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Distance Education
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Examining distance education in Turkey
Marina St ock McIsaac, Karen L. Murphy & Uğur Demiray
Available online: 28 Jul 2006
To cite this article: Marina St ock McIsaac, Karen L. Murphy & Uğur Demiray (1988): Examining dist ance educat ion in Turkey,
Dist ance Educat ion, 9:1, 106-114
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Examining distance education in Turkey
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Marina Stock McIsaac
Karen L. Murphy
U ğur Demiray
This article describes the distance education program at Anadolu University in
Turkey and compares its problems and solutions with similar distance education
programs in other Asian countries. A brief history is presented, enrollment
figures are given and future directions are described. Conclusions suggest that
open education is accomplishing the goals of the country's 1981 reforms and can
continue to be helpful in the country's quest for modernization.
Turkey has the unique geographic position of straddling two continents.
With one foot resting in Europe (Istanbul and Thrace) and the other
firmly planted in Asia (Anatolia), modern Turkey is in a good position to
learn from th e successes and failures of its neighbours. Since 1923, when
Ataturk founded the Turkish Republic, Turkey has used the European
model for its economic, political and educational development while
maintaining its cultural ties with the East. Many Turkish art forms —
shadow theater, music, dance and literature — have their roots in Asia.
Similar to its Asian neighbors, Turkey, with a large population of over 50
million people, is a developing country. It continues to be plagued by high
levels of unemployment and low levels of education.
Institutions of higher education in Turkey have traditionally modeled
their programs after their British, G erman and American counterparts.
H owever the educational problems facing Turkey more closely resemble
those of their Asian rather than their European neighbors.
BACKGROUND
The 1970s were years of unrest and civil disturbance in Turkey. Political
elements at the extreme left and right waged open conflict on the streets.
U nemployment was high and inflation was over 100%. D uring this
period the universities became centers of agitation. Students demanded
better education and better jobs. One project was developed in an attempt
to solve some of the educational problems. This pilot project explored
one new educational technology, educational television, to provide
increased opportunities for students in higher education.
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Marina Stock McIsaac, Karen L Murphy and U ğur D emiray
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In 1974 Turkey's first educational television project was undertaken at
the Eskisehir Academy of Economic and Commercial Sciences. Th e
success of the Academy's first small closed- circuit educational project
marked the introduction of technologies used for educational purposes.
The students and faculty who participated in this project formed the
nucleus of technical expertise in television, and it was their knowledge
which was to lay the foundation for future distance education program
activities (Eskişehir Academy of Economic and Commercial Science,
1974).
Shortly after this, (1975- 1978) an experimental distance education
program was undertaken by the Ministry of Education. This program
was coordinated by the Institute for Diffusion of H igher Education,
Yağin Egitim (referred to as YAY- KUR), and utilized both prin t and
television. The latter was developed by the film, radio and television
center of the Ministry of Education (F RTM ). This attempt at distance
education was not a success because it was hastily conceived and never
integrated into the total educational system. It is not within the scope of
this paper to document the reasons for the failure of the 1979 D istance
Learning experiment. Political conflicts, lack of careful planning,
organizational confusion, and over- emphasis on vocational education
'led the institution into a stagnation and later into a failure' (Özdil, 1979).
In 1978 Yilmaz Büyükerşen, then President of the Eskisehir Academy of
Economics and Commercial Science, prepared a report which had far
reaching effects (Büyükerşen, 1978). H e proposed that his Academy,
which was later to become Anadolu U niversity, be the center for a
program of distance education in Turkey. Th e program was to be based
on the British Open U niversity model and was to be called open
education. At that time the Eskisehir Academy had the only fully
developed media and broadcasting capability other than Turkish Radio
and Television, the state controlled television facility. In addition
Büyükerşen had coordinated visits for three years (1977- 1979) of a team
of educational technologists from around the world to help develop a
model of open education for Turkey. D uring this period, marked by
student protests and civil unrest, the number of student applicants for
traditional university spaces increased to ten times the number of
available places (Ozdil, 1979:2).
