International Journal

on Marine Navigation

and Safety of Sea Transportation

Volume 2

Number 1

March 2008

111

Information and Communication Technology

(ICT) Training Application for MET Institutions

M. Kadioglu

Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey

ABSTRACT: Based on the technological initiatives among Maritime Higher Training and Education (MHET)

institutions, this study explored the attitudes of academicians, senior lecturers and lecturers in Maritime

Faculty of Istanbul Technical University toward information and communication technologies (ICT). The

findings suggest that academicians, senior lecturers and lecturers have positive attitudes toward ICT in MHET

institutions.

This study constitutes firstly the definition of e-learning with the existing advantages and their integration

methodology to higher education institutions via by MHET application. Then training and education system

based management are discussed with IT applications to clearly identify the e-learning communities into

maritime education. The outcomes for the utilization of communication in MHET are proposed not only with

full time training model but also e-learning concept. Consequently the opportunities of e-learning with MHET

are proposed for enable the institutions to benchmark their existing applications.

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 General Information

In our era, with the amazingly fast improvements

being encountered with the communicative

instruments, similar to those changes in many other

fields, the structure of education and competition has

also started to change. The improvements in the

informative and communicative technologies, has

brought out the demand for “global education.” The

fast improvements in the area of informatics are

continuing in many areas, especially in the fields of

e-learning, e-trading, e-state.

In our day, whereas the global information is

becoming two fold in every five-years, it is expected

that this fast doubling will be taking place in 72 days

in the year 2020 (STAUT, 2001).

2 HISTORY

2.1 History of Learning From a Distance

Learning through mails, which can be considered as

the start of long distance learning, was a teaching

method employed by a school or authorized

institution, through mails.

In our day, international organizations like

UNESCO, are still employing the learning-by-mail

method in the developing countries.

In the development process of the distance

education, instruments such as books, postal services,

radio and television were used and the quality of

education and its methods remain to be discussed.

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3 DEFINITION

3.1 e-Learning

The new learning method arising in connection with

the improvements made in the informative and

communicative technologies, is called e-learning.

This e-learning is a process having a vast field

of implementations, encompassing computer based

learning, web-based learning, virtual classes and

the cooperation of numerical technologies(FACTS,

2000).

E-learning, is defined with:

− Web based instruction,

− Virtual education,

− Computer based distance education,

− Computer-mediated communications

− Internet education,

− Internet based/aided education,

− Online education

and similar concepts. Regardless of any concept

being used in defining, e-learning is the most

improved system in learning from a long distance.

The instructor, lecturing a course one-to-one to a

group of students far away from the campus through

the screen of a computer or the realization of the

lectures on all the courses through internet and

having participations maintained, can be defined as

e-learning.

The Maritime Higher Training and Education

(MHET) institutions, being in connection with the

on going improvements in the informatics and

communication technologies, should make benefit of

the e-learning model. However, before any

implementation of the e-learning model, it is

essential to designate the approaches of the

instructors towards e-learning.

3.2 The e-Learning Advantages

Among the most important advantages of the

e-learning model, is its capacity to create a visual

campus and provide an asynchronous education. In

the e-learning model, the students are able to reach

the content within the system at any time they would

desire so and make benefit of the resources as much

as they would want. This flexibility provided by

the e-learning model, when incorporated with the

advantages in costs, constitutes an ideal model

(MEALY, 2000).

One of the most advantageous aspect of

the distance education is its being Web based and

interactive. The dimensions of the Web based

education and what are desired and what are

undesired, are given in Table 1 (MAJUMDAR,

2001).

Having the distance education achieve the desired

quality, could only be made possible with the wide-

spreading of internet, where the reciprocal influence

could be maintained between adequate number of

students-instructors, students-educational materials

and with the internet being started to be used as an

educational platform.

3.3 The models of e-Learning

The instructor, lecturing a course one-to-one to a

group of students far away from the campus through

the screen of a computer or the realization of the

lectures on all the courses through internet and

having participations maintained, can be defined as

e-learning.

E-learning refers to the use of electronic devices

for learning, including the delivery of content via

electronic media such as Internet/Intranet/Extranet,

audio or video tape, satellite broadcast, interactive

TV, CD-ROM, and so on (KAPLAN, 2000). Thu

study is focused on web-based e-learning, which is

conducted using the internet (or Intranet/Extranet)

and web technologies. This type of learning

places a greater emphasis on the enabling or

facilitating role technology plays in data, search and

transmission, interactivity, and personalization

(PICCOLI, AHMAD & IVES, 2001).

