Turkcess VI. International Education and Social Sciences Congress was held
The Turkcess 6th International Education and Social Sciences Congress, was held online between 30 October-01 November. The Dean of the Faculty of Education, Prof. Dr. Adnan Ömerustaoğlu, took part in the panel on "Higher Education and Universities in the Education of the Future" as a speaker. He said “In the 21st century, I believe that the future of humanity will be better improved by raising individuals who can solve problems in education, think critically and creatively, manage crises, adapt to new situations, and embody ethical and aesthetic values.”
Ömerustaoğlu, who emphasised that he was not reading the age well while talking about the education of the future, said “We are in a post-truth age, governed by perceptions. For this reason, we must look at events with a critical mind. We have to separate the right information from the wrong. It is necessary to question, not to accept every given piece of information, and to train the mind to understand.”
How will the teacher-student relationship be?
First of all, you need to have a strong tradition. Now the model of the all-knowing teacher with a stick is far behind us. Knowledge-based authority no longer exists, whether in university or basic education, because the student can access information before the teacher. What will the teacher do? They will be mentors who guide the students and supervise their development. The goal of teaching will be to train the mind to think. The teacher will be a role model to encourage the students.
University buildings will not disappear!
During and after the pandemic, the number of participants in congresses and events held on online platforms was not as high as those in the campuses. This showed us that you can reach very large masses with distance education, but the interest and impact is not the same. Communication and connecting with people are essential in education because people need people to relate to and socialize with. For this reason, I think that campus life will continue in the 21st century.
"Countries that dominate technology also dominate the world"
Technology is the application of scientific knowledge to the physical world. There is great power that has developed with the acceleration of the West, firstly to produce information, then to produce technology using this information, then producing further information based on the new technology; that is, they drive each other. The information and technology we actually produce determine everything. Nowadays, new technologies, especially information technologies, are very important. Two countries are fighting. One has expensive tanks; the other has flying drones. The traditional balance of war has changed. The power of technology leads to prosperity in general. In fact, we can say that countries that dominate technology in a sense also dominate the world. Therefore, it is necessary to reorganize and strengthen institutions that produce knowledge and technology and to focus on science education.