OBJECTIVES:
The aim of ÜSUZEM is to be a competitive, innovative and open to research by following the needs and developments in the field of Distance Education over time and creating the course content and program offered in internet-based education in an up-to-date and dynamic structure.
In order to achieve this mission, the Center has the mission of being a distance education center that offers and provides course content in accordance with world standards in internet-based education, creates a competitive environment in the field of distance education and can lead in this environment with its medium and long-term plans, uses up-to-date technologies in the internet-based teaching environment, and prepares the course content offered in a dynamic structure.
What is Distance Education?
Distance Education is a planned form of teaching in which students and teachers are brought together in a virtual classroom environment by utilizing the possibilities of technology, without requiring students to be physically present in their locations.
History of Distance Education
In the last quarter of the twentieth century, distance education systems, which have passed through various stages in their historical development, have spread almost all over Europe. With the completion of 4 successive phases, distance education studies, which have been implemented in different ways until today, date back to more than 200 years ago. For example, in 1728, advertisements were found in the Boston Gazette for stenography lessons by letter. In the 1890s, the University of Queensland in Australia conducted an off-campus education program. Distance education, whose foundations were laid with "postal education", was replaced by the "multimedia model" with the invention and widespread use of radio. The development of television and communication tools enabled the transition to the "telelearning model". In the last stage, with the use of web-based platforms, the "flexible learning model", which is the last stage, forms the basis for today's applications.
Two important points should be mentioned here. First, distance education is not a second-class education that is used alongside formal education. Specially prepared textbooks, television, radio and computer programs are used. The latest methods of assessment and evaluation are used. Such a system has very modern equipment. Secondly, distance education is not a form of education used by poor countries; it is primarily practiced by the richest and most industrialized countries of the world.
Distance Education Practices in the World
Rapid developments in communication technologies have affected the education systems of countries in various parts of the world. With this technology-teaching interaction, there has been a tendency towards distance education in the education systems of these countries.
England was the first country to establish an "Open University" in the field of higher education. In Japan, the distance education system, which was developed in 1948 within the framework of the education law to provide teaching opportunities to soldiers and those who could not attend part-time schools or who were away from school, included secondary, high school and higher education levels. The USA has established universities offering distance education. The Universities of Pennsylvania and South Carolina are among the leading ones. These universities reach students' homes with television and computer systems and provide consultancy services between students and faculty members when necessary. Canada, like the USA, makes extensive use of television in this field. In India, satellite television learning is widely used. Israel has developed television books called "Every Man's University". The Italian Radio and Television Corporation has successfully realized the "tele Scoula" project.
Applications in Turkey
Between 1927 and 1960, discussions and suggestions in the field of distance education constitute the emergence phase of distance education. In these years, it was aimed to spread literacy through communication. The idea of organizing correspondence courses in 1933-34; the studies of Ankara University Faculty of Law, Banking and Commercial Law Research Institute in 1950; and the aim of providing university opportunities to graduates of secondary vocational schools in 1960 are the noteworthy applications of correspondence teaching method in these years.
In 1961, the Ministry of National Education established the Letter Teaching Center and started teaching, and these activities were organized at the General Directorate level in 1966 and the system became widespread in the field of formal and non-formal education.
In 1974, the Center for Higher Education by Letter was established. This initiative was later replaced by the Non-Formal Higher Education Institution. However, this initiative was not successful either. In 1983, with the Higher Education Law No. 2547, a Faculty of Open Education was opened within Anadolu University. This faculty provides teaching, research and publication services in distance education.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the School Radio and TV School, which was affiliated to the Ministry of National Education, supported formal education and provided non-formal education opportunities to anyone who wanted it.
The institutions that provide distance education to individuals outside the age population under the General Directorate of Educational Technologies of the Ministry of National Education are the Open Education High School, which was established in 1992 and provides secondary education diplomas; the Open Primary Education School, which was established in 1997 and started teaching in 1998 and provides primary education diplomas by offering 6th, 7th and 8th years of education; and the Vocational and Technical Open Education School, which provides electrical installation certificates.
The Importance of Distance Education for Turkey
Considering the social and economic structure of Turkey, distance education, which allows students especially in rural areas to receive education, is of great importance in order to ensure equality of opportunity.
