Comparison of Online and Traditional Face-to-Face In-Service Training Practices: An Experimental Study

The purpose of this study is to carry out the process of conducting an in-service education process via face-to-face and online distance education methods and to evaluate the impact of this training in terms of computer literacy. The study was carried out on 43 teachers working at a public secondary school and was conducted according to the experimental design with pretest-posttest control group. Both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques were used in the study. The participants’ computer literacy was evaluated using an achievement test and their opinions about online education was evaluated using a structured form. The findings from the study revealed that there was no statistically significant difference in the computer literacy of experimental and control groups. This result of the study validates the hypotheses of the equivalency theory, one of the theories in distance education. Teachers had a positive attitude towards online education method in in-service training particularly because it enables a flexible environment and stated that it did not reduce the trainer-learner interaction much. On the other hand, teachers complained about the high number of participants and stated that the training was not complete because they were not able to make the practice of the course they learned in theory.