due to these policies. The absence of a distance education policy specifically prepared for teacher education will negatively affect the teacher education process to be carried out through distance education. This situation will have a negative impact on the academic skills that teacher candidates should acquire, the skills of the assessment–evaluation process, and the skills of the classroom management process. Therefore, functional, purposeful, and comprehensible distance education policies regarding distance teacher education in universities should be determined. Universities’ distance education infrastructures should be developed in such a way that they can successfully implement teaching practices. One of the positive aspects of the emergency distance education process is that the instructors, in the case of continuing teacher education through distance education, have improved themselves in many areas, especially technical knowledge and skills, preparation of educational materials, and competencies in the measurement–evaluation process. If teacher education continues through distance education, it seems necessary to take some measures in terms of teacher candidates, instructors, and program dimensions in order to ensure sustainability. The technical equipment and infrastructure required by the instructors to be able to conduct the courses efficiently in distance education should be provided. If the teaching practice course is continued to be given through distance education, it is considered important to guide and gain competence in subjects such as classroom management in distance education and taking into account the individual differences of students.