Digital Reading and Writing Disposition of Primary School Teachers

The aim of this study is to examine the digital reading and writing tendencies of classroom teachers. A basic qualitative research design was used in the study. The study group consisted of 15 classroom teachers working in public and private primary schools in different provinces of Turkey. Two different semi-structured interview forms prepared by the researchers were used to determine the digital reading and writing tendencies of the teachers. The data obtained were analyzed using content analysis technique. As a result of the research, five different themes were reached as ‘advantages’, ‘disadvantages’, ‘gaining skills’, ‘reasons for preference’ and ‘reader/writer profile’ regarding digital reading and writing tendency. Classroom teachers stated that digital reading and writing offer instructional, professional and perceptual contributions as advantages, while digital writing provides personal development and facilitates the writing process. On the other hand, it was stated that digital reading has some disadvantages in cognitive, emotional and instructional terms, and digital writing increases the error rate in writing and weakens writing skills as other disadvantages. Teachers stated that both traditional and digital methods are effective in terms of gaining reading and writing skills, and sometimes both should be used together. Among the reasons for preferring digital reading and writing are ease of use, necessity, and economy, easy recognition of errors and dislike of traditional methods. In terms of reader/writer profile, it was seen that the digital reader/writer profile of the teachers came to the fore, but there were also teachers who had both traditional and both.