The teleconference meetings using the internet

web, electronic mails replacing the traditional mails,

electronic books and periodicals creating an

alternative to printed resources, are models of the

elements of internet based education from a distance.

Among these models, the most widely used model in

our day, is the web-based e-learning system.

Table 1. The Dimensions of Web based education and what is

desired and undesired in this education

Dimensions

Desired

Undesired

Educational ased

Instructive

Constructive

Learning focused

Content

Teach learning

Learning trategies

Interactive

Collaborative and

interactive

Learning target

Exterior

controlled

Autonomous

Learning concept

Behavioral

Informative

Instructor’s role

Authoritarian

Assisting

Distribution odes

Stable

Clear

Learning

approaches

Facial

Immersive

Learning

structures

Concrete

Flexible/Modular

Teaching models

Teaching centered

Learning group

centered

Teaching targets

Data transferring

Mental model

changing

Learning methods

Passive

Active

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The web-based distance education system is a

teaching system containing many functions in it self.

In this system, the contents of the courses being

within an electronic medium is not enough.

Although the e-learning is named to be the

learning system of the future, it is still debatable

whether it will be able to replace the in-campus

education. Because, the expected number of

participation in the e-learning having only reached

up to 15% (ZHANG, 1999) is the result of these

debates not having arrived at a conclusion.

4 E-EDUCATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

4.1 Web-based e-Education Management Systems in

Maritime Education

The web-based e-Education management systems,

on many topics, such as in preparation of the

contents of the courses, record keeping of the student

registrations, the utilization hours of the system, the

frequency in using the system, assignment of home-

works, transmission of the home-works, conducting

examinations, prompt evaluations of the examina-

tions, to conduct public polls, to see the results of

the polls right away, satisfaction analysis, help to

make statistics.

Due to the web-based distance education methods

system, many data, such as the success status of the

students, can be obtained through the system or may

be transferred into the internet medium. The

fundamental characteristics the web-based e-training

systems should possess, depending on the system’s

scope and target, may sometimes show variations.

However, the e-training systems, generally, should

contain the following functional lines.

1 Defining and administrating the users.

2 Preparing the contents of the courses.

3 Management of the courses.

4 Opening of special programs for the student.

5 Assignment of home-works and projects and their

delivery.

6 Preparation of exams and tests and their

implementations.

7 Observation and studying the attitudes of the

students.

8 Evaluation of the success status of the students.

9 Creation of interactive communication mediums

and their administration.

In our day, the number of personal computers,

their saving capacities, and the processing speeds of

the computers have shown a great increase.

Table 2. The hierarchy structure for evaluating WELS (SHEE,

WANG 2006). Revise by KADIOGLU 2007

Goal Dimensions Criteria

The Evaluation of Web Based Electronic Learning System

(WELS) Alternatives

Learner

Interfac

C01 Ease of use

C02 User-friendliness

C03 Ease of understanding

Learner

Community

C04 Operational stability

C05 Ease of discussion with

other learners

C06 Ease of discussion with

teachers

C07 Ease of accessing shared

data

C08 Ease of exchanging

learning with the others

System

Content

C09 Up-to-date content

C10 Sufficient content

C11 Useful content

C12 Storage content

Personali

zation

C13 Capability of controlling

learning progress

C14 Capability of Recording

learning performance

4.2 Computer Applications

We can classify the computer applications employed

in the e-training under four topics, such as:

computer aided instructions (CAI), computer

monitored instructions (CMI), computer monitored

communications (CMC) and computer monitored

multimedia.

Whereas the computer webs, following the years

1990’s, have improved tremendously till our

day. With the data exchange over the web with

such improvements, great hopes have become vested

into distance education which we have named e-

Learning. E-Learning is an interactive method which

eliminates the time and distance problem in reaching

the students.

The most powerful and the most widespread

computer web is the internet. Whether a certain

profit is envisaged or not, the colleges, universities,

schools, companies and public have come to use the

internet web. The problem of time and distance in

the E-Learning process are being overcome with the

internet web.

In e-Learning, the communication between

the student and the lecturer is maintained in two

ways; these being realized as Synchronized and A

synchronized communications.

In maintaining the correspondence through

the internet, we make use of the e-mails, the Usenet

and Listserv which we can consider as a bulletin

114

board, www’s and multimedia applications,

correspondence and conversation (talk) programs

and other opportunities.

Improving the computer web an digits being used

for e-Learning is highly expensive. To create a web

with the purpose of establishing an e-training

medium or to purchase software’s for the same

purpose are really costly.

In a study carried in the USA, it was observed

that many educational institutions have encountered

considerable losses in the e-learning applications.

