Abstract:

Educational technologies have made significant advances and over time have begun to replace traditional learning environments with technology-supported learning environments. The aim of the study is to determine the self-efficacy of special education teachers in developing digital instructional materials. The research group of the study, which was conducted according to the mixed research method, consists of 35 special education teachers working in the Marmara Region during the 2022-2023 academic year. As a quantitative data collection tool, "Teacher’s Digital Instructional Material Development Self-Efficacy Scale" was used to determine the self-efficacy of teachers in developing digital instructional materials, and as a qualitative data collection tool, a semi-structured interview form was used. The quantitative data of the research were analyzed with one-way analysis of variance and independent samples t-test, and the qualitative data were analyzed with content analysis. As a result of the research, it was determined that the self-efficacy of special education teachers in developing digital instructional materials was at a moderate level, did not show a significant difference according to gender or technology-based education status, but showed a significant difference according to years of professional experience and graduation status. It was observed that teachers with 1-5 years of professional experience and special education teachers with a master’s degree had higher self-efficacy in developing digital instructional materials. According to the qualitative results of the research, it was determined that special education teachers were aware of the importance of developing digital instructional materials, but they did not include digital instructional materials at an adequate level in their educational processes.

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