Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technologies

I am lecturer Burak Şişman. I am a faculty member at Istanbul University - Cerrahpaşa, Hasan Ali Yücel Faculty of Education, Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technologies. My main studies concern educational technologies, robotics and the use of robotics in educational sciences. Let me briefly talk about our department. The Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technologies is a 4-year program. Students who graduate from this department work as computer, software, informatics and computer science teachers. In addition, they are trained to become experts who design, implement and analyse tools that facilitate learning. In addition to the pedagogical courses provided and taught to the students of the Faculty of Education, there are many courses specific to our field. One of these is programming. We teach programming for different platforms, like desktop, web and app programming. Apart from that, we have a course on artificial intelligence applications. We also have courses such as electronic circuit elements, algorithm development, and graphic design. These are all important courses, both in terms of educating the youth for the 21st century and actually enabling them to find jobs in the industry. At the same time, all of our instructors are experts in their subjects. Let me tell you about our laboratories and workshops. There are 2 computer labs in our department. We also have a robotics and intelligence games laboratory. The most important thing about the laboratory is the fact that it is the first robotic laboratory belonging to a faculty in Turkey. Here, our students have the chance to develop robotics and develop the use of these robotics in education. It also offers the chance to use intelligence games for education. Besides these facilities, The Information Technologies Club which was founded by our students from the Computer Education and Instructional Technologies Department also provides opportunities for students to share their knowledge. Let me talk a little bit about internships. Since our students gain the right to become teachers when they graduate, they have to undertake internships at schools when they make it to the fourth grade first. Here, their development is evaluated by the faculty members and our students are entitled to become teachers at the end of this 1-year period. Therefore that’s why we have a compulsory internship program. Apart from these, we also have a project management course included in the fourth-grade curriculum. Our students have the chance to gain experience by participating in TÜBİTAK's Undergraduate Students Competition with the projects they prepare in this project management course. I would like to talk about the activities organized by us and our students. In Turkey, we have a Computer Education and Instructional Technology Student Conference, which is held every year by students. In this Student Congress, students can come together every year to talk about their problems regarding the Computer Education and Instructional Technologies Department and exchange ideas about the future. This activity is organized entirely by students and there they can learn stuff concerning their profession from experts and professors alike. Apart from that, they can meet with academics. This event is organized by students, but there is also a Computer and Instructional Technologies Education Symposium organized by faculty members, hosted by a different university every year. In these symposiums, mostly academicians come together and share ideas. Of course, graduate and doctoral student participation is higher in these events. It provides a great platform for academic cooperation, and also for the development of the participants involved.
Let me tell you what the graduates of our department do. Our main purpose as the Faculty of Education is to train the teachers that our society needs. It also trains informatics and software teachers as the Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technologies. Students who graduate from our department primarily prefer teaching. They can work as informatics, computer and software teachers in public and private schools. Apart from these, they can also teach different courses in private education institutions. These could be software, and robotics courses. Apart from that, our department has the following advantage. Since we, as a department, are trained in a very similar way to computer engineers, we also can address the sector in this field of computers. When we take a look at our graduate students, we can observe this. They develop software programs in software companies, we also have graduates working on graphics and design, we have graduates working in companies that produce educational content as educational technologists. Therefore, our graduates have the chance to get involved with many different lines of works besides teaching. Our students may wonder if there are any courses that are difficult. Of course, there are courses that our students have difficulties with, as it is the case in every department. These are the courses that are more technical in nature. We see that they have difficulties especially with programming languages. Of course, we have precautions regarding this. We try to provide an environment for students to develop themselves. We are trying to keep our laboratories open for them. Apart from that, we are working to help them, especially with our research assistant staff, during our student meeting hours. In fact, we try to address these kind of issues in our curriculum. We are trying to help students by conducting project-based studies. I would like to give some advice for candidates who will choose our department. Our department is actually a department that includes many things about informatics. The most important feature of course is that it trains teachers. These teachers are the teachers who will teach the 21st century generations. This is our most important goal and need. Besides that, our students who graduate from this department can find many opportunities to work in the field of informatics as I mentioned before. Therefore, in the department, they learn about many fields to improve themselves such as software, graphic design, artificial intelligence, and robotics. When they enrol in this department, I advise them to ensure their personal development in this regard and to work towards that goal. For example, they can focus on the field of robotics. Of course the university provides knowledge and provides some experience, but the individual efforts of the person are also very important. In this sense, students must continue to develop their own skills. They develop their foreign language skills and be able to speak at least one foreign language such as English. Let me talk about some of the benefits and facilities that Istanbul University - Cerrahpaşa provides to our students. Istanbul University - Cerrahpaşa provides great facilities to our students coming outside of Istanbul with various agreements it has made in terms of accommodation in dormitories. Apart from that, the campus where our department is located is a green, beautiful campus surrounded by nature. We love our campus. The biggest advantage of being in Istanbul, especially for our department, is that we are in the heart of the IT sector in Turkey. Therefore, many institutions will be near to us and in close contact-. Apart from that, they will be able to establish direct contact with many companies and find the opportunity to work and improve themselves. I congratulate the students who will choose Istanbul University, Hasan Ali Yücel Faculty of Education, Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technologies and wish them success. I hope we get to meet you soon.