Abstract
The aim of this research is to investigate primary school teachers' perspectives on the utilization of virtual museums in education. Adopting a qualitative case study design, the study employed the maximum diversity sampling method to select participants. The study group consisted of 25 teachers working in various provinces, districts, and villages across Turkey under the Ministry of National Education who actively integrated virtual museums into their lessons during the 2023–2024 academic year. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and subsequently analyzed using descriptive analysis techniques. The results of the study revealed that the opinions of primary school teachers regarding the use of virtual museums in primary schools were grouped into five different themes: “definition,” “usage status,” “benefits,” “limitations,” and “suggestions.” It was concluded that primary school teachers mostly characterized virtual museums as technology-focused museums. While primary school teachers were found to use virtual museums more in social studies and life skills classes, it was concluded that they mostly used virtual museums in a lesson-focused manner. Primary school teachers perceived virtual museums as advantageous primarily because they are cost-free and eliminate the need for transportation, thereby considering them beneficial mainly from an economic perspective. Teachers identified the main limitations of virtual museums as the lack of direct, hands-on experience and the abstract nature of the content, emphasizing particularly the absence of a realistic sense of presence. Primary school teachers also suggested enriching the content of virtual museums, linking them to the curriculum, providing technological support, and offering in-service training.