The document discusses the development of e-learning services at Anadolu University's Open Education System in Turkey. It began with internet-based trial exams in 1999-2000 and has expanded to include online course books, TV programs, online courses, portals, facilitation services, and graduate programs. Usage has grown significantly, with the e-learning portal receiving over 146 million hits and nearly 2 million visits between May 2005 and January 2006. Anadolu University aims to continue improving its distance education model and increasing the number of students benefiting from e-learning services.

1. Content and Technology in ICT-Supported
Cross-Cultural Educational Exchange
e-Learning Practices in the
Open Education System of
Anadolu University
Asst. Prof. M.Emin MUTLU
International Panel Discussion
Advancement of International Distance Education:
Towards Japan-Turkey Collaboration
23 Feb.2006

2. Open Education System in Turkey
Anadolu University Open Education System, which began
teaching in 1982 with 29,000 students, is among the 10 mega
universities with more than 1 million students today.

3. The Development of e-Learning
Services in the Open Education System
 1999-2000
 internet-based trial exams
 2000-2001
 Open Education Multi-Media CD ROMs
 Anadolu University online courses
(cevrimici.aof.edu.tr)
 2001-2002
 Internet-based Information Management Associate
Degree Program
 2002-2003
 Internet-based practice software

4. The Development of e-learning
Services in the Open Education System
 2003-2004
 Internet-based course books
 2004-2005
 Internet-based TV programs
 On-line courses for the 3rd and 4th year of the English
Language Teaching Program
 Open Education e-learning portal
 Academic Facilitator Service in the internet environment
 e-audiobooks
 2004-2005
 Graduate programs on the internet
 2005-2006
 On-line courses for the Pre-School Children Education
Program

5. Internet-Based Information Management
Associate Degree Program (2001-present)
Information Management
Program aims to train
computer literate students
who are furnished with the
skills to solve information
management problems.
http://www.bilgi.aof.edu.tr

6. Internet-Based Information Management
Associate Degree Program (2001-present)
The on-line courses are
supplemented with
 textbooks,
 licensed software,
 virtual company
practices,
 videos of applications on
CD ROMs,
 on-line tutorials,
 assignments,
 communication-access
services,
 support service,
 and examinations.

7. Internet-Based Information Management
Associate Degree Program (2001-present)
Online Academic Facilitator
Services
 Students are provided with
tutorials synchronous with the
instruction of the 12 of the
practical courses.
 60 faculty members, each with an
expertise in his/her field, take an
active role in these synchronized
tutorials.
 Each practical course has a 4
hour synchronized tutorial per
day, 20 hours per week.
 Thus, a total of 240 hours of
synchronized tutorials are
realized each week for the 1st and
2nd year students.

8. Internet Based Practice Software
(2002-present)
 The internet-based practice
software began as a one-course
pilot study in the 2002-2003
Academic Year.
 It turned into a service
encompassing 10 courses in the
2003-2004 Academic Year.
 24 courses were published in
the 2004-2005 Academic Year.
 In the 2005-2006 Academic
Year, practice software of 50
courses are publishing on the
internet.

9. Number Of Visitors To The İnternet-
based Practice Software Per Month
The number of visitors has reached over 180,000 between the months
of February and March 2005. It is expected that the demand for this
services increase gradually as more and more courses are published.

10. Open Education Faculty English Language Teacher
Training Online Courses (2004-present)
• The first two years of
the program are
delivered face-to-face
and the last two years
are taught using the
distance education
methods.
• Totally, 9455 students
are enrolled in the
ELTT program.
http://iolp.aof.edu.tr/

11. ELTT Online Courses
 Online instructing
environment for 10
courses in the 3rd
and 4th years have
been prepared and
published.

12. ELTT Facilitator Services
 Academic facilitators respond to discussion groups
within 24 hours and to student letters within 48 hours.
 35 facilitators conducted the tutorials in the 2004-2005
Academic Year, and this number increased to 45 in the
2005-2006 academic year.
 In the 2004-2005 Academic Year, 4200 of the students
enrolled in the program used this service. The goal for
the 2005-2006 Academic Year is to reach to 6800
students.

