The main purpose of this study is to investigate the attitudes of primary and secondary teachers serving in schools in the Region of Western Macedonia towards the implementation of distance education. In order to investigate their attitudes, the quantitative method of data collection was followed, using the questionnaire as tool. The total sample was 219 (Ν) teachers. Data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 for Windows statistical software.
The reliability test showed satisfactory results for each sub-axis of the attitude scale for distance learning and for all the axes (Cronbach ́s alpha> 0.70).
The findings of the study are that participants strongly believe that lack of technological knowledge, lack of technological equipment, lack of relevant experience in distance education and teaching and the feeling that “they will not succeed” cause fear in some for the creation of online courses and related material. However, their position on whether the workload “refuses” to create online courses and related material is unclear, whether proponents of traditional teaching are opposed to creating online courses and related material, and whether proponents of distance learning give added value without taking into account technological / digital illiteracy as a major obstacle. Finally, they show a greater degree of fear and rejection of distance learning in relation to the potential benefits of distance education and in relation to the potential negatives of distance education.
Keywords: distance education, fear, denial, benefits, Covid 19 / pandemic