358 Yaycı, L., & Kendirci, A. (2021). Determination of educational/academic and some social behavioral trends of elementary school students in turkey during coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic days. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET), 8(1). 358-380. Received : 02.09.2020 Revised version received :15.10.2020 Accepted :04.12.2020 DETERMINATION OF EDUCATIONAL/ACADEMIC AND SOME SOCIAL BEHAVIORAL TRENDS OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN TURKEY DURING CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC DAYS Research Article Levent Yaycı leventyayci53@gmail.com Giresun University Abdurrahman Kendirci abdurrahmankendirci@hotmail.com İstanbul Aydın University Dr. Levent YAYCI is as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Educational Sciences, Guidance and Counseling, Faculty of Education, Giresun University, Turkey. His research area is group counseling and guidance. Dr. Abdurrahman KENDİRCİ is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Educational Sciences, Guidance and Counseling, Faculty of Education, İstanbul Aydın University, Turkey. His research areas are positive psychology and marital harmony. Copyright by Informascope. Material published and so copyrighted may not be published elsewhere without the written permission of IOJET. mailto:abdurrahmankendirci@hotmail.com http://orcid.org/xxxx http://orcid.org/xxxx International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2021, 8(1), 358-380. 359 DETERMINATION OF EDUCATIONAL/ACADEMIC AND SOME SOCIAL BEHAVIORAL TRENDS OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN TURKEY DURING CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC DAYS Levent Yaycı leventyayci53@gmail.com Abdurrahman Kendirci abdurrahmankendirci@hotmail.com Abstract This study aimed to determine educational/academic and some social behaviors of elementary school students according to their parents’ views during coronavirus pandemic days, when they were under lockdown and were attending distance education. The study used a descriptive analysis methodology, one of the survey models, and the study group consisted of 74 parents who had children going to public elementary schools in 19 provinces of Turkey and who participated in the study voluntarily. A questionnaire developed by the researchers was used as the data collection tool. As a result, the study found out that the duration of the distance education was inadequate, many students exhibited behavioral and adaptation problems including getting furious/getting angry quickly/irritation, and aggression, mobile games were the most preferred pastime at home, half of the students did not design any materials, and that they did not develop any skills at all during this period. On the other hand, positive behavioral changes such as helping with housework and taking responsibility were observed in nearly half of the students. Keywords: Coronavirus (COVID-19), pandemic, elementary school students, educational / academic, social behavior 1. Introduction Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, which first appeared in Wuhan city of Hubei State, the Peoples Republic of China in December 2019, spread across the world within 3-4 months, and this was classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 12, 2020 (WHO, 2020). Pandemic is the general term given to epidemic diseases that spread over and mailto:leventyayci53@gmail.com mailto:abdurrahmankendirci@hotmail.com Yayci & Kendirci 360 affect a wide area in the world. It has become a common consensus of every scientist that the control and elimination of this viral pandemic, finding a vaccine, and treatment of patients can be possible through the collaboration of all states (Chiodini, 2020). The uncertainty about what human life, existence, and future will be undoubtedly has put all humanity into a crisis. A crisis is an unpredictable, unexpected, and unusual situation and problem (Yaycı, 2017). The case of a crisis is a temporary situation in which one’s coping mechanisms and experiences are inadequate (Wilson, Ruch, Lymbery, & Cooper, 2008). The first coronavirus case in Turkey was detected on March 11, 2020, and as of March 13, 2020, all educational institutions were temporarily closed first until April 3, 2020, afterward this closure was first extended one month and then to the end of the academic year. During this process, a lockdown was ordered for individuals aged 20 and younger as of April 3, 2020 to control the spread of pandemics and to protect public health. Meanwhile, the Republic of Turkey Ministry of National Education (MoNE) launched the distance education program over the official portal of the ministry, called EBA (Education Information Network) as of March 23, 2020 to continue the education of students and to achieve imparting the learning objectives in the curriculum laid down at the beginning of the academic year. EBA has been designed to provide a variety of rich educational content, to use information technologies in education, to meet the content needs of students and teachers, to restructure information while learning and produce information from knowledge, to support students by addressing different learning styles, and