13. Open Education e-Learning Portal
(2005-present)
http://eogrenme.anadolu.edu.tr
http://eogrenme.aof.edu.tr

14. Open Education e-Learning Portal
The e-learning services have been gathered in a portal and
they are offered via this portal.
• e-Book
• e-Television
• e-Practise
• e-Exam
• e-Facilitator
• e-AudioBook
The open education students can access this portal by
using their Turkish Republic Identity Number.

15. Publishing and Usage Statistics of
e-Learning Content
Service Published Number of
Content Students Usage*
Accessed
e-Book 209 books, 2,717 91,543 701,549 times
units
e-Television 137 courses, 1,003 94,284 651,443 times
tv programs
e-Practice 50 courses, 738 83,864 1,708,383 units
units
e-Exam 124 courses, 131,500 4,640,625 exams
11,000 questions
e-Facilitator 50 courses 618 9,761 reading
e-AudioBook 5 courses 23,938 78,361 units
*Between May 2005 and January 2006

16. e-Learning Portal: e-AudioBook
The e-Audio book service,
which was put into
practice in August 2005,
is the newest service
being presented to
students in the open
education e-Learning
system. In the period
between August 2005 and
January 2006, 23,938
students benefited from
this service 78,361 times.

17. Total Number Of Visitors To The E-learning Portal
On A Daily And Monthly Basis
From May 2005 where the
e-Learning Portal was
published to January 2006,
the Open Education e-
Learning Portal has
received over 146 million
hits, a total of 1,941,000
visits and an information
transfer of over 22 TeraByte
were reached.
212,692 different students
login this portal 3,090,046
times between May 2005
and January 2006.

18. Distance Education Graduate
Programs of Anadolu University
 Anadolu-SUNY, Empire State College, e-MBA
Program
 Hospitality Management Non-Thesis Masters
Program
 Education of Developmentally Disabled Children
Non-Thesis Masters Program
 The software, equipment and technical
support for those programs are provided
by the OEF.

19. Anadolu-SUNNY, ESC, e-MBA Program
 A dual diploma e-MBA
Program with the
colloboration of
Anadolu University
and the State
University of New
York, approved by the
Higher Education
Council, is the first
and unique Business
Administration
masters program
based on distance
education techniques
and accessed on the
Internet.

20. Hospitality Management
Non-Thesis Masters Program
 Hospitality
Management
masters program
aims to train
qualified workforce
in the tourism
sector and to
furnish those in
managerial
positions with the
skills and expertise
required by the
sector. The
program is a
distance education
program that can
be reached via the
Internet.

21. Education of Developmentally Disabled
Children Non-Thesis Masters Program
Aims of Program
• To train those teachers
who already work in
schools and centers
around Turkey but do
not have the necessary
training in teaching
developmentally
disabled children.
• To increase the
knowledge and skills of
teachers with a formal
education in this field.

22. Conclusions
 Anadolu University Open Education System is a modern
distance education model that is equipped with a very flexible
structure and a strong organization to meet the educational
needs of Turkey. With its advanced infrastructure in
technology and qualified and productive human resources,
Anadolu University constantly improves and renews its
distance education model and it has contributed to the higher
education in Turkey.
 The open education model, which has been conceived as
“education through television” by the community since its
establishment, has begun to be conceived as “internet-based
education” due to the advancements in the 2000s.

23. Conclusions
 Anadolu University Open Education System is one of the
largest distance education programs in the world in terms of
the number of registered students. With the transfer of the
traditional distance education course materials onto the
internet, it has become one of the few e-learning programs in
terms of the number of students benefiting from the e-
learning services.
 In the 2004-2005 Academic Year, over 150,000 of the 1
million students regularly used the e-learning services. The
number of students benefiting from open education services
is expected to increase as the number of internet-based
courses and e-learning services increase and as the Internet
infrastructure of Turkey develops.