One solution to the growing economic and social turmoil of the late 1970s
came in the form of the fourth Five- Year D evelopment Plan (19791983) which required that an educational system be designed so as to
eliminate inequalities in educational opportunity. This plan stressed the
need to increase the opportunity for nonformal education and
emphasized the importance of providing distance learning opportunities
for all people. This included particularly students who failed to win places
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Vol. 9, N o.l, 1988
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at conventional universities as well as those who for economic,
geographic or other reasons could not study on university campuses. It
was felt that distance education would not only benefit the students
themselves but, in a larger sense, would help to eliminate the student
unrest and civil disobedience which had marked the 1970s (Kennedy,
1982:4).
By September 1980 th e civil disobedience became so extreme that the
Turkish P arliament was unable to implement legislation, and the
military wing of the government was called in to restore law and order.
By 1982 a new constitution and new H igher Education Acts were
accepted. As a result a Council for H igher Education, (YD K), was created
and given the authority by the Constitution of the Republic to regulate all
higher education. This government body was empowered to 'plan,
organize, administer and supervise the education provided by
institutions of higher education'. In addition it was granted constitutional
immunity which gave it an extremely powerful position. (Karagözoğlu,
1986:4).
One activity of YOK was to announce to universities that they could
develop open education programs. It was only after this that the
Buyukersen Report was implemented. By that time, as a result of higher
education reforms, the Academy had officially become Anadolu
U niversity, or the U niversity of Anatolia.
ANADOLU UNIVERS ITY
Anadolu U niversity coordinates the Turkish open education program.
The university is located in Eskişehir, a city of approximately 500,000
located in Western Anatolia between Ankara and Istanbul. The
university is not presently a distance teaching university, but it is a
university with a distance teaching department called the Open
Education Faculty.
The present U niversity began in 1958 as the Eskisehir Academy of
Economics and Commercial Science. In 1979 a Faculty of Communication
was established. Then in 1981, as a result of educational changes brought
about by the Council of H igher Education, the Academy formally became
Anadolu U niversity. The original Faculty of Communication was
integrated into the new Open Faculty. Before the 1982 educational
reforms there were 19 universities, 19 academies and 7 polytechnic
institutions in Turkey (USYM, 1982:33). After the reform some
academies such as Eskişehir's combined with universities and the total
number of universities grew to 27. In 1987 two more were added. One,
Bilkent, was the first private Turkish university to be established.
The Open Education Faculty at Anadolu U niversity has been operating
officially as an open educaton program since late 1982. One of its
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Marina Stock McIsaac, Karen L. Murphy and U ğur D emiray
missions has been to increase the availability of higher education to those
for whom further education was not available before. In 1981, before the
Open Education Faculty began, there were only 56,000 university spaces
for the 515,000 students who applied (USYM, 1980:2). By 1985, as a
result of the open education program, the number of available student
spaces had doubled. The program has continued to grow since it
inception. Following are student enrollment figures.
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Students enrollec in business adm inistration and economics
The main emphasis of the open education program is to provide
diplomas for students in business administration and economics.
total students
1982- 83
1983- 84
1984- 85
1985- 86
1986- 87
29,479
40,617
65,656
98,670
110,000
(approx.)
women
7,592
10,335
16,614
26,351
men
21,887
30,282
49,042
72,319
Source: (ÖSYM, 1982- 1987)
Of the original 29,749 students enrolled in 1982- 83, there were 9,600
who remained in the program. Of that number 4,658 were graduated in
the first graduation ceremony in October, 1987. Although the drop- out
rate seems high for this first class, it is not known how many merely
dropped back a year or more to complete their degree.
ST U D E N T P ROF ILE
Last year's statistics indicate that 5.4% of students enrolled in Business
and Economics live in cities, 27% live in towns, and 19% live in villages.
Eighty- five percent are single and only 15% are married. Just over half,
(58%) are employed. Forty- six percent of students' fathers finished 5th
grade and 6% earned postsecbndary degrees. Thirty- three percent of the
mothers finished 5th grade and less than 1% earned postsecondary
degrees. One third of the students are female. Suggestions have been
made regarding the potential of the open education program to improve
the ratio of women who receive a higher education (Mclsaac & Koymen,
1987).