to use technology as a means rather than an end (MEB, 2016). Distance education, which is carried out using information and communication technologies, is a planned learning and teaching environment that is different from the physical medium of formal education (Moore & Kearsley, 2012). When technology is used effectively, distance education is considered to create beneficial and efficient educational results for teachers and students (Tutar, 2015). In addition to print and audiovisual learning contents and materials, computer and internet-based learning provides a diversity and richness in the presentation of learning opportunities with the use of content, materials, and learning environments (Bozkurt, 2017). During the process, the Ministry of National Education in Turkey rapidly developed the content and infrastructure of the program, and students started following the course program on television, computers, or other mobile devices. In particular, television broadcasts related to courses were repeated three times during the day, and students could later watch the lessons that they missed using other technologies. Some of the private schools in Turkey managed this process better thanks to their technical infrastructure and rapid decision-making capacity, they activated live course content more quickly, which maintained teacher-student International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2021, 8(1), 358-380. 361 interaction, and they tried to overcome the crisis through giving assignments and providing feedback to students. Although public schools succeeded in moving their applications to higher levels than those of private schools over time, live lessons and teacher-student interaction especially in elementary schools were observed to remain below the desired level. Students in the upper education levels are older, and therefore their cognitive development levels are different. Their metacognitive levels are higher, they can manage the learning process by fulfilling their responsibilities, and they can access the feedback and correction resources. All of these enabled students in the upper levels to manage this process better. On the other hand, elementary school students do not have most of the educational-social skills to manage the process. Therefore, they had more difficulty in fulfilling their development tasks related to the areas specified in this process. Also, both school and out-of-school social interactions were restrained unexpectedly, they were deprived of their natural outdoor play environments, and they started hearing the death concept more often from their parents’ conversations and television broadcasts. Their parents' mood changed and uncertainties began to appear. All of these changes affected elementary school children to a great extent. The general aim of this study was to determine educational/academic and some social behaviors of elementary school students according to their parents’ views during coronavirus pandemic days when they were under lockdown and were attending distance education. The study was considered to be important in terms of determining the educational/academic and some social behaviors of the students in this period, the management of similar crises that may occur in the future, and providing preliminary data to the education stakeholders working in this field for enriching the activities that students can carry out alone or together with other individuals at home. Based on that general objective, the study sought answers to the following questions: 1. What is the distribution of channels that students use to access EBA? 2. What is the average access time of students (hours/minutes) to EBA on weekdays? 3. How much time do students spend doing academic activities a day apart from the following EBA? 4. Which family member(s) have contributed most to students' academic studies during this period? 5. How much time do students spend watching TV a day apart from following EBA? Yayci & Kendirci 362 6. How much time do students spend on their mobile phones or the Internet a day apart from following EBA or using educational software/websites? 7. What kind of behavioral and adaptation problems, which do not normally exist, have parents observed in their children during the lockdown? (If any) 8. What are the positive behavioral changes that parents have observed in their children during this period? (If any) 9. What kind of games do the students play at home during this period? 10. Has anyone at home joined students' games? (For example brother, father, grandmother, etc.) 11. Have the students designed any material during the lockdown days? What materials are they if there are any? 12. Have the students acquired any new skills during this period? 2. METHOD 2.1. Study Design Aiming to determine educational/academic and some social behaviors of elementary school students according to their parents’ views during coronavirus pandemic days when they were under lockdown and were attending distance education, this study used a descriptive design, which is one of the survey models. Survey models are research approaches that aim to describe a phenomenon just as it existed in the past or still exists (Karasar, 2015). 