The opening program of the “Teacher Education Digital Ecosystem” project, realized within the scope of the IPA III period in cooperation with the Ministry of National Education General Directorate of Teacher Training and Development and UNICEF, was held with the participation of Deputy Minister of National Education Petek Aşkar.
Speaking at the opening of the program, Deputy Minister Petek Aşkar reminded that the Ministry of National Education has recently focused on three areas: pre-school education, vocational education and professional development of teachers.
Stating that the 'Teaching Profession Law' is one of the most important works carried out by the Ministry for teachers in recent years, Aşkar stated that this law regulates the appointment of teachers, their professional development and career advancement; He noted that teachers' professional and head teacher career ladders were created and thus their personal rights were improved.
Reminding that the regulation on in-service training has been updated with particular emphasis on teacher training, Aşkar said, “With the updated regulation, the professional development of teachers has been diversified, and in addition to the existing professional development activities, school-based professional development, professional development communities and teacher-manager mobility programs have been created.
With the school-based professional development, the professional development needs of teachers can be met on a school basis and even individually for each teacher. Professional development communities, which are among these updates, have a special importance. For the first time in the history of Turkey, the professional development community, which is a professional development activity where teachers can come together with educators synchronously in the digital education environment, has been included in the regulation.” he said.
Stating that digital transformation is also given importance in order to respond to the needs of each teacher, Aşkar said: “The establishment of the Teacher Information Network, which is directly related to the professional development activities of teachers. ÖBA is a platform created to support the professional development of teachers and school administrators through distance education. ÖBA is designed to be a meeting point for professional development as well as hosting the sharing of good practices.”
Emphasizing that more teachers have been reached thanks to these efforts, Aşkar said that 2022 million 9 thousand teachers will be reached in 456; He said that in 2023, they have participated in 2 million 326 thousand professional development activities so far.
Noting that the rapid development of technology requires the continuous updating of these competencies of teachers, Aşkar said, “These competencies, starting from computer literacy, using online platforms, using educational technology tools, digital media production, digital citizenship, coding and programming, data analysis and visualization, cyber security. encompasses a range of complex skills such as As stated in the European Union's Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027, digital technology, when used effectively by educators, will ensure access to quality and inclusive education and training for all students. With digital technology, it is possible to focus on personalized, flexible and student-centered learning at all stages of education and training. The teacher education digital ecosystem project was implemented by our Ministry in order to support the digital education skills of our teachers and to advance the studies on digital education in integrity, taking into account the processes that our country and the world are going through. With the project in question, it is aimed to increase the digital education skills of teachers and to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of National Education to provide digital education.” used his statements.
Stating that teacher learning laboratories will be established in eight provinces, namely Ankara, Istanbul, Yalova, Izmir, Rize, Mersin, Erzurum and Gaziantep, within the scope of the project, Aşkar said, “With the project, training modules will be created for teachers and school administrators, and 200 thousand teachers, school administrators and other teachers will be trained in the trainings. education personnel are targeted. Thanks to the teachers equipped with digital education skills within the digital education ecosystem created, students will be provided with a more effective education and training opportunity and ultimately better student learning outcomes will be encountered. made its assessment.
Aşkar thanked everyone who contributed to the project's success.
In addition to Programa Aşkar, UNICEF Turkey Deputy Representative Paolo Marchi, EU Delegation to Turkey Angel Gutierrez Hadalgo, and MEB Teacher Training and Development General Manager Cevdet Vural, IT General Manager Özgür Türk, Special Education and Guidance Services General Manager Cemal Özdemir, Support Services General Manager Levent Özil, General Manager of Secondary Education Halil İbrahim Topçu, General Manager of YEĞİTEK Ertuğrul Karalar, General Manager of EU and Foreign Relations Hasan Ünsal, General Manager of Construction and Real Estate Umut Gür, General Manager of Lifelong Learning Hüseyin Burak Fettahoğlu, Head of Strategy Development Mehmet Fatih Leblebici. joined.