Thesis (MA) - Cyprus International University. Institute of Graduate Studies and Research English Language Teaching Department

Includes bibliography (sheets 66-74)

ABSTRACT Online education is considered a new teaching method among researchers, educators, and students worldwide. Attention to online education increased after the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, and governments and schools began to think more about using this new teaching method. The corona pandemic caused the sudden transition to online teaching methods, which posed many challenges for education systems. The primary purpose of this study is to identify the challenges of online education based on the opinions of educators who have been moved to use online education to teach during the corona pandemic. This study was conducted with 45 participants from the Erzurum province of Turkey. In this study, the perceptions of English educators about online education in terms of technical, educational, and workplace problems were examined. The data relating to educators' opinions were collected through a survey administered to the participants and after the statistical analysis of data, the content analysis was done. The findings show that participants experienced a lack of technical equipment for virtual classes, decreased motivation, increased workload, and lack of financial support. Based on the findings, the most frequent challenges and problems of online learning at the faculty resulted from the Internet Connectivity and Audio-Visual Issues, Learner Motivation, Increased Workload, Financial Issues, Autonomy and Interaction, Lack of Standardization, and Communication. Keywords:online education, COVID-19 outbreak, online education challenges, pedagogical issues, technical issues.