Media Integration Policies in Education Plaidoyer for a Holistic Approach in Turkey

Executive Summary

New media integration in schools has become one of the most crucial topics in educational policies in recent years. There are various national and international projects and interventions carried out by public authorities, private sector, or NGOs. However, these projects are often sporadic in their nature and fail to be implemented with a long-term outlook in a holistic manner. Based on the examples of the FATIH and eTwinning projects from Turkey, this paper will argue for a holistic approach in educational policies on media integration in schools by taking these two cases. One of the main claims of the analysis is that the existing policies are often based on short-term remedies. Policymakers tend to allocate a significant amount of resources on the enhancement of technology infrastructure in schools; however, not enough attention is paid to teacher training, development of content, and pedagogical approaches for integrating media technologies in schools. In light of these issues there is an evident need for more cooperation between research institutes and the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) in terms of implementing systematic policies based on empirical research.