“Even if the pandemic ends, the future will move towards online education!”
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Vice-Rector, Director of the Institute of Addiction and Forensic Sciences Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy was the guest of the Fi-jital Future Summit 2021, organized in cooperation with the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of National Education and Üsküdar Üniversitesi. Meeting with young people preparing for YKS, Prof. Dr. Atasoy drew attention to the equality of opportunity offered by the digital world, especially in education.
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Vice-Rector, Institute of Forensic Sciences Director Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy was the guest of the Fi-jital Future Summit 2021, organized in cooperation with the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of National Education and Üsküdar Üniversitesi. Meeting with young people preparing for YKS, Prof. Dr. Atasoy drew attention to the equality of opportunity offered by the digital world, especially in education.
Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy stated that thanks to the online education experimented by a professor from the world-renowned Stanford University, video recordings of a lecture listened to by only 400 people in a hall reached 14 million people. Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy said, “What we desperately need is education. What is suddenly possible is distance education.”
Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy: "Even if the pandemic ends, the future will progress towards online education"
The “Fi-jital Future Summit 2021,” organized in cooperation with the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of National Education and Üsküdar Üniversitesi, brings young people together with leading figures from the academic world. Following the opening panel by Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan and Istanbul National Education Director Levent Yazıcı, this time the guest of the summit was Üsküdar Üniversitesi Vice-Rector, Institute of Forensic Sciences Director Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy.
The program, moderated by Üsküdar Üniversitesi Educational Institutions and Guidance Services Manager, Expert Psychological Counselor and Career Consultant Ece Tözeniş, was held online due to the pandemic. In her presentation titled “What is Desperately Needed and Suddenly Possible,” Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy touched upon the opportunities offered by distance education, which has become a part of our lives with the pandemic.
Inability to access quality education is a global problem
Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy, starting from her own educational life and evaluating university education in our country, stated that she was a lucky student, adding that with many things changing in the last 30-40 years, it has become increasingly difficult for the entire young population to enter a good university after high school.
“Quota in state universities has not always been available for those who desire and deserve high-quality education,” said Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy, adding, “This situation is not only a problem for our country but even for the most developed countries. Even in the United States, where education is widespread, the number of those who can receive university education is limited either due to long distances or economic difficulties. In fields with extensive laboratory applications such as medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, chemistry, and biology, tuition fees have rapidly increased due to the high cost of tools, equipment, and chemicals required by the infrastructure. The number of dormitories is insufficient, and accommodation and nutrition expenses are constantly rising.”
If they could access education, they would benefit humanity
“Today I will talk to you about something that is desperately needed and suddenly possible,” said Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy, stating that Thomas Friedman, a well-known columnist for The New York Times, a high-circulation American newspaper, has periodically noted since 2012 that millions of people around the world cannot access education, and among them, there might be a surgeon or a mathematician who could greatly benefit humanity.
What we desperately need is education
She said that millions of students accessed courses through the online education system implemented by Andrew Ng., a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Stanford University, one of the world's most famous universities. Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy said, “When Andrew Ng. lectured on three courses related to machine learning and artificial intelligence applications, which are very popular university-wide and allowed for students from all departments, at most 400 people could listen to him in one of the university's conference halls. A few years ago, Andrew tried teaching the same courses for free and online. According to journalist Friedman, great advances happen at moments when what is desperately needed meets what is possible. What we desperately need is education. What is suddenly possible is distance education.”
He would have had to teach for 250 years
Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy continued: “When Andrew's lectures, which reached 14 million people through video recordings and who is also one of the founders of a very famous educational website, reached hundreds of thousands of students in a short time, the following calculation was made: If he had tried to teach machine learning and artificial intelligence to all these people in a classroom, he would have had to teach for 250 years. In other words, he found a way to reach thousands of people simultaneously very quickly. This suddenly possible thing was that a famous person's lectures could be accessed from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. Indeed, more than 100,000 people watched his first 3 lectures. Andrew and a colleague from the same department began offering the best courses from the best instructors at the world's top universities to everyone worldwide for free. In a short time, 640,000 students from 190 countries watched 43 courses in various fields from only 4 different universities without paying any fee. Andrew increased the number of courses to 15 within a year, and 1.5 million users took 6 million online exams. The video recordings of lectures by Andrew and other teachers were watched 14 million times. In short, something desperately needed suddenly became possible.”
Online education allows for personalized curriculum
Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy noted that online education moves away from a one-size-fits-all education model and allows students to follow a much more personalized curriculum. She said, “As educators, we all know that students cannot learn simply by passively watching videos. One of the fundamental components of this initiative is to enable students to practice with material to understand the subject well. We must move away from a uniform education model and offer students a much more personalized curriculum. Research shows that even a simple repetition by students leads to higher grades. Enabling students to repeat gains importance.”
The future will progress towards distance education
Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy noted that the Covid pandemic will undoubtedly disappear thanks to this great struggle and vaccines, stating that the knowledge of being able to conduct online education will become an inseparable part of life from now on. She said, “The future will still progress towards being online and distance education.”
