The Information Management Associate Degree Program: The First Internet-Based Distance Education Experience in Turkey

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1 The Information Management Associate Degree Program: The First Internet-Based Distance Education Experience in Turkey Mehmet Emin Mutlu Anadolu Univerisity, Eskisehir, TURKEY Cengiz Hakan Aydin Fulbright Scholar, University of New Mexico This presentation intends to introduce the first undergraduate level Internet-based distance education program of Turkey. The presentation provides details about different aspects of the program such as characteristics of learners enrolled, instructional strategies employed, media used, evaluation system administered, and legal issues considered. It concludes with summaries of lessons learned from this first experience. Anadolu University has been providing distance higher education to Turkish people since Most of its distance programs are based on sort of correspondence study that is supported with television and radio programs, remote evening classes, computer and internet-based environments. The University has started to offer an internet-based associate degree program in information management in academic year of This is the first online undergraduate level distance education degree program of Turkey. This presentation aims to introduce this first internet-based distance education experience of Turkey. The information in this presentation is divided into three parts. First part includes a brief introduction of Anadolu University. Second part gives details about the design, development and evaluation of the Information Management Associate Degree Program. The last part summarizes the lessons learned from this experience. Anadolu University and Its Distance Education Programs According to World Bank, Anadolu University is the world s largest university due to its student body (Potashnick & Capper, 1998). The University has a dual mode education system. The on-campus education is offered though its 9 colleges (or faculties; faculty is a term used in Turkey instead of college), 10 vocational schools, 18 research centers and the state conservatory (school of music and theatrical acting). The distance education programs are organized under three faculties: Open Education Faculty (OEF), Faculty of Business Administration, and Faculty of Economics. Anadolu University was established in 1981 from an older institution, the Academy of Eskisehir, Economics and Commercial Sciences (EAECS). In accordance with the Higher Education Act of 1981, it was also authorized to provide distance education in Turkey on a national scale. As a result, the former Faculty of Communication Sciences of the EAECS has transformed to became the Faculty of Open Education, or, as it is called commonly, the Open Education Faculty (OEF) in This faculty was an outgrowth of the newly established Anadolu University because at that time, it was the only institution that had experience in the technical and theoretical aspects of distance education. The first educational television pilot project of Turkey was undertaken here during the 1970's under All copyrights retained by the original authors 1

2 the auspices of the Educational Television department of the EAECS (McIsaac, Murphy & Demiray, 1988). In Academic Year, the OEF has started to offer two four years undergraduate distance education degree programs in Business Administration and Economics. That year 29,478 students enrolled in the programs (McIsaac & Murphy, 1988). In , the number of the enrolled distance students in Anadolu University has reached approximately 800,000. Today, the OEF along with two other distance education faculties are offering 8 different BA degree and 17 associate degree programs to students in Turkey, Northern Cyprus Turkish Republic and some of the European countries such as Germany, Netherlands, France, and so forth. The programs are varying from Business Administration to Pre-school Teacher Education. Table 1 illustrates the distance education programs of Anadolu University. Economics and Administrative Sciences Health Sciences Continuous Education Education Sciences Western Europe Programs Business Administration Economics Foreign Trade Accounting Tourism and Hotel Management Banking and Insurance Office Management Management of Medical Institutions Public Relations Public Administration Information Management Midwifery Nursing Public Health Care Religious Sciences Agriculture Veterinary Elementary School Teacher Education Pre-School Teacher Education English Teacher Education Economics Tourism and Hotel Management Foreign Trade Table 1. Distance education programs of Anadolu University Anadolu University intends to provide higher education opportunity to all who are not able to attend any traditional on-campus universities. According to the Higher Education Council s (HEC, or YOK in Turkish) legislations, applicants should have at least 105 on national entrance exam (average score is around 160) in order to register for a distance education program. However, anyone who holds an undergraduate degree or who is studying in an undergraduate program of any university is able to enroll for a distance education program of Anadolu University. The courses in the distance education programs are primarily print-based with broadcast television, video and radio programs, remote evening classes, and computer/internet based environment supports. All the course materials are produced inhouse. The University has printing facilities and professional television studios for the All copyrights retained by the original authors 2

3 production of distance learning materials. More than 350 textbooks have been printed, 4300 television and 370 radio programs have been produced since The University broadcasts six hours of programming nationwide everyday on Channel 4 of the Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) Corporation. In addition, 84 centers in 77 cities (with 335 staff) provide administrative support to its distance students. In 56 of these cities, the University offers face-to-face evening classes with support of 38 local universities. The Computer Based Learning Labs and video conferencing facilities located in varying cities also help the University offer instructional support for its students. Additionally, for the last 5 years the University has been using Internet for instructional support. Web sites, also designed and produced in-house, helps students get additional instruction, establish interaction with professors, and take sample tests (Ozkul, 2002). Anadolu University organizes weekend exams three times in a year to assess the achievement of the students. These exams are held in 88 cities in Turkey, 10 centers in Europe and 1 in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Approximately personnel are employed for these exams. Multiple choice questions in those exams are preferred for computerized (optic) grading. The results are delivered to students via both mail and the Internet (Ozkul, 2002). According to recent figures, the majority of distance students have jobs (78 percent). Among these students, 30 percent live in villages and small towns, 62 percent are over 24 years of age, and 45 percent are married. Moreover, 40 percent of them are female (Ozkul, 2002). The Information Management Associate Degree Program of Anadolu University Experts (e.g. Garrison, 1997; Gunawardena & McIsaac, 2003) agreed that developments in computer-based communications have provided unique opportunities for distance educators. Especially the Internet, which has allowed people to share and use information faster than ever. This capacity fostered the second boost in the history of distance education during late 1990s and early Gunawardena and McIsaac (2003) pointed out that the number of distance education providers has tripled during this period. They have also mentioned that many distance education systems in the world have been gradually shifting from traditional distance education milieus to new internet-based learning environments. The Information Management (IM) Associated Degree Program of Anadolu University can be considered as an example of the shift from traditional distance education to internet-based distance learning. The IM Program is the first undergraduate level internet-based distance education initiative in Turkey. The purpose of the IM program is helping students (1) gain the necessary skills to use required business software effectively and efficiently, (2) acquire the concepts and experience of Information Management in business, (3) attain the collaborative working experience and institutional communication in the Internet environment, and (4) get hold of necessary experience for the enterprise and management of the Internet environment. This two-year long internet-based program first started in the fall 2001 with 189 students from 42 different provinces of Turkey and from the Northern Cyprus Turkish Republic. The 86 of these students celebrated their graduation at the end of spring The program currently continues education with its 130 first year (freshmen) and 119 second year (sophomore) students. All copyrights retained by the original authors 3

4 There are two sources of students. First, anyone who has a minimum 105 grade from the university entrance exam is able to register for the program. In Turkey, high school graduates who would like to get in a higher education program such as the IM should take the centralized university entrance exam. It is organized once a year through out the country by a government agent entitled the Ogrenci Secme ve Yerlestirme Merkezi (OSYM - the Student Selection and Placement Center). Second, anyone who holds an undergraduate degree or is currently in a traditional program of any university in Turkey is also able to enroll the IM program. The majority of students (70 percent) are enrolled in the IM Program from the first source. In other words most of the students in the program have graduated high school but did/could not get in any other higher education program. Only 30 percent of the students are either graduates of some other programs or still studying in varying other programs. Moreover, around 54 percent of the students are male and average age is 26. More than 50 percent of the students do not have jobs. They, additionally, have diverse computer experiences ranging from beginner to 15 years of professional work prior the program. The theme of the first year is titled as Business Experience. The first year students (freshmen) play a variety of roles to be able to get used to daily business problems and to solve them by using current software. The real-life examples and practices embedded in the first year curricula are intended to help the students acquire necessary experience to survive in real business environments. During the first year the students take Introduction to Information Management Systems, Operating Systems, Desktop Publishing, Spreadsheets, Institutional Communication and Collaborative Working, Multimedia Applications, and English courses. These courses do not focus on teaching specific software rather using software to solve business problems. The theme of the second year is Team Work. During the second year, the students have to work in teams to solve the real-life like institutional information management problems by using modern software in each course. Each team creates its own portal where members of teams work collaboratively to complete assignments. The second year courses are mostly related to the Internet/Intranet applications and advance institutional information management software. The courses are Institutional Information Management, Planning and Control Tools, Internet Information Systems, Database Management Systems, Advertisement & Marketing Tools, Graphics Applications, Developing Office Applications, the Ataturk s Principles and History of Turkish Revolutions, and Turkish. Among the first and second year courses, there are three compulsory ones that the Yuksek Ogretim Kurulu (YOK- Higher Education Council) requires to include all the degree programs in Turkey. These courses are English, the Ataturk s Principles and History of Turkish Revolutions and Turkish. After registering the program either through the Internet or through the Open Education Faculty Offices that are spread throughout the country (in 83 provinces), the students receive instructions on learning processes as well as licensed software and instructional materials. The IM Program Guide consists of information on the curriculum, instructional activities, interaction possibilities, support systems, instructional materials, evaluation methods, software, and so forth. The Guide also includes an orientation for selfstudy (distance learning) methods. The students can also walk-in the 83 Offices and get help face-to-face. Additionally, web sites designed for supporting the students and online tools such as newsgroups, chat and provide instructions and information about All copyrights retained by the original authors 4

5 different aspects of the program. Furthermore, a telephone line is available for the students 7 days a week (16 hours each day). The students especially need help on setting up the software and on studying at a distance prior the instruction. So, the Guide, telephone line, the Offices, and online tools are mostly used to get help on these issues. Moreover, Microsoft as the requirement of an agreement with Anadolu University provides licensed software such as Windows, Office, FrontPage, Visio, Project, Publisher, and so forth to the students. The students also receive instructional materials during the registration. The instructional materials are web sites and tools, original software, textbooks, and video CDs. The web sites and tools help students learn the content. The Computer-Based Instruction Center (CBIC) of Anadolu University has produced 25 modules of online learning environments that provide interactive presentation of information, examples and practices. The information is presented in different verbal and visual formats such as text, narration, and animation. The majority of the practices include multiple choice items with immediate feedback and links to the related content. These environments are designed in a way that enables self-paced learning and easy navigation. Figure 1 illustrates a sample of these environments. Additionally, a virtual firm (ANAYAY) web page is created and presented to the students so that they can simulate the business applications through this site. Figure 2 shows a sample page of the web site. The online tools serve for synchronous and asynchronous interactions among students, between students and facilitators, as well as between students and organizational and technological support staff. The students are able to interact synchronously (chat and forum) 4 hours a day for each course with the facilitators. They can also use synchronous tools ( ) to get help from the facilitators and other staff. There are 55 facilitators (academic advisors) employed primarily for providing the students academic (instructional) support. Each facilitator is an expert in one course content. For each course there are 5-10 facilitators. They do not only answer the students questions but also evaluate the assignments. For every course additionally there is a coordinator whose main responsibility is to help and supervise the facilitators. The facilitators sometimes provide organizational and technical supports, too. However, there are staff that help to solve the students technical and organizational problems online as well as via phone. The students are also able to use video CDs produced by the CBIC. These CDs generally include around 40 hours of animated demonstrations about how to use the software. The videos on these CDs are also available online for the ones who have faster Internet connections. All copyrights retained by the original authors 5

6 Figure 1. A sample instructional web page Figure 2. A sample web page of the virtual firm, ANAYAY In addition, a series of textbooks and e-books are provided to students as supplementary materials. Textbooks are the products of a private company and can be bought in any bookstore in Turkey. Anadolu University pays an amount of money to the publishing company for these textbooks. The e-books are the products of Anadolu University. All copyrights retained by the original authors 6

7 Individual and teamwork assignments mentored by the facilitators (academic advisors) are used to assess the achievement of the students as well as midterm and final exams. The students required to complete 5 assignments for each course. At the beginning of the courses and during the courses the students receive instructions and assessment criteria for each assignment. During the beginning of the courses the learning teams are formed by the administrators, too. The teams consisted of 3-5 randomly selected students. Each team is supplied a web site that can be accessed only by the members of the team. The teams interact and share information to accomplish the assignments in these sites. Each student plays a different role in the team. The teams also get the information about assignments at the beginning and during the courses via web sites and online tools. The individual students and the teams submit the assignments via Internet. The facilitators evaluate the assignments and inform the students about the results as soon as possible. In addition to assignments, the students must take midterm and final exams during the course. These exams must be administered face-to-face according to the YOK (the Higher Education Council). So, the exams are held in 11 different provinces of the country. Anadolu University hires the facilities and personnel from local higher education institutions to be able to administer these exams. The course coordinators and the University representatives are sent to those provinces to monitor the exams. During and right after the exams the students have opportunity to meet face-to-face with the course coordinators. These meetings help the course coordinators get feedback about different issues and problems the students face and think. Furthermore, several social interaction opportunities are supplied to the students. One of these is an online environment, called Ders Arasi (Brake) where the students can come together and share their ideas, feelings and experiences with each other. The interactions are not treated and monitored in this environment. Besides, the IM Program also provides web domain and space for the students to build their own individual web sites. The students are also able to join the students clubs of Anadolu University and meet with on-campus counterparts. The IM Program also offers several other opportunities for its current and past students. For instance, the students can reach the course content 365 days a year as long as they are registered students, own SharePoint Team Services and Project Central Server individually, establish individual DashBoard, communicate with current and past students through the online alumni site. The program administrators are also providing guidance for Microsoft Certification exams for the graduates. Evaluations of the First Graduates and Lessons Learned The IM Program had its first completers at the end of the 2003 spring semester where 86 students graduated. All the graduates were invited to the University and had a chance to meet with the administrators. Prior to the graduation ceremony, the students were encouraged to express their feelings and thoughts about improvement of the program. Most of them indicated that they were pleased to be able to have a chance to get their diploma via an online program. They stated that the program help them learn use of information technologies in business settings. On the other hand, they pointed out that one of the main problems they had during the program was not having enough time to be able to interact with the facilitators during the day time since the majority of them were working in public and private companies. Another issue they raised was that they All copyrights retained by the original authors 7

8 registered for the program with an expectation of getting a Microsoft Certificate at the end. They mentioned that they had these expectations because the program ads were indicating the collaboration with Microsoft. However, the ads have never included any information about the Microsoft Certification. The students expressed that they were shocked when they first learned that they were not going to get any Microsoft Certification and causing some of their classmates to drop out. One of the main lessons drawn from this experience was that the program was especially valuable for the ones already working with no time or opportunity to join a traditional on-campus program. These kinds of students were more successful than others. However, most of them had heavy work loads and a resulting hard time in accomplishing the weekly assignments. So, the program should focus more on this audience and should not include as many assignments. It should include enough assignments to help them acquire the required knowledge and skills. Additionally, a majority of the students preferred to interact with facilitators after work hours. So, a 24 hour a day support system is crucial for the learners. The facilitators should be online mostly after work hours. The program has been modified according to these recommendations. All copyrights retained by the original authors 8

9 References Garrison, D.R. (1997). Computer conferencing: The post-industrial age of distance education. Open Learning, 12(2), Gunawardena, C.N. & McIsaac, M. S. (2003). Distance education. In D. H. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of Research in Educational Communications and Technology, 2nd ed. (pp ). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. McIsaac, M.S., Murphy, K., & Demiray, U. (1988). Examining distance education in Turkey. Distance Education, 9(1) McIsaac, M.S. & Murphy, K.L. (1988). Turkey: Does distance education meet national educational priorities. Paper presented at the 14th ICDE World Conference, Oslo, Norway. Ozkul, A.E. (2001). Anadolu University distance education system from emergence to 21 st century. The Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education 2(1). Retrieved November 5, 2003, from Potashnik, M. & Capper, J. (1998) Distance education: growth and diversity. Finance & Development 35(1). Retrieved November 5, 2003, from fandd/1998/03/index.htm All copyrights retained by the original authors 9