2.2. Study Group The study group consisted of 74 parents whose children are students at public elementary schools in 19 provinces of Turkey, and who participated in the study voluntarily. All the parents were found to be living with their spouses. None of the parents/students was determined to experience any coronavirus-related loss among their family members during this process. Each student had at least one sibling. 2.3. The Data Collection Tool and Data Collection The data collection tool was designed by the researcher. During designing the data collection tool, it was submitted to the opinions of two faculty members, who were from the field of guidance and psychological counseling. To eliminate any limitations that may arise because the data collection process could not be carried out face-to-face by the researcher, International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2021, 8(1), 358-380. 363 special attention was paid to design easy-to-understand questions requiring short answers and fewer comments. The questions aimed to collect information about the educational and social behaviors of the students on the days when they were under lockdown. The study data were collected within 2.5 months after the lockdown was ordered for individuals aged 20 and younger due to the coronavirus pandemic. As it was impossible to observe the students closely or interview the parents face-to-face during the related period, students from Giresun University Guidance and Psychological Counseling Department were given online training about filling out the questionnaires with elementary school students and their parents who they could contact in their circles. In this training process, students who volunteered to take part in the data collection were trained on the following issues: informing parents about the voluntary nature of the study; not directing them about answers; asking them to answer the questions in the absence of their children; giving them the instructions indicating the purpose of the study; receiving instant support from the researcher for unexpected situations or questions from the parents. In this process, parents who were observing the child well were asked to answer the questions. The data collected were recorded by taking notes. After the students who were collecting the study data received all the answers from the parents, they read their notes to parents to confirm the answers. Each data collection session took around 5-8 minutes. 2.4. Data Analysis The data collected were analyzed via descriptive analysis method. Descriptive analysis is a type of analysis that includes summarizing and interpreting qualitative data. (Yıldırım & Şimşek, 2013). 2.5. Validity and Reliability Procedures Since the study was designed according to the qualitative research approach, the data were examined in terms of credibility, transferability, and confirmability rather than validity and reliability concepts (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994). To ensure credibility, an expert analysis was employed; for transferability, the study process was explained to the parents adequately and appropriate sampling was ensured; for confirmability, raw data, findings, comments, and suggestions were recorded. Yayci & Kendirci 364 3. Findings The findings of the study on educational/academic and social behaviors of elementary school students in Turkey during coronavirus pandemic days can be stated as in the following: The grade distribution of the participant students is given in Table 1 below. Table 1. Grade distribution of the students Grade Frequency Percentage 4 3 2 1 26 25 12 11 35.20 33.75 16.20 14.85 Total 74 100 As seen in Table 1, 26 of the students were 4th-graders (35.20%), 25 were 3rd-graders (33.75%), 12 were 2nd-graders (16.20%), and 11 were 1st-graders (14.85%). The gender distribution of the participant students is illustrated below. Table 2. Gender distribution of the students Gender Frequency Percentage Female Male 38 36 51.40 48.60 Total 74 100 As seen in Table 2, 38(51.40%) of the students were female, and 36 (48.60%)were male. The participant students' access channels to EBA are given in Table 3 as in the following. Table 3. Students' access channels to EBA Access channel Frequency Percentage Only TV Only Computer Never used All TV/Smartphone TV/Computer Computer / Smartphone 28 16 11 7 5 4 3 37.90 21.60 14.85 9.45 6.75 5.40 4.05 Total 74 100 International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2021, 8(1), 358-380. 