The role of the National Agency of Turkey in projects related to online learning

Sümeyye Tek

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aras Bozkurt, a researcher and faculty member of Anadolu University’s Distance Education Faculty, discussed his involvement in European Union-supported projects. Prof. Bozkurt specializes in distance education, online learning, networked learning, and educational technology. He has participated in eight EU-funded projects, with one “Creative Teaching for Creative Generations” currently ongoing.

“ My role in these projects is to design and present them in online environments and open access to users.”

The European Union supports research projects on online learning processes in Turkey. In this context, eight EU-funded projects have been carried out, with one still ongoing. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aras Bozkurt is responsible for designing and presenting the projects in online environments and making them accessible to other users. To ensure interaction among users, internet addresses and social media accounts are created for each project. The ongoing project, “Creative Teaching for Creative Generations,” is expected to conclude its research by the end of May. Each project typically lasts 2-3 years, and they must follow each other. Aras Bozkurt stated: “We are working on projects that are interconnected with each other. Currently, there are applications for four new projects. We will continue our work with a project selected among these new project applications.”

National Agencies of each country play an important role in the implementation of these projects

The common feature of these projects is that all funding is provided by the European Union. Depending on the budgets of the projects, some applications are submitted to the national agency representing the European Union in Turkey, whileothers are submitted directly to the Brussels-based European Commission Executive Agency. Aras Bozkurt explained:“Our projects were selected from the applications made to the national agency here. Five of the six projects were selectedby the Turkish National Agency. One of them was an application from Germany. Each country has a national agency, and these institutions both organize the process on behalf of the European Union and ensure that the budget is used by determining the distribution of the budget.”

Each project has a specific objective according to its subject. The most valuable aspect of these projects is the exchange of ideas, which facilitates interactive work and helps to understand various education systems from different countries. Additionally, regardless of the project’sobjectives, cultural exchange creates the opportunity to learn about different cultures. Each project includes 4-5 different mobilities, where project partners visit the host country, therebyincreasing the project’s added value.