by Isil Boy Ergul @IsilBoy
Introduction
he Educational Technology Summit Executive Committee and the Organization Committee held an invaluable and highly successful summit for the educational world. The educational improvements implemented during the past year in Turkey have been reviewed with the “2017 Educational Technology Summit Report”. The results of these improvements have been analyzed by experts. This article aims to highlight their “Feedback”, which is needed for further developing our national education system.
It has become apparent that there is a need for carrying out in-depth reviews of recent developments and using the findings over the coming years to enhance our educational system. The educational developments both nationally and internationally were explained by the speakers from different perspectives, and then discussed in detail. Participants endeavoured to solve issues with development-oriented recommendations.
We believe that the problems of the Turkish education system will be resolved with a concerted effort from both the concerned institutions and individuals. The Educational Technologies Summit, which is one of the oldest in the field of educational technology, takes this into account. It is our duty to make it easier for everyone both in our Turkey and in the world to have fair and qualified education. When we do this, we hope to help the decision makers and all stakeholders who are trying to fulfil this important task. We are grateful to all the experts and academics that have been involved in this study.
“Qualification” is a term which is used gradually at the top of the concepts that different segments of a society use to assess their lives. Despite its statements on investment and priority, the fact that the education system has not caught up with the growth curve that it desires, necessitates a quality assuring analysis to be carried out in a multifaceted way.
The happiness of children is the happiness of society. We wish for 2017 to be a year of educational experiences surrounding society on the basis of happiness.
Educational Technologies Summit Program
The 4th Educational Technologies Summit, supported by the experts in their fields from around the world, was held at the Şişli Radisson Blu Hotel on 4th March 2017 with an active participation. ETZ17, had “A Journey to Magic” as its motto this year. It provided the participants with inspiring speeches and workshops, which attracted a lot of intense attention.
The Bosphorus Ball where both opening and closing speeches were held provided the audience with opportunities to gather with more speakers as it could be split into half. Although the summit had an agenda that was approximately 9 hours long, the participants stayed and used the hashtag #ETZ17 actively on social media.
The Purpose of Educational Technologies Summit
The purpose of this summit is to inform the participants about the latest new educational approaches and educational developments and to have various experts available from these fields. The summit being the only one in terms of gathering educators, business and the media world together, aims to be an inspiration to participants, by providing them with the opportunity of developing both their productivity and creativity.
ETZ, has used hologram technology to show great scientists. It used Albert Einstein in the first year and Alexander Graham Bell in the second. Additionally in the second year, ETZ had the activity “Maker Fair” and tried to guide its participants in Maker Movement, which is popular all over the world. The Educational Technologies Summit, has been organized since 2014, was held at the Yıldız Technical University for its first year with 900 participants, 40 speakers and 10 salons. In 2015, it was held at Bahçeşehir University with 73 speakers, 15 salons, 41 presentations and 1023 participants.
In 2016, ETZ provided 76 speakers and almost 1400 participants with the opportunity to be informed about the technological developments in education via interesting samples. In 2017, the summit was held with 72 speakers, having almost 1500 participants.
Who took part? How many people participated?
The Educational Technology Summit achieved an important milestone by reaching 1500 participants in 2017. It brought education, media and the business worlds together. The Summit was held with the participation of academics, researchers, teachers, educational advisors, librarians, educational technologists, parents, universities, school administrators, foreign language schools, students, prospective teachers, educational institutions representatives, study centres from the world of education; journalists, writers, social media experts, new media specialists, producers, educational correspondents and celebrities from the world of media; and private sector representatives, IT staff, architects, engineers, designers, publishing houses and technology suppliers from the world of business.
What kinds of companies participated?
At the summit, different companies with 43 stands took the opportunity to share their products and work in the field of educational technology with the participants. These companies included publishing houses, software companies, technology suppliers, educational institutions, non-governmental organizations, consulates, academies, entrepreneurs, and technology producers. During and after the event, the 1500 participants were very active discussing the event on social media. They have intensively and interactively participated by using their own accounts. The participants who shared their thoughts, suggestions, satisfaction and feedback kept the # ETZ17 hashtag on the top trend list for Turkey for 9 hours.
Contributions to Education Development
Bringing together all kinds of partners in the field of educational technology, ETZ17 has contributed to the development of a vast network in this respect. Participants at the event had the opportunity to meet experts and competent people in their fields and institutions to share their ideas and develop their projects. They had the opportunity to experience the best examples of current information, the most advanced technologies, to develop their competencies and visions in the fields of education, technology and educational technology using panel discussions, presentations and workshops in the event program. The participants had the opportunity to add value to their lifelong learning processes by forming an interaction with the experts by asking questions during the session. The summit, which took place with the participation of approximately 1,500 people, has also brought together important people from both the national and local media and has been instrumental in raising awareness around the Turkey, supporting nationally recognized recognition of both print and visual press. This event, which took place with a high participation rate, has delivered its own success as a multiplier effect to a wide range of people by providing a place to share knowledge, experiencing good and the latest examples of technology. The summit that brings the experts of education from all over the world together supported the awareness of scientific thinking and preparation of studies with scientific background by outstanding academic sharing. Problems about educational technologies have been examined by both experts and the participants in the project, and suggestions of constructive solutions from different perspectives have been provided to enrich the thought background of a concept that touches every individual in society such as educators. In addition, technology has fulfilled an important mission in promoting entrepreneurship and productivity skills through the involvement of suppliers, angel investors and manufacturers.
In summary, the 4th Educational Technology Summit brought together stakeholders from all areas of the world of educational technology with very participation participation again this year, as was the case in previous years. It took participants into a magical journey with the sharing and experience of information and case studies.