COU RSES
Two degree programs are offered through the Open Education Faculty.
Students can obtain degrees in Business Administration or Economics.
Distance Education
Vol. 9, No.l, 1988
Courses last for an entire year and are taught using texts and
supplementary television and radio programs. Courses include
introductory and advanced studies in Business and Economics, Turkish
History, English as a Second Language — as well as advanced courses in
computers, advertising, taxation, organizational behavior and
investment. There are diploma courses which enable primary school
teachers to upgrade their skills. Students in degree programs are taught
in Turkish and are offered up to 8 courses a year. There is also a weekly
program of English instruction.
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MEDIA A N D METHODS
The primary medium of instruction is printed material. These materials
are mailed by surface post. Supplementary materials which are also
mailed to students contain information regarding examinations, the
monthly newspaper Anadolu, and other supplementary study materials
as needed.
Printed materials are supplemented by more than 200 regular television
and radio broadcasts per year. These television programs are aired over
the one government operated television channel which is available
throughout Turkey. There is a new second channel — which is not
available for educational programming and which presently serves only
the principal cities. Students watch television courses at home. Programs
are aired daily from 5-7 p.m. on weekdays and 8-10 a.m. on week-ends.
In addition to printed materials and television programs, a third
important component of instruction is provided by Academic Service
Centers. These centers, at 18 university locations, provide face-to-face
lectures at the end of the day, usually from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. to supplement
the printed materials and television programs for students enrolled in
open education courses. Students who would like to ask questions or hear
supplementary lectures are encouraged to attend academic service
centers where a university lecturer is available to help them.
Approximately 80% of the students enrolled in open education courses
make use of these academic service centers. It is planned to have such
service centers in as many of the 67 provinces in Turkey as possible.
STUDENT CENTERS
Although students study primarily at home, there are 20 student centers
located in 18 cities throughout Turkey and in Lefkosa, Cyprus. Student
centers are usually in cities or large population centers. At the centers
students can receive help, advice and course related materials.
A current project is to install video libraries in student centers so that
students who miss a particular television lesson can review the program
at one of the centers on videotape. A trial at one center in Konya has led
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Marina Stock McIsaac, Karen L. Murphy and Uğur Demiray
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to a pilot project in 5 centers to determine whether the installation of
video libraries will be useful and cost effective. Ideally academic service
centers, student centers and video centers would be located together.
There are now three pillars of foundations for the open education
program and a fourth is being considered. The three cornerstones;
academic services, print materials and television form the basis for open
education. It is hoped that in the near future a fourth essential component
can be added. This would consist of student service centers which would
distribute individual units of instruction to students. Th e units would
allow a greater degree of self- paced learning than is currently available in
materials designed for traditional lecture. These print materials,
videocassetes, and learner- paced tutorial units would be available from
video libraries in student centers throughout Turkey. In this way open
education could truly meet the needs of students to study where and when
they like.
The main administrative center, Merkez Burosu.is in Eskişehir where
files are maintained for all students. This center organizes activities of
the 20 other student centers and processes student files and grades.
Examinations, which are administered by an office of the H igher
Education Council (OYSM), are taken by all students throughout Turkey
at the same time. The tests are optically scanned by computer at ÖYSM.
Results are sent to students by post.
AD D I T I O N AL O P E N E D U C AT I O N P R OG R AM S
Besides the regular degree programs, there are two additional projects in
open education which originate at Anadolu U niversity. F irst the 'Primary
School Teacher Training Project' started in 1986 with 46,000 teachers
enrolled. It currently serves a total of 130,000 primary school teachers
taking courses via print and television. This is a program which the Open
Education Faculty is implementing for the Ministry of Education.
Primary school teachers enroll to obtain diplomas. They may receive
their license and also raise their retirement benefits for social security. In
addition, as recipients of the diploma, they are then entitled to enroll at
the U niversity for a degree if they choose.
The second special project of the open education faculty is 'Training
Turks in G ermany'. This project was begun in 1986 in G ermany, using
the facilities and resources of Anadolu U niversity. The program expects
its first enrollment in Fall 1987. It is designed to serve the families of over
2 million Turks who are workers in G ermany. U nemployment is
presently high in G ermany and many Turkish workers are encouraged to
return to Turkey. This project represents a joint effort between the
Turkish and G erman governments to 're- acculture' expatriate Turks to
their language and culture. The advance planning is directed toward lycee
students, university students and teachers in training.