How should online lectures be, watched without getting bored?
Prof. Dr. Atasoy also touched upon points to consider in online education, saying, “How should online lectures be that truly teach and are watched without getting bored? As long as we can develop ourselves in a way that it's not a video where we talk non-stop for 60 minutes in front of a screen, but rather divided into 8-12 minute segments, asking questions in between, not progressing if those questions are not understood, and providing explanations if the student still marks incorrectly several times – if we can achieve this, it will be difficult but undoubtedly of great benefit to humanity.”
School is not just education and knowledge, school is actually a life lesson
Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy noted that online and distance education should only start at the university level. She said, “Before that, face-to-face education is very important. The other day I listened to our Minister of National Education, and I also listened to our Istanbul Provincial Director of National Education. Children learn things from each other while playing, they learn behaviors. So school is actually a life lesson. It's not just education, not just information. Therefore, at very important ages when people are preparing for life, it is only possible for them to get to know a good teacher, that is, a good leader, learn some things from them and repeat them in their lives, and learn the good and bad sides of life together from their friends' relationships. Otherwise, if you don't have communication, especially if you don't have siblings, that is, if you are a nuclear family, I suppose people will grow up with very serious psychological problems, creating serious problems for themselves and society. Therefore, we must insist very strongly on face-to-face primary and secondary education. Distance learning for that level, in my opinion, is not possible at all.”
Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy noted that there are geographies where people have very little chance of entering good universities after university. She said, “This also exists in our country. I am sure that if many people could study, very talented and open-minded individuals would emerge. And these people will contribute to many areas of the world. That is why I believe that online education must definitely exist.”
Turkey’s first Forensic Sciences Department is graduating its first students
Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy noted that as Üsküdar Üniversitesi, they opened the first Forensic Sciences Department in Turkey and are preparing to graduate their first students this year. She said the following:
“Expert witnessing cannot be done in a master-apprentice fashion; it must have a school,” she said, and for the first time in 1982, I started master’s and doctoral programs in Forensic Sciences at Istanbul University. Our dream was always to open an undergraduate program, but conducting master’s and doctoral programs is much harder than teaching an undergraduate one. This is because those who come for master’s and doctoral degrees already have professions. They do not feel that responsibility. Those who came were either pharmacists, chemists, police officers, or soldiers. But when an undergraduate program is opened, a profession is given, and you carry all the responsibility for it on your shoulders. For the first time in Turkey, and still uniquely, we had the opportunity to open a Forensic Sciences Department at Üsküdar Üniversitesi. Of course, this was not solely due to my efforts; it was certainly with the great foresight of Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, our founding rector. Since he also worked at the Council of Forensic Medicine, he has an interest in the field. Therefore, there is truly an unimaginable infrastructure. Today, I can say that we have Turkey's best criminal laboratory. We have a laboratory with better equipment than even the police and gendarmerie. Undergraduate students can conduct experiments in these laboratories. This laboratory is not just for show, not just for providing expert witness services to courts, but primarily established for students to physically handle these, conduct experiments, operate them, and look through those microscopes.”
Graduates will be able to choose with code 9525
Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy noted that they are graduating students this year and said, “Our students are in their 4th year. This field, whether for the prosecution (public prosecutor's office) or the defense, is very important for providing expert witness services, and there is a great deficiency in this area. In any case, many people want to take KPSS (Public Personnel Selection Examination). People want to become civil servants and experience the security it brings. This year's graduates will now be able to choose the Forensic Sciences department with code 9525. However, in our survey, almost all of our students want postgraduate education. This is because we have trained general criminalistics specialists in 4 years. We have trained young people who understand everything, can do everything, and can manage a criminal laboratory when they are in charge.”
Smile and make a victory sign
Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy also gave advice to young people who will go for job interviews after graduation: “Smile. Look at yourself in the mirror in the morning and smile. When you go into any interview, go to the restroom beforehand and raise your arms up. This is actually a victory sign. All athletes, as you know, long jumpers or fast runners who win, marathon finishers, raise their arms despite all their fatigue. This indeed causes certain chemicals in the brain to respond positively. There is a lot of research on this. Smile, and when you get angry, go to the restroom and raise your arms; you'll feel better. Life is very beautiful, every age is very beautiful.”
Will continue until June 11
The Fi-jital Future Summit 2021, which garnered significant interest particularly from candidates who will take the university entrance exam,
started with a panel moderated by journalist Şaban Özdemir, attended by Istanbul Provincial Director of National Education Levent Yazıcı and Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan.
At the summit, which will continue until Friday, June 11, 2021, Psychologist Prof. Dr. Acar Baltaş will participate with his speech titled “Opportunities and Limitations Offered by Artificial Intelligence”; Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan with “Fi-jital Education in the Hybrid Era”; and Üsküdar Üniversitesi Department of Psychology Faculty Member Prof. Dr. Sinan Canan with “Remaining Human in the Digital Future.” The summit, to be held via Zoom, can also be followed on the Official YouTube channel of Üsküdar Üniversitesi.