365 According to the findings, 28 of the students (37.90%) preferred only television. Also, 16 (21.60%) of the students used only computers, 7 of them used all access channels (14.85%), 5 of them used TV / smartphones (6.75%), 4 of them used TV/computers (5.40%), and 3 had access to EBA using computers/smartphones (4.05%). On the other hand, 11 (14.85%) of the students were observed to not have access to EBA at all. The data about the daily access time of the students to EBA are given in the table below. Table 4. The daily access time of the students to EBA (minutes) Time (minutes) Frequency Percentage 31-60 1-30 91-120 No access 61-90 120 and over 29 14 12 11 7 1 39.25 18.90 16.20 14.85 9.45 1.35 Total 74 100 As seen in Table 4, most of the students had EBA access of less than an hour a day. According to Table 4, the daily access times were s follows: 29 of the students between 31-60 minutes (39.25%), 14 between 1-30 minutes (18.90%), 12 between 91-120 minutes (16.20%), 7 between 61-90 minutes (9.45%), and 1 more than 120 minutes (1.35%). Eleven of the students (14.85%) did not have any access to EBA in this process at all. The average daily academic activity times of the students apart from EBA activities are given in Table 5 below. Table 5. The average daily academic activity times of the students apart from EBA activities (minutes) Time (minutes) Frequency Percentage 31-60 91-120 1-30 120 and above 61-90 No activities 33 18 10 7 4 2 44.65 24.30 13.50 9.45 5.40 2.70 Total 74 100 Yayci & Kendirci 366 According to Table 5, apart from EBA activities, almost half of the students had less than 60 minutes of average academic activity time a day except. According to Table 5, 33 of the students were involved in academic activities between 31-60 minutes a day (44.65%), 18 between 91-120 minutes (24.30%), 10 between 1-30 minutes (13.50%), 7 more than 120 minutes (9.45%), and 4 between 61-90 minutes (5.40%). Two of the students (2.70%) were found to not engage in any academic activities other than EBA access during this period. The family member(s) who contributed to the student's academic development at home are listed in Table 6 as in the following. Table 6. The family member(s) who contributed to the student's academic development at home Person Frequency Percentage Only mother Only father Mother/father Sibling(s) Other relatives Mother/sibling Father/sibling Private tutor No one 42 10 9 4 3 3 1 1 1 56.80 13.50 12.15 5.40 4.05 4.05 1.35 1.35 1.35 Total 74 100 According to Table 6, only mothers were found to contribute to the academic development of more than half of the students during the pandemic process (56.80%). The findings of other individuals who contributed to the students included only fathers (13.50%), mother/father (12.15%), sibling(s) (5.40%), other relatives (4.05%), mother/siblings (4.05%), father /siblings (1.35%), and private tutors (1.35%). One student was found to receive no help from anyone at all (1.35%). The daily TV watching times of the students, other than following the EBA, are given in Table 7. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2021, 8(1), 358-380. 367 Table 7. The daily TV watching times of the students other than following the EBA (hours) Time (hours) Frequency Percentage About 2 hours About 3 hours About 1 hours About 5 hours About 4 hours About 5 hours About 1 hours None 15 15 14 9 9 5 4 3 20.30 20.30 18.90 12.15 12.15 6.75 5.40 4.05 Total 74 100 As seen in Table 7, the daily TV watching times of the students were as follows: 15 of the students were observed to watch TV for about 2 hours (20.30%), 15 around 3 hours (20.30%), 14 around 1 hour (18.90%), 9 about 5 hours (12.15%), 9 about 4 hours (12.15%), 5 about 5 hours (6.75%), and 4 less than 1 hour (5.40%). On the other hand, 3 (4.05%) of the students were found to never watch TV. The time that students spent on their mobile phones or the Internet apart from using software or websites for following EBA is shown in Table 8 as follows. Table 8. Time that students spent on their mobile phones or the Internet apart from using software or websites for following EBA Time (hours) Frequency Percentage About 2 hours About 1 hours About 3 hours About 4 hours About 5 hours More than 5 hours Less than 1 hour None 22 15 12 7 6 6 5 1 29.75 20.30 16.20 9.45 8.10 8.10 6.75 1.35 Total 74 100 According to Table 8 which shows the time that students spent on their mobile phones or the Internet apart from using software or websites for following EBA, 22 of the students spent about 2 hours (29.75%), 15 about 1 hour (20.30%), 12 about 3 hours (16.20%), 7 about 4 hours (9.45%), 6 about 5 hours (8.10%), 6 more than 5 hours (8.10%), and 5 less than 1 hour (6.75%). During this period, only one student (1.35%) was determined to not spend any time on a mobile phone or on the Internet. Yayci & Kendirci 368 The data on the observed behavioral and adaptation problems in students during the pandemic process as follows. Table 9. Existence of any observed behavioral and adaptation problems in students during the pandemic process Behavioral and adaptation problems Frequency Percentage Yes 48 76.26 No 26 23.74 Total 74 100 As shown in Table 9, behavioral and adaptation problems were observed in the majority of the students during the pandemic process (%76.26). However, nearly one third of the students were determined to exhibit no behavioral and adaptation problems (%23.74). Behavioral and adaptation problems observed in students during the pandemic process are given in Table 10. Table 10. Behavioral and adaptation problems observed in students during the pandemic process Behavioral problems Frequency Percentage Getting furious/getting angry quickly/irritation Aggression Boredom Confrontation/Rebelling Sleep problems Laziness Hyperactivity Overeating Resentment Frequent crying Fears Stammering Biting nails Jealousy of siblings Interest in unsuitable social networks Obsession 18 17 11 10 6 5 5 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 21.92 20.74 13.42 12.20 7.32 6.10 6.10 2.44 1.22 1.22 1.22 1.22 1.22 1.22 1.22 1.22 Total 82 100 International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2021, 8(1), 358-380. 