A Different Approach to Managing an e-Certificate Program

in Language Teaching

Ass. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Emin MUTLUAnadolu University, Open Education Faculty,

Turkey

AECT's Annual International Convention November 8-12, 2011Jacksonville, Florida

Case Study

• The management of distance education programs in an academic institution is realized in the management processes of the academic institution.

• This study will present a case in which the coordination and management system of the certificate program and also the use of resources are performed effectively.

Turkish Certificate Program• Turkish Language Certificate Program (TCP) was developed so that foreigners can learn

Turkish. The program is completely based on the Internet. The program is composed of A1, A2, B1 and B2 levels, which are required by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

• Between 2006-2008, the course materials used in the program were prepared in Anadolu University by an implementation and subject field specialists team which included 200 people.

• Some of those materials are – multimedia e-learning content, – e-books, – videos, and – workbooks.

• In addition to the rich course content designed for independent learning, synchronous interaction between the learners and the facilitators during certain periods each week is also possible.

• After studying the whole level, synchronous written exam and oral exams are used to assess student success. Students take an appointment for the oral exam.

Open Education Faculty• Turkish Certificate Programs are managed by the Turkish Language Certificate

Program Coordinatorship in the Anadolu University Open Education Faculty. • The Open Education Faculty manages the biggest education system of Turkey in

terms of student number. • As a coordinator, the Open Education System uses the resources of Anadolu

University and other universities to produce materials and services and also plans and organize the following works: – designing the distance education programs, – offering of those programs, – preparation of the course content, – production of the distance learning materials, – student registration, – sending the course materials to the students, – making e-learning services available to the students, – conducting student exams and invigilation, – offering students affaires services to the students.

Components of TCP• Similar organizational infrastructure is used for the planning,

managing and inspection of the TCP. • The staff involved in the TCP and their responsibilities are as follows:

– Course content development:Turkish Language Specialists in the university; – Instructional design: Instructional designers in the Faculty of Communication Sciences; – Videos: they were obtained from the TV production unit at the Open Education Faculty; – Songs: they were vocalized in the Anadolu University conservatory; – Coursebooks and workbooks: They were organized in the typography unit; – Design of the books: Faculty of Fine Arts;– The Design, implementation and production of e-courses and e-learning services:

Computer Aided Instruction Center; – Preparation of exam questions and evaluation and assessment procedures: Test research

unit of Open Education Faculty; – Programming of the student registration system: Informatics center; – Dissemination and promotion: advertising and public relations department of the

University.

Turkish Certificate Program Coordinatorship

• After the completion of the design and production process, the TCP coordinatorship has been established and the registration, offering the e-learning services, conducting exams, certification procedures are applied 3 times in a year i.e., in the fall, spring and summer periods.

• The TCP coordinatorship is composed of a coordinator, assistant coordinator, and four secretaries who are both doing the secretarial jobs and offering help desk services in four languages.

• Activities in the program are performed on the basis of the timetable which was prepared in detail one year before the beginning of the courses.

Advantages of Coordinatorships• Thanks to a management system based on coordinatorship,

common resources can be allocated to different projects.• The academic coordinatorship uses the academic labour force of

the Anadolu University and other universities for the project whereas the application coordination uses the non-academic labour force, location, hardware and software sources of Anadolu University and other universities.

• Since the procedures can be outsourced, the coordinatorship can easily work on the efficiency of the system, effectiveness of the procedure, quality of the products and services and learner satisfaction.

• This new and successful management experience is a good model to be applied also in other programs in the faculty.

Outcomes: Academic and Application Coordinatorships at the Open Education System

So, taking the experiences gained from the TCP into consideration, similar model has been applied in the Open Education System since the 2010-2011 academic year. In the Open Education System, • two coordinators called academic coordinator and application coordinator are

responsible for the programs. • academic coordinators are responsible for the academic design, production of

the course content and other academic procedures. • application coordinators are responsible for the program promotion,

registration, sending the course material to the students, offering e-learning services to the students, help desk and giving information, examination organization.

• the responsibility of the academic coordinators is too much at the beginning, but it is the application coordinators who are responsible for the sustainability of the program.