- Ensuring that courses that cannot be offered due to lack of faculty members are given over the internet, and that different university students benefit from the knowledge of faculty members who are experts in their fields,
- Turkey has the youngest population and the highest population growth rate among European countries. If this young population is well educated at all levels, it will be a great potential for the future; otherwise it will be a major source of problems. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the prevalence and quality of education,
- The number and quality of teaching staff at all levels in Turkey is insufficient. It is a fact that it takes a long time to train teaching staff,
- Another dimension that makes distance education important for Turkey is the spread of the philosophy of lifelong education,
Institutional Principles of Distance Education
General
In the education sector, the amount of knowledge that needs to be taught and learned is increasing every day, while the resources allocated to teaching are decreasing. In other words, more teaching costs have to be met with smaller budgets. Distance learning is a teaching method that needs to be studied to overcome this problem. Regardless of the methods used, the unchanging dimension of distance education is distance. The function of distance education is to eliminate or minimize the distance dimension. To realize this function, the possibilities provided by technology are utilized.
Course Description
The method chosen for distance education varies depending on the content of the course and the target audience. While one distance education method may be suitable for one course, another distance education method may be suitable for another course. Not every course can be taught by distance education. The decision of whether the courses will be given by distance education or not should be made as a result of the studies to be carried out jointly by the lecturers and instructional technology experts who are the experts of that course. The content of a course that is decided to be given by distance education may differ from the content given in the classical classroom environment. Cost/benefit analyses should be made for each course that is decided to be offered through distance education. If there is a significant cost increase when the benefit of distance education is compared with the benefit/cost ratio of classical education by proportioning the financial resources consumed, the delivery of this course with distance education should be postponed and the course should be reconsidered in parallel with the future cost reductions and developments in technology.
Distance Education from the Student Perspective
Meeting students' learning needs is an important indicator in the evaluation of any effective distance education program. Students have different perspectives on distance learning and distance education. Some students easily adapt to distance learning while others may not be able to do so. Since the physical proximity of students to their teachers is much greater in distance education than in traditional teaching, it may cause negative developments, especially in students who are accustomed to teacher-centered teaching. Distance education can produce beneficial results in terms of students' ability to work on their own and to be more active in the course. Students' familiarity with the technologies used for distance learning is a very important factor for students to take the courses successfully. The use of an inappropriate distance learning method for a course can have negative effects on students and significantly reduce their interest and motivation to learn. It is important for the success of distance education that students are educated and convinced that distance education, if used appropriately, can be at least as beneficial as traditional education.
Distance Education from the Instructor's Perspective
As with students, it is important for the success of distance education that instructors are educated and convinced that distance education, when used appropriately, can be at least as beneficial as traditional education. Instructors are important in deciding whether or not their courses should be delivered by distance education. Before deciding whether a course should be taught by distance learning, teachers need to be familiarized with distance learning technologies and their real-life applications. Teachers need to be aware that there are differences between teaching a course in a traditional classroom environment and teaching a course by distance learning. It is the teachers' duty to determine the content of a course selected for distance education. However, the task of making these contents available for distance education belongs to the instructor and course content development experts.
Plan and Program Aspects
Planning courses to be delivered by distance education is a different process compared to traditional teaching. Course planners and schedulers have to plan in more detail the location and time of the courses, the students who will attend and the distance learning tools.
Objectives of Distance Education
- Reach more audiences,
- Removing the dimension of physical distance from the teaching process,
- Reducing teaching costs,
- To be able to reach the target group to be taught more quickly,
- Accelerate the teaching process,
- Making students more active in the learning process,
- Increasing learning opportunities and alternatives.
Advantages of Distance Education
- Increased teaching opportunities,
- Timely delivery of teaching that needs to reach more people in different geographical locations,
- Real-time access to subject matter experts who can be in very different places,
- Increased flexibility in teaching environments and methods,
- Increased sharing of teaching staff and teaching media resources,
- Increased productivity by ensuring that the student is trained where they work,
- Reduced student travel and costs,
- Reduced discrepancy between the teaching environment and the real working environment,
- Significant reduction in teaching costs,
- Facilitating student access to courses,
- Acceleration and ease of access to information,
- Accelerated distribution of teaching materials