Experience and efficiency analysis of web based distance education: İstanbul University as an example

The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the distance education applications of Istanbul University with the perspective of the distance education students and by doing so, to make suggestions to the administrators in the management and education departments in order to provide an education environment which is more powerful and fulfills expectations. The research was conducted with the general survey model. For this purpose, two questionnaires were made to the distance education students who are continuing their education at Istanbul University Open and Distance Education Faculty in two different academic years by using web-based technologies and the students participated these questionnaires voluntarily. The questionnaires consist of multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions that were previously used in international academic studies and in which students' demographic information and opinions appropriate for the purpose of the study were questioned. The first of these questionnaires was made to the students studying in the Spring Semester of 2011-2012 academic year and the second questionnaire consisting of the same questions was made to the students having distance education in the Fall Semester of 2018-2019 academic year. The data were collected from the answers of the distance education students through the Istanbul University Student Automation System. After editing and cleaning the data, the questionnaire answers of the students studying at the Open and Distance Education Faculty of Istanbul University in 2011-2012 and 2018-2019 academic years were compared and the findings were obtained. The students stated that they prefer the distance education in that it does not interfere with their business life and they benefit from the advantages of the distance education. In addition, as a result of many scientific researches, students' request for face-to-face discussions with the instructors periodically stands out as an important finding. Another important result of this thesis is that the quality of course materials used in distance education has increased in recent years.