Açıköğretim İlahiyat Programları: Problemler ve Çözüm Önerileri
Open Education Theology Programs: Problems and Suggested Solutions

Summary/Abstract: Associate degree programs related to the field of theology in Turkey are taught in the Faculties of Open Education. The Divinity Diploma Upgrade Program, which aims to grant the students graduated from this program bachelor’s degrees, is carried out in various universities with sufficient technological infrastructure. Both programs meet great needs but they have significant problems in their systems. It is possible to examine these problems in five groups: related to philosophy of establishment, education-teaching, measurement and evaluation, standards and diploma equivalence. As seen in our classification, these problems stem more so from the open education system in Turkey and various ways of its application than the discipline of theology itself. Therefore, unless we make necessary improvements in open education system itself, we cannot solve all of these problems. Some of these serious problems are as follows: There is no Arabic Preparatory program in Open Education Theology Programs. There are no Quran lessons in associate degree programs. Some of the basic courses that require practical training (such as Qur'an, Arabic, Religious Rhetoric, Religious Music, Tafsir, Hadith and Fiqh Texts etc.) are not fully compatible with the testing technique used in open education. Moreover, these courses require face-to-face training. The test technique paves the way for simplicity and is inadequate to measure student success. When open education programs are founded in Turkey, universally accepted accreditation standards are not taken into account and these programs are not subjected to serious audits. All of these are serious problems that shouldn’t be ignored in education. The fact that diplomas given by open education programs are seen equivalent to diplomas earned from face-to-face educational programs leads to objectionable situations not only in terms of education but in terms of employment as well. This study discusses these problems by reviewing previous literature as well as information from official websites of open education programs and systematically analyzing them. The aim of this study is to make modest contributions to the reorganization of the Open Education Theology Programs in Turkey to improve the quality of open education and to make it more compatible with traditional higher religious education programs.Summary: Humanity constantly improves and transforms technology. Rapidly advancing and developing technology profoundly impacts the field of education and training, as well as other areas of life, giving it new possibilities, modes of practice and modalities. The open education system, a fact of the last century, is the result of such an effect. Distance education is an education system in which there is no obligation to go to school; the teacher and the student are distant from each other, and the course topics are communicated through means such as radio, television, and internet or by means of mail.This system, also called open education, can take other names such as letter teaching, web or internet based teaching, home learning depending on its application. This system, seen as student-centered because it removes all temporal, spatial and physical obstacles in its educational practices, has serious shortcomings and problems. However, it has found great popularity in our time because it less expensive than traditional face-to- face training and makes it possible to get a degree while keeping a full-time job. The theological circles initially remained indifferent to open education, but the need to further educate the personnel for the Presidency of Religious Affairs, which performs basic religious services in Turkey, has made it necessary to establish open education teaching theology programs. For this reason, two Divinity Associate Degree programs were founded in Anadolu University Open Education Faculty in 1982 and Erzurum Atatürk University Open Education Faculty in 2013. In the 2005-2006 academic year, a Divinity Bachelor Completion Program was established within the Ankara University Distance Learning Center in order to complete this program to the undergraduate program, and since similar programs spread to many universities. Although they meet an important need, open education theological programs are encountered with a number of problems. It is possible to examine these problems in five groups: problems related to the program philosophy, education-teaching, measurement and evaluation, standards and diploma equivalence. As seen in our classification, these problems stem more so from the open education system in Turkey and its methods of teaching than programs in the field of theology itself. We cannot expect to solve the internal problems in the open education theological programs without solving these external, institutional or systemic problems in the open education system. The aim of this article is to contribute to the improvement of religious education in Turkey by gathering these problems mentioned in various previous research, and analyzing them in a systematic manner.First of all, we should note that while open education is a suitable system for some science fields, it is not suitable for some disciplines such as medicine, engineering and fine arts which require hands-on training, intensive practice, teacher-student interaction or master-apprentice relationship. The field of theology is suitable for open education in some courses, but it is not especially suitable for some fundamental classes such as Qur’an, Arabic, Religious Rhetoric, Religious Music, Tafsir Texts, Hadith Texts, Fiqh Texts etc. These classes are do not lend themselves easily to the multiple-choice testing technique used in open education programs.On the other hand, to become an Imam, Mufti or Preacher -these are basic religious services- adequate level of practice and internship is required. Moreover, the Preparatory Arabic Class for the field of theology is absolutely essential and it cannot be abandoned. It is very difficult to meet all these conditions within the open education system. Likewise, open education is vulnerable to exploitation. It is much less successful than traditional face-to- face education. Its simplistic multiple-choice testing technique is detrimental to both the scientific and linguistic development of the student, rendering the assessment and evaluation system problematic. The success of the multiple- choice testing technique in evaluating the knowledge gained in the educational process is debatable.The weaknesses of the multiple-choice testing technique are that this technique converts the language into mechanics; it weakens the intellectual development of the students; it is dulling their skills of research, interpretation, comparison, discussion, analysis, deduction, problem solving and critical thinking; it kills their literary pleasures and so on. Furthermore, this technique leads to quite a lot of problems in terms of developing students’ ability to express themselves verbally and orally, their ability to voice their questions and concerns, to form sentences and compositions and to write academic papers.In addition to this, we should mention that academic achievement is only one of the goals of education. Among the primary tasks of education are also to guide the students, to correct their mistakes, to develop their ability to solve problems, to find good role models, to form friendships, to socialize etc. Of course, when all these goals considered, traditional face-to- face schooling also has shortcomings. However, distance learning is far less successful than traditional education in terms of overcoming these shortcomings.Another point that should not be overlooked is that the open education programs operating in Turkey are not subjected to internationally accepted standards. They are not subjected to strict supervision by independent institutions and are not accredited. These and similar shortcomings render the value and equivalence of the diplomas given by these programs arguable. Open education programs in theology are no exception to this issue.However, these problems do not mean that the possibilities provided by open education in the field of theology should not be explored. The open education system can easily be utilized in this field, after its problems are solved or improved. As a start, we suggest the unification of the Divinity Associate Degree Program and Divinity Bachelor Completion Program, which currently operate entirely independently from each other. Furthermore, it would be a significant development if Preparatory Arabic Class can be offered by creating new online classes and/or collaborating with the Faculties of Theology. A similar method can be followed for courses that don’t lend themselves easily to the open education system. In our opinion, equivalence of diplomas given by the Open Education Divinity Schools to the diplomas given by the traditional Faculty of Theology would be realistic, accurate and fair only after these solutions are implemented.

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