Examining Distance Education Practices in Higher Education during the Pandemic Period and Creating Open and Distance Learning Policy Suggestions Based on Experiences

In the project, it was aimed to examine the pandemic period distance education practices in higher education from the perspective of students, faculty members and administrators, and to create a policy decision framework for the new period distance education according to the conditions. Within the scope of the project, a mixed research method, in which quantitative and qualitative data were collected together, was used. 10,370 students from 111 universities, 42 administrators from 29 universities, 999 lecturers from 86 different universities and 55 support personnel from 15 universities participated in the online surveys. In the qualitative phase of the project, 11 semi-structured online focus group interviews were conducted in the workshop, in which 54 participants from 34 universities participated in different tasks in distance education applications during the pandemic period. In addition, semi-structured online focus group interviews were conducted with 10 lecturers from 10 different universities. According to the analysis results; students stated that they adapted to the use of systems and gained new skills in using technology. In addition, although the students think that YÖK and related units are doing their best, they stated that there are problems in reaching learning outcomes/achievements and accessing technological opportunities. On the other hand, it was determined that the faculty members got used to the system, tried their own applications from time to time, but found the level of teaching satisfaction to be limited. With previous experiences, it has been seen that the information and support offered by the university during the pandemic period are effective in the adaptation process. It has been determined that the diversity of materials and assessment and evaluation approaches are generally the reflections of face-to-face education. The administrators gave priority to the procurement, design and coordination activities regarding technical infrastructure and support services, and they prevented the interruption of education thanks to the distance education applications. In the project, the experiences and approaches of the stakeholders were revealed, and the individual and environmental factors related to their preferences, satisfaction, compliance and expectations were determined. Within the scope of the project, a post-pandemic open and distance learning policy framework has emerged in higher education consisting of 10 dimensions. In addition, an emergency distance education action plan was designed and suggestions for practice and research were presented.