Distance learning in ITU: pilot projects and their implications

Abstract

This paper introduces Istanbul Technical Universities' (ITU) pioneering distance learning (DL) projects, on both national and international basis, and discusses their effects on the overall quality of undergraduate education in Turkey. Synchronous DL projects conducted on ITU's existing intercampus network is presented first, with an emphasis on infrastructure; video over IP solutions in local and wide area and ongoing wireless-based projects. Web-based asynchronous teaching projects which has become the integral part of ITU undergraduate education is also presented. A creative ISDN-based live course exchange project between ITU and University of Virginia, which has been ongoing for two consecutive years, is introduced. A group of novel partially DL-based pilot projects between ITU and the State University of New York, aiming at issuing joint undergraduate degrees on areas of Information Technology, Business/Economics, Maritime Engineering and Fashion Design are also presented with some details of infrastructure, means and objectives. The pros and cons of the technologically-mediated undergraduate science and engineering education is discussed based on ITU experience accumulated through above-mentioned projects, together with some predictions of possible social impacts of experimented DL models on the public sphere of an emerging economy like Turkey.