WEB-BASED LECTURES IN THE STUDIES OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS IN THE CONTEXT OF DIGITAL PEDAGOGY – VIEWS, ATTITUDES AND INTENTIONS

This research aims to discover students' views, attitudes and intentions in the early childhood education concerning web-based lectures. It examines whether students develop positive or negative attitudes, if they identify added value and how their intentions are shaped. It also detects difficulties and possible barriers that they encountered. At the same time, is examined whether their attitudes are correlated with the variables of the degree of familiarity with technology and the year of studies. The survey involved 277 students who attended part of their course through two web-based lectures. The survey used a researcher-made questionnaire for the detection of attitudes, while quantitative data was obtained which was also combined with qualitative ones. Results show that students develop a positive attitude and intentions about web-based lectures. They recognize and appreciate the added value of web-based teaching. Both the variables, degree of familiarity with technology and the year of studies appeared to determine the formation of their attitudes positively. However, this positive assessment was made in relation to the traditional face to face classroom lecture, and only in the perspective of its partial replacement.