Examination of Digital Literacy Levels of Science Teachers in the Distance Education Process - Article Overview

Oct 15, 2026

Digital literacy skills strengthen teachers’ learning, teaching processes, and professional competencies. This article examines science teachers’ digital literacy levels by gender and duration of professional experience within distance education. The study sample includes 88 science teachers from different districts of Turkey, using a digital literacy scale and a distance education evaluation interview form. Results indicate no statistically significant gender difference, while less experienced teachers show more positive digital literacy levels. Findings also suggest science teachers mainly prefer lecturing in distance education, and distance education in Turkey should be improved in infrastructure, implementation, and quality through targeted trainings and enriched EBA content.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Coronavirus pandemic and school closures

Definition and advantages of distance education

Teacher and student readiness for DE

Digital literacy and related models

Examination of Digital Literacy Levels of Science Teachers in the Distance Education Process Feride GÖKDAŞ1 Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University Aylin ÇAM2 Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University Abstract Digital literacy skills could make important contributions to teachers’ learning and teaching process and professional skills. The purpose of this article is to examine the level of science teachers’ digital literacy skills in terms of gender and the duration of professional experience. The sample of the study consisted of 88 science teachers working in various districts of Turkey. Digital literacy scale and distance education evaluation interview form were used as data collection tools. The results showed that, no statistically significant difference was found in the digital literacy levels of female and male science teachers. However, digital literacy of teachers with less professional experience is more positive than teachers with more professional experience. Also, science teachers mostly prefer lecturing during distance education. The results show that distance education should be strengthened in terms of infrastructure, implementation, quality in Turkey. Within the scope of the research, it was suggested to organize various trainings to improve the digital literacy levels of teachers, to enrich the content of EBA used in the distance education, and to increase the in-service trainings to improve the distance education skills of teachers. Keywords: Coronavirus pandemic, digital literacy, distance education, science teachers DOI: 10.29329/epasr.2022.442.9 1Doctoral Candidate, Faculty of Education, Mugla Sıtkı Koçman Unıversty, Mugla, Turkey, ORCID: 0000-0002-2370- [396X keskin10134@hotmail.com](396X keskin10134@hotmail.com) 2Assoc. Prof. Dr., Faculty of Education, Department of Elementary Science Education, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Mugla, Turkey, ORCID: 0000-0002-2853-8713, Correspondence: [aylincam@mu.edu.tr](aylincam@mu.edu.tr) Introduction Throughout history, various disasters have emerged that have destroyed living life. The latest of these disasters was the Coronavirus pandemic, affecting the whole world at a global level. Accordingly, it was decided to temporarily close schools and learning areas. This affected 94 percent of the world's student population, up to 99 percent in low-and middle-income countries (UNESCO, 2020) . As an alternative to face-to-face education, countries have decided to urgently transform the teaching process into distance education (DE) so that the crisis could be managed and education was not interrupted. DE is defined as the web-based delivery of education with the support of internet technologies. Students are distinct from teachers in terms of time and place in the planned and organized learning and teaching process (Newby, Stepich, Lehman & Russell, 2006) . DE is an educational field that focuses on teaching methods and technology to provide teaching on an individual basis to students which are not physically present in traditional educational environments such as classrooms (Bušelić, 2012) . According to UNESCO (2002), DE has many technical, social and economic advantages and pedagogical values. Accordingly, DE reveals different ways of knowledge production and acquisition. DE supports the quality and diversity of existing educational structures and strengthens existing capacity. DE provides easy access to many technologies from home. DE, due to its flexibility, allows students to participate in lessons individually at any time (Franklin, Yoakam & Warren, 1996) . In order to ensure the continuity of education in the world, some countries have taken measures such as equipping schools with digital platforms and tools for DE, lending digital devices to less well-off students, and educating school staff about DE methodology and techniques (Schleicher, 2020) . In Turkey, it has been decided to continue DE practices through TV channel and Education Information Network (EIN

FAQs

What does the article aim to examine?

It examines science teachers’ digital literacy levels in distance education in terms of gender and professional experience duration.

How many science teachers participated in the study, and how were data collected?

The sample consisted of 88 science teachers. A digital literacy scale and a distance education evaluation interview form were used for data collection.

What were the main findings about digital literacy differences?

No statistically significant difference was found between female and male science teachers. Teachers with less professional experience showed more positive digital literacy than those with more experience.

What is recommended to strengthen distance education in Turkey?

Distance education should be improved regarding infrastructure, implementation, and quality, supported by trainings to enhance teachers’ digital literacy and enriched EBA content, along with increased in-service training for distance education skills.

Oct 15, 2026

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