369 According to Table 10, the most common behavioral and adaptation problems among students were getting furious/getting angry quickly/irritation (21.92%), aggression (20.74%), boredom (13.42%), and confrontation/ rebelling (12.20%). In addition to this, sleep problem (7.32%), laziness (6.10%), hyperactivity (6.10%), overeating (2.44%), resentment (1.22%), frequent crying (1.22%), fears. (1.22%), stammering (1.22%), biting nails (1.22%), jealousy of the siblings (1.22%), interest in inappropriate social networks (1.22%), and obsession (1.22%) were other observed behavioral problems. The positive behavioral characteristics of the students during the pandemic process are shown in Table 11. Table 11. Positive behavioral characteristics of the students during the pandemic process Positive behaviors Frequency Percentage None Helping with household jobs Taking responsibility Reading books Caring siblings Balanced diet Obeying rules Interest in scientific research Ability to play alone Patience Interest in doing activities with others Spending time with the father 24 19 14 5 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 32.50 25.65 18.90 6.75 4.05 2.70 2.70 1.35 1.35 1.35 1.35 1.35 Total 74 100 As seen in Table 11, 24 (32.50%) of the students exhibited no positive behavioral changes during the pandemic process. On the other hand, 19 students (25.65%) helped with household chores, 14 students (18.90%) took responsibility, 5 students (6.75%) started reading books, 3 students (4.05%) took care of their siblings, 2 students (2.70%) had a balanced diet, 2 students (2.70%) followed rules, one student (1.35% each) was interested in scientific research, one was able to play on their own, one was observed to be patient, one wanted to do activities with others, and one spent time with the father. Yayci & Kendirci 370 The games that students played at home during the pandemic process are given in table 12. Table 12. The games that students played at home during the pandemic process Game Frequency Percentage Mobile games Toys Taboo / Jenga / Mind Games etc. Hide-and-Seek/Blind Man’s Buff, etc. Ball games Puzzle/Lego etc. Playing house 30 17 17 10 8 7 5 39.84 15.98 15.98 9.40 7.52 6.58 4.70 Total 94 100 The examination of Table 12 indicated that the games that students played most during the pandemic process were mobile games (39.84%). This was followed by playing with toys (15.98%), taboo / jenga / mind games etc. (15.98%), hide and seek / blind man’s buff etc. (9.40%), ball games (7.52%), puzzles/ Lego, etc. (6.58%), and playing house (4.70%). Individuals who joined the students' games at home during the pandemic process are given in Table 13. Table 13. Individuals who joined the students' games at home during the pandemic process Individual(s) Frequency Percentage Only siblings All the family Mother/sibling Mother/father Only mother Only father Father/sibling Other relatives 31 20 9 7 6 4 3 2 58.18 16.40 7.38 5.74 4.92 3.28 2.46 1.64 Total 82 100 International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2021, 8(1), 358-380. 371 As seen in Table 13, only siblings joined the games of more than half of the students (58.18%) during the pandemic process. Also, the whole family (16.40%), mother/sibling (7.38%), mother/father (5.74%), only mother (4.92%), only father (3.28%), father/sibling (2.46%), and other relatives (1.64%) were found to contribute to the games of the students. The data on whether the participant students designed any materials at home during the pandemic process are as follows. Table 14. Findings of whether students designed any materials at home during the pandemic process Designing materials Frequency Percentage Yes No 37 37 50 50 Total 74 100 According to Table 14, half of the students designed various materials during the pandemic process, while the other half did not attempt to design anything. The materials designed by the students at home during the pandemic are given in Table 15. Table 15. Materials designed by students at home Materials designed Frequency Percentage Dresses for dolls Origami Cardboard cars Model house Experiment set Pencil case Mask Frame Kite Musical instrument Toy house Phone case Snow globe Puppets Home decoration material 9 9 4 4 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 23.04 23.04 10.24 10.24 7.84 2.56 2.56 2.56 2.56 2.56 2.56 2.56 2.56 2.56 2.56 Total 39 100 Yayci & Kendirci 372 As shown in Table 15, students designed dresses for dolls and did origami (23.04% each). Also, they designed cardboard cars (10.24%), model house (10.24%), experiment set (7.68%), pencil cases, masks, frames, kites, musical instruments, toy houses, phone cases, snow globes, puppets, and home decoration material (each 2.56%). The data on whether the students developed any skills during the pandemic process are as in the following. Table 16. Findings of whether the students developed any skills during the pandemic process Developing skills Frequency Percentage Yes No 38 36 51.40 48.60 Total 74 100 According to Table 16, 51.40 of the students developed new skills during the pandemic process, while 48.60% did not acquire any new skills. The skills newly acquired by the participant students during COVID-19 period are illustrated in Table 17. Table 17.The new skills acquired by the students Skills Frequency Percentage Doing chores Drawing Writing skills Cooking / making cakes Playing the guitar / the violin Wood painting Ability to play with others Reading comprehension skill Writing scripts 13 12 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 34.25 31.56 7.89 7.89 5.26 5.26 2.63 2.63 2.63 Total 38 100 International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2021, 8(1), 358-380. 