Organized with the participation of student representatives from Istanbul Kultur University (IKU) Vocational School (MYO) programs, the 2020-2021 academic year "IKU Vocational School Student Summit" was held on June 21, 2021 in an open environment with mobile hybrid technology in Incirli campus. The summit was followed by remote connection via CATS simultaneously with mobile hybrid technology.
“IKU Vocational School Student Summit” started with the speech of Lecturer Oğuzcan Akgöl, Deputy Director of Vocational School and Student Unit Supervisor. Evaluating that in the last semester of the 2020-2021 spring semester, in order to eliminate the loss of applied course proficiency, Akgöl said that they hosted students in İncirli campus with the use of alternately diluted hybrid classes within the scope of face-to-face education and he thanked the Vocational School academics and students for their devoted work during this process.
In his speech, Lecturer Oğuzcan Akgöl talked about the perspective of the IKU Vocational School administration, which focuses on student, morale and motivation during the pandemic period. He stated that the student representative unit was directed with a participatory approach, included in the online activities responsibly, and in this direction, the representation power and responsibilities of the students increased even more. He stated that in this way, the motivations of both our students and the academic-administrative staff of IKU Vocational School remain dynamic.
In the continuation of the summit, our Public Relations and Publicity 2nd year student Caner Gökay Guguk, who has been the Head of Vocational School Student Representative for a year, took the floor and conveyed his thoughts. Explaining that they produced important projects and activities, especially the Vocational School E-Bulletin, during his tenure, Guguk stated that the students provided the most powerful communication with the university and each other during the pandemic process.
Guguk also added that a representative room was allocated to them as the "Vocational School Student Representative" in İncirli campus, that they carried out their work here, and that they found a stable working environment with a greater sense of belonging. He thanked the Vocational School Directorate for enabling them to create this environment. Guguk also talked about the results of the student surveys they conducted on the training in hybrid classrooms. Noting that, according to the results of the survey, hybrid classrooms are an important factor that increases motivation and participation in lessons, especially during the pandemic process, they received positive feedback that the hybrid classroom technology equipped with the latest technology provides the modern education that student’s desire. Therefore, he expressed his satisfaction on behalf of all students for the hygiene and health-oriented safety measures taken on arrival at the campus.
Asst. Prof. Sinan Kesici, Director of Vocational School and Digital Education Officer, who was invited to the last part of the IKU Vocational School Student Summit and took the floor, congratulated both the academicians working in the student unit and the student representatives for their dedication for the successful activities. Asst. Prof. Kesici shared with the students that there is a transformation in education with digitalization that those who keep up with it will come forward and that vocational education will take on a new form, especially in higher education.
Mentioning with examples the benefits of the reverse mentoring practice they created under the management of IKU Vocational School, Asst. Prof. Sinan Kesici stated that they included students in the management and students played an active role in the decision-making processes. Underlining that this participatory model will continue in the new term, Asst. Prof. Kesici said that student’s satisfaction with the use of hybrid classrooms is very valuable.
