January 1996 — Features

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Use of Computers at High Schools in Turkey

Dr. Omer A. Yedekcioglu, Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey

Some teachers have been taught to program in BASIC &emdash; an oversight by planners. As the benefits of object-oriented programming are widely recognised, it is wasteful to teach a language in which even structured programming is not possible.

The hardware acquired from 1984 has become obsolete without really being put into effective use. In an environment with scarce resources, this is a rather costly experience. The CES Project is useful for true introduction of CAE in high school education. But with its limited scope and the shortage of resources, it remains to be seen whether the experience gained from it will be effectively utilised.

Conclusions

The use of computers in Turkey's high school education is still at very early stages. The following are the major problem areas:

  • Lack of financial resources;
  • Lack of appropriate planning; and
  • Lack of adequate software.

Turkey has relatively young demographics. If she is to take good advantage of it in the post-industrial world, well-developed state policies on the use of computers in education are necessary. Such policies should address issues of computer use not only in schools but homes as well, and the provision of a nationwide network to allow access to a broad range of educational software, knowledge bases, global computer-mediated communication and the rapid diffusion of such resources. n

Omer Yedekcioglu is an assistant professor of MIS at Koç University, Graduate School of Business. E-mail : oyedekcioglu@ku.edu.tr

References:

  1. State Institute of Statistics (Feb. 1995), Statistical Yearbook of Turkey 1994, p. 62.
  2. Balolu, Zekai (1990), Turkiye'de Egitim, TUSIAD.
  3. Geban O. (June 1993), "Turkiye'de BDE'ye Yonelik Yapilan Calismalara Genel Bakis," EBIT Daire Baskanligi Yayinlari, pp. 14-16.
  4. (June 1993) "1989-1990 Ogretim Yilinda Yapilan Calismalarla Ilgili Komisyon Raporlari," EBIT Daire Baskanligi Yayinlari, pp. 17-19.
  5. World Bank (1993), Turkey Informatics and Economic Modernization, p. 107.
  6. Cagiltay K., Askar P. and Ozgit A. (1995), "Setting up a Computer-Mediated Communication Network for Secondary Schools," Proceedings of INET95.
  7. Private Correspondence, Kozan. , M'E, (Sept. 1995).

Idordick H. S. and Wang G. (1993), The Information Society, Sage Publications, pp. 111-112.