373 According to Table 17, during the 2.5 month-lockdown days of the pandemic, the students acquired various skills such as doing chores (34.25%), drawing (31.56%), writing skills (7.89%), making meals/cakes (7.89%), playing the guitar/the violin (5.26%), wood painting (5.26%), ability to play with others (2.63%), reading comprehension skills (2.63%), and writing scripts (2.63%). 4. Discussion The coronavirus pandemic, which affected the world in a short time like 3-4 months, posed global threats (Columbus, Brust & Arrogila (2020). One of the measures taken to reduce these threats was to stop face-to-face education, to start distance education, and to introduce lockdown for children in almost every country. In the current study, elementary school children were found to often prefer TV to have access to distance education in Turkey during these measures. TV is a pretty more accessible means compared to computers/tablets and smartphones, and this might have been effective in this preference. Each student, except for one, was determined to join the distance education process by utilizing an access channel, which was evaluated to be a positive outcome. The distance education in Turkey was planned as two 20-minute lessons a day. It was observed that students could also receive educational activity support for up to two hours a day apart from the courses. Each lesson was broadcast three times on TV in the morning, at noon, and in the evening. Each student was expected to benefit from distance learning for at least 40 minutes a day through two 20-minute lessons. This period could be considerably increased by watching the lessons again, following educational activities, and making use of other educational content in the system. In the study, the access time of most of the students to the daily EBA programs was found to be less than one hour. This indicated that many students only followed the lessons, did not follow the repeats of the courses, and did not benefit from other educational content in the system. Activities outside the course content aimed to support students' skills such as thinking, creativity, reasoning, comprehension, interpretation, and other areas of development. This suggested that students could not appreciate the distance education process well, and they focused on the learning dimension of the program and neglected the education dimension. Yayci & Kendirci 374 Another finding of the study was that most of the students spent less than an hour on daily educational/academic activities, apart from using EBA content. When this finding was evaluated together with the previous finding, most of the students were observed to allocate an average of 1.5-2 hours a day to educational/academic activities. Given that during the normal school period, students have six 40-minute lessons a day at school and that they spare time for studying, doing homework, and revising the subjects outside school hours, the time allocated to educational/academic studies during pandemic days was very low. This suggested that it was very difficult for students to acquire a large part of the learning objectives determined at the beginning of the year. On the other hand, mothers were found to contribute most to the educational/academic studies of the students during this period. Considering unemployed mothers, too, this finding can be evaluated as a natural outcome because mothers had more opportunity to spend time with their children during the pandemic process. One of the major disadvantages of distance education is that it cannot adequately help students who cannot learn without help (Kaya, 2002). According to Vygotsky's cognitive development theory, the learning potential of the child emerges when they are with "other knowledgeable individuals". During the distance education process, parents or other family members can contribute to children by giving tips, making explanations, asking questions, and modeling. With the help of guidance, students can internalize their problem- solving patterns and start to develop themselves by taking more responsibility for solving more problems (Atak, 2017). In the study, the average time students spent watching TV, using their smartphones, and surfing the Internet was approximately 2-3 hours a day, except for following EBA courses. This showed that the total daily time spent on TV, smartphones, and the Internet by students was 4-6 times the time spent on educational activities. Also, there were students who spent more time on TV, smartphones, or the Internet. Research has shown that the majority of people