But the e-learning model being still popular in our

day and the educational institutions continuing to

invest into e-learning, is based on the fundamental

reason that these investments being considered by

the investors that they will bring big profits to the

investors in the future. Besides this, the education

being independent of time and location are important

factors.

5 PRINCIPLES OF FORMING E-LEARNING

COMMUNITIES IN THE MARITIME

EDUCATION

Unless the possibilities in the face-to-face education

provided to the student be also availed to the student

in the e-learning, the e-learning will not be preferred

in the ratio desired.

Because, the students do not learn only by

realizing the activities prepared for them in advance.

These reciprocal influences do also create positive

effects on the students in their learning realized

within the class-rooms. Based on this reason, the

possibility of being a community availed to the

students in the face-to-face education, should also be

availed in the on-line education (BAUMAN, 2002).

The e-learning communities, is the basic condition

in the realization of e-learning. The institutions

providing or planning to provide e-learning, are

obliged to create e-learning communities and maintain

their continuation (PALLOFF&PRATT, 1999).

The more the feeling of being a member of

community is strong, the more higher will be the

satisfaction obtained from information sharing and

its flow between the learners, the faith in the targets,

the satiety reached in cooperation with the members

and results obtained through team working

(WELLMAN&GULIA, 1999).

Among the learners, where the feeling of being

a member of the community is strong, the feeling

of refraining from requiring support diminishes

accordingly.

In forming a successful e-learning community and

maintaining its continuity, the principles which

require to be taken into consideration can be defined

as follows (BAUMAN, 2002).

− establihing frequent communications,

− entering into clear interactions,

− creating an area for the out-of-class interactions,

− utilization of instruments to make interactions

easy,

− directing the interaction from a side,

− observing the creative learning approaches,

− consideration of supporting systems.

For the success of e-learning communities,

other principles can be added onto those listed

above. However, the thing that is being tried to

create with all these principles is a reciprocal

influence medium wherein these will have a

meaning for the learners and feel comfortable

and important. The creation of such opportunities

plays an important role in the development of

academic and social competencies.

6 UTILIZATION OF COMMUNICATION

TECHNOLOGIES IN THE MARITIME

EDUCATION

Due to various reasons, such as the period of time

being too long in the maritime education, the

comprehension of some knowledge being very

difficult, and the full time practical training not

always being possible to be maintained on marine

vessels, the employment of the techniques of

informatics is inevitable.

With the employment of the techniques of

informatics in the maritime education, from keeping

the course notes in an electronic medium up to

shortening the process in making a right decision by

the end of having visually created and gone through

one or more incidents, which could be very

complicated and/or have never been lived, with help

of visual reality and simulators. By changing one or

a few or all of the factors affecting the incidents,

new scenarios may be created. Moreover, thanks to

various animations and special effects, these

incidents may be created almost similar to their

actual.

Within this context, we can list the samples of

informatics techniques used in maritime education as

follows:

− Keeping of the course notes in an electronic

medium

− Keeping of the pictures and drawings in an

electronic medium

115

− Animations of various incidents and attempts

being utilized

− Utilization of the videos of various incidents and

attempts

− Making benefit of the multimedia educational

materials

− Utilization of interactive training programs

− Realization of web-based training

− Realization of maritime education through

telecommunication

− Making benefit of visual reality applications

− Utilization of the simulators

The Maritime Higher Training and Education

(MHET) institutions, being in connection with the

on going improvements in the informatics and

communication technologies, should make benefit of

the e-learning model. However, before any

implementation of the e-learning model, it is

essential to designate the approaches of the

instructors towards e-learning.

7 CONCLUSION

The improvement of the distance education is only

possible with the existence of new brains, grasping

the new technologies and putting them into use,

instead of watching the technological improvements

in fright.

On the other hand, the investments of the

educational institutions into the technology, their

expenditures for the technological products and their

attitudes towards the issue of distance education,

will determine the future of distance education.

For the e-learning to become the educational

system of the future, it certainly requires the student

to increase his/her success by making benefit of all

the varied possibilities being availed for his/her

usage.

For the students being able to achieve productive

results from computer education, they really require

to be perfectly motivated and be sufficiently

informed and thoroughly experienced in computers.

In the e-learning, the importance attributed to

the activities organized to develop the feeling of

being a community, should at least be as much as

the importance relied on activities employed to

transmit the contents of the issues.

Availing opportunities for the learners to enter

into a reciprocal interaction among themselves or

with the lecturers or guest specialist, will provide the

development of being a member of the community.

Thus, instead of expecting the knowledge to be

availed from a lecturer alone, online