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D istance Education
Vol. 9, N o.1, 1988
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PROBLEMS AN D SOLUTIONS
Because of the speed with which open education was conceived and
implemented there have been problems not unlike those faced by other
developing countries. In a brief five years' time the program was planned,
implemented and now serves a total of over 200,000 students in various
course. Th e single greatest obstacle to full implementation of open
education in Turkey is lack of resources. At present television
programming, which supplements printed materials, is limited to a few
hours a week on the single government television channel which is
broadcast throughout Turkey. Plans are underway to develop new
channels for broadcasting and perhaps to have one dedicated to
educational programs. A third link channel is being proposed which
would originate from Anadolu U niversity and would allow educational
programs to be transmitted directly to Turkish Radio and Television for
broadcast across Turkey.
A further solution to the problem of limited access to television
programming is the proposed plan to create video centers available
throughout the country. A pilot project has already begun to determine
whether such centers will help to alleviate existing problems.
There are other innovations which have proved successful here. The
British instructional packages'Follow M e' and 'Follow Through' have
given 50 million viewers access to beginning and intermediate English
instruction. Early in 1987 Anadolu U niversity was one of the first
universities in Turkey to join the European Academic Research N etwork
(EARN ) and now offers scholars daily access by telecommunication to
other universities around the world. Th e university maintains the only
major television production facility in Turkey outside Turkish Radio and
Television, which is operated by the government. The university also
generates outside income by providing computer, photography, graphics
and television services on a contract basis to business members in the
community and throughout Turkey.
C O N C LU SI O N S
In the past five years the Open Education program at Anadolu U niversity
has already more than doubled the number of students in Turkey who
now have access to higher education. Although there are no current plans
to increase the number of students enrolled, the quality of programs is
constantly being improved. From its early skeptical reception in 1982,
open education is achieving a position of respectability in Turkish higher
education. Th e success of the present project is most certainly tied to the
efforts of one man, a man of vision, Yilmaz Büyükerşen. D r. Büyükerşen,
rector of Anadolu U niversity, is supported by his vice rector and dean of
the open education faculty, D r. Semih Büker who assists with the
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Marina Stock McIsaac, Karen L. Murphy and U ğur D emiray
direction and leadership essential for a project of this size to succeed.
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Imaginative leadership in a favourable political environment has led to
the ambitious implementation of the educational reforms of 1981.
Results have produced the first three open education programs in
Turkey. Th e first course of study, degree programs in Business
Administration and Economics, has paved the way for other applications.
With over 100,000 students enrolled in this program, open education is
proving successful because technologies such as computerized
examinations and television programs make this type of mass education
possible.
A second application, the Primary School Teacher Training Project, also
enrolls over 100,000 teachers throughout Turkey and is proving
successful in providing inservice training. The third application,
Training Turks in G ermany, began operation in 1987. D espite the
budgetary restrictions which confront all developing countries, Turkey is
seeking new ways to use available technology in the most cost effective
way. The venture is both exciting and challenging.
References
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fazlasi karsisinda Türkiye için bir model b'nerise. (Application of an
educational model to meet the greater demands of Turkish higher
education). (D P T ve E.I.T.I.A. Pilot Proje Raporu). Ankara:
G overnment Planning Organization.
Eskisehir Academy of Economy and Commercial Sciences. (1974), The
first ETV project of Turkey. Eskisehir, Turkey: Institute of Educational
Television. (ERIC D ocument Reproduction Service N o. E D 090 991).
Karagözoğlu, G. (1986) 1981 Higher education reform of Turkey after
five years of practice. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Kennedy, B. (1982, D ecember 31). The Turkish Open gets underway.
Times, Higher Education Supplement, N o. 530, p.4.
Mclsaac, M.S. & Koymen, U.S. (1987). Distance education opportunities
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education statistics for 1982 - 1987). (Ögrenci seçn e ve yerlşt irm e
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