Psycho-social and Educational Dimension of the COVID-19 Lockdown for Elementary School Students

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate psycho-social status and online education experiences of elementary school students during COVID-19 lockdown process. Constructed as a mixed methods research, this study follows a sequential explanatory design. Quantitative data was gathered through snowball sampling technique by using The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) Scale, and qualitative data was gathered through one-to-one interviews with volunteer participants. Descriptive statistics of the SCARED revealed the presence of an Anxiety Disorder in general. Separation Anxiety Disorder factor stood out among others with the highest score. Content analysis revealed that students were dissatisfied with the online education applications conducted during the lockdown. Based on the findings, implications related to the social and educational dimensions of the lockdown period for young learners were discussed. Suggestions for designing online educational applications that aim to meet target learners’ age-specific needs and characteristics were made.

Keywords

• child anxiety
• psycho-social well-being
• online education
• Covid-19 lockdown
• SCARED

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