spend an average of 3-4 hours watching TV, but that time allocated for watching TV should not be more than 2 hours. The American Academy of Pediatrics, too, suggests that the total television watching time should be one or two hours a day at most (Bekar & Arıkan, 2017). In normal days, when the pandemic was not seen and students went to schools, the daily TV watching time of elementary school students was found to be 90 minutes in Australia (Brown, Nicholson, Bromine & Bittman, 2010) more than two hours in England and the United States (İlhan, 2013), and two hours in Turkey on average (Çetin &Bilgin Aksu, 2010: Doğan & Göker, 2012). Some problems arise in those who watch television for more than 2 hours a day. (Doğan & Göker, 2012). Children who watch TV a lot exhibit International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2021, 8(1), 358-380. 375 various behavioral problems such as reluctance to study lessons, failure to gain reading habits, resorting to violence and increased aggression, inability to express themselves accurately, and encountering difficulties in social relationships and some health-related problems arising due to sitting in front of the television for a long time (Büyükbaykal, 2012). On the other hand, Akar (2002) stated that watching television instilled new ideas to children, broadened their views, and improved their critical thinking skills. Also, for family members belonging to low-income groups, watching TV was stated to bring the world to their rooms, which is a positive situation for society. For this reason, families can contribute to their children's learning through television by choosing a program suitable for their children and watching these programs with them from time to time (Kirkorian, Wartela & Anderson, 2008). On the other hand, while the sense of curiosity of children and the experience of adults were the strength of communication established in the past, today children can try to eliminate their feelings of curiosity with the information they obtain over the Internet. In the current study, the students were observed to spend approximately 2-3 hours a day on the Internet and smartphones. A certain level of parental control is required to determine how much of this time is for online games, harmful content, and how much of this time contributes to children’s development. In the current study, approximately one-third of the students were observed to have no behavioral and adaptation problems in the pandemic process, while other students were found to exhibit some behavioral and adaptation problems that had not been observed before the pandemic. The observed behavioral and adaptation problems during this period included getting furious/getting angry quickly/irritation, aggression, boredom, confrontation/rebelling, sleep problems, laziness, hyperactivity, overeating, resentment, frequent crying, fears, stammering, biting nails, jealousy of siblings, interest in unsuitable social networks, and obsession. Predictably, staying away from school and out-of-home social environments and experiencing this crisis may lead to some behavior and adaptation problems in students. Yet, apart from the difficulties and problems, this crisis may also have some positive or advantageous aspects for children. These opportunities can be listed as follows: children have more time to be together with their parents and siblings, they have more time to do activities with their family members, they have the opportunity to try some skills they have not tried before, and they have more flexible discipline at home during this period. As a matter of fact, in this study, the parents reported they observed some positive behaviors such as helping with household chores, taking responsibility, reading books, caring for their siblings, balanced Yayci & Kendirci 376 nutrition, following the rules, interest in scientific research, ability to play on their own, showing patience, interest in doing activities with others, and spending time with the father. One of the findings of the study was that students mostly played mobile games at home during this period. These games were followed by toys, taboo / Jenga / mind games, etc., hide-and-seek/blind man’s buff, etc., ball games, puzzles/Lego, etc., and playing house. It was found that traditional games such as hide and seek and blind man’s buff were among the less preferred games. Research results showed how much mobile games are preferred among young age groups in today's world. Play provides the child with life experience. This experience helps children to adapt themselves to different life conditions (Egemen, Yılmaz & Akil, 2004). Children who play games try to find solutions to questions. In this regard, play not only contributes to the development of the mind and language in the child but also positively affects learning and socialization (Şahin, 2015). Predictably, the preference for mobile games by students can affect socialization processes negatively. Spending less time on other educational/social activities and increasing the time spent on the computer may lead to personality disorders, hyperactivity, physical and mental disorders, antisocial structure, inability to think autonomously, loss of emotion, interpersonal relationship disorder, and avoidance and self-confidence and personality maturity problems (Çelik, Şahin & Eren, 2014). Primary school children are prone to play by age and their time management and auto- control skills are not at the desired level. The reasons such as inadequate or problematic in- family interaction channels, lack of parental control, discouraging behaviors of parents, and boredom pose a risk factor for computer addiction in children during their stay at home. For this reason, during the lockdown days, the process at home should be carried out by parents in an expanded manner with planned, organized, and enriched content. In this period, parents can improve their children's planning skills by making a daily plan with their children and determining how much time can be allocated to each activity on average. Parents can also get support from their child's teachers or school counselors when necessary as the daily plans should take care of the child's needs regarding all developmental areas. The study also found that siblings were the family members who accompanied students' games at home most. Mothers and fathers were also determined to join the games at certain levels. Thanks to play, children learn many things from adults and older children or their peers (Veer, 1996). The play activities that parents do with their children are the tools that play a fundamental role in communicating the behavioral patterns targeted by the parents to the child and facilitating the communication of the parents with their children (Akaroğlu, Dağ, Besrek, Selvi & Altıparmak, 2019). The lockdown created opportunities for fathers to International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2021, 8(1), 358-380. 377 spend more time with their children unprecedentedly due to the home office working conditions in most business branches. In a study conducted by Kuzucu (2011) using the document analysis method, the father's play with his child was found to positively influence father-child communication. The most important characteristics of families that are strong, functional, healthy, and resistant to life events are the high level of loyalty (harmony/trust) and communication quality in the family. The high level of loyalty can be made possible through enjoying joint activities, respecting each other's interests, and creating an emotionally safe environment in the family (Yaycı, 2017). It can be predicted that families with these characteristics can manage the pandemic process well. Another finding of the study was that half of the students did not design any materials during the days when they had to stay at home. Approximately half of the students were found to design dresses for dolls and do origami. Origami materials and experiment sets designed by students were already included in the EBA content. These results suggested that students’ tendency towards activities requiring creativity was inadequate. Students had plenty of time and material and did not have homework pressure, but they did not adequately use their creativity, which is in their nature, during the pandemic days and this was interesting. This can be thought to have stemmed from the fact that the education system did not emphasize the skills to develop creativity in students and/or parents did not adequately encourage their children to engage in these activities. The final finding of the study was that approximately half of the students did not develop any new skills during this period. Most of the students who developed new skills were found to focus on drawing and household skills. Distance education creates limitations in the realization of skills and attitudes (Kaya, 2002). Therefore, students should be allowed to design materials and simple tools using leftovers and given opportunities to let them develop skills that they can use in life. In conclusion, the study found that the time spent by students on distance education was insufficient, they concentrated on learning but neglected educational aspects, many students exhibited behavioral and adaptation problems such as getting furious/getting angry quickly/irritation, and aggression, mobile games were the most preferred games by the students at home, and that half of the students did not design any materials and did not develop any new skills during this period. On the other hand, some students were observed to show positive behavioral changes such as helping with housework and taking responsibility during this period. Yayci & Kendirci 378 6. Recommendations The content of the learning and educational aspects of distance education can be enriched. Parents can be a role model for their children in developing skills. As with Vygotsky’s scaffolding concept, parents can help their children gain autonomy by helping their children and gradually reducing their help. Through television programs, parents can be taught games that they can play with their children. Whether the behavioral and adaptation problems determined in the study will be limited only to this period or whether they will continue to prevail when entering the normalization process can be followed by longitudinal studies. 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