ABSTRACT
This study aimed to uncover teachers' experiences and practices in addressing preschool adjustment following the lockdowns and home confinement. Twenty-seven preschool teachers participated in this qualitative descriptive study. Eighteen teachers were interviewed individually, and a focus group interview was held with nine teachers. The thematic analysis showed that lockdowns and home confinement had both challenging and facilitating influences on children's preschool adjustment. Teachers mentioned the increase in separation protests and the decline in social and fine motor skills as challenges. Teachers cited improved self-care skills, increased engagement, and better parent-preschool communication as facilitating factors. Furthermore, the teachers altered their preschool adjustment practices, allowing more time for outdoor activities, individual activities, and free play. Although the participation of parents in the adjustment process was reduced due to pandemic regulations, they communicated with the parents on a more regular and frequent basis. This process affected children's preschool adjustment, but teachers were able to support children and parents by changing their practices. © 2023 TACTYC.
ABSTRACT
In the past three years, the COVID-19 became a global health issue and had huge impact on education. This study investigates and compares the student performances after transition from face-to-face learning environment to online learning environments as a result of the spread of the pandemic. Data is collected from a large Bosnian public university and analyzed using statistical tools. In this study student success is defined as passing the course. The results showed that there is significant difference in the performances of students, and it is dependent on learning environment. Particularly, students who attended online classes have significantly higher-grade point averages. © 2022 The Author.
ABSTRACT
Purpose: Distance education gained key importance in the field of education during the COVID-19 pandemic. A new era has begun for educators and students in higher education with the birth of education and training from a distance. In this study, the predictive power of academic staff's digital competence to gauge their distance education perception was investigated. Secondly, the predictive power of students' digital literacy to understand their online learning readiness was examined. Method: This study was conducted with a survey design, one of the quantitative research designs. The distance teaching dimension of this study was performed with 201 (F: 119;M: 82) academicians, and the distance learning dimension was carried out with 1612 (F: 1026;M: 580;Other: 6) students. For distance teaching, the predictive power of educators' digital competence was examined, and the predictive power of students' digital literacy was examined for the distance learning dimension of this study. Results: For the distance teaching part of this study, results showed a positive and significant relationship between the academic staff's digital competence and their perceptions of distance education. Furthermore, their digital competence significantly predicted their perceptions. For the distance learning part of this study, the results showed a positive, significant relationship between students' digital literacy and their online learning readiness, and their digital literacy significantly predicted the level of their online learning readiness. The results indicated that the digital skills of both the academic staff and students were a prerequisite for the effectiveness of distance learning and teaching. Implications for Research and Practice: As the results of this research indicate, digital skills have a significant impact on academicians' perceptions of distance education and on students' readiness for learning. In this regard, supporting the digital skills of both parties will increase their readiness for distance education and, ultimately, students will be able to benefit more from distance education. (C) 2021 Ani Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved