The Situation of Distance Education Centers in Turkey: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the overall situation of Distance Education Centres (DEC) connected in universities in Turkey in terms of many variables. The data for this study were gathered by analysing the websites of DEC in the scope of document analysis. In this study, the distribution of DEC programs, the expertise field of administrative staff, the infrastructure and materials used in DEC, and lastly the distribution the DEC established in the regions of Turkey have been identified. In the first quarter of 2016 in Turkey, there are 100 DECs and 3 open education faculties in 193 universities. When the top DEC programs were analysed, it was seen that the most opened programs were computer programming as an associate degree program, e-MBA Business Administration and Theology as undergraduate programs, and again e-MBA Business Administration as a master degree program. The expertise departments of the administrative staff were differentiated as computer and instructional technology, computer engineering and business respectively. The most widely used technical infrastructure and facilities in the DEC programs were Moodle, ALMS, Blackboard and Greenbox as the Learning and Content Management Systems and videos, the visual-aided materials as other e-learning content. When the distribution the DECs established in the regions of Turkey were analysed, it was found that most DEC programs are established in Marmara Region, secondly in Central Anatolia Region and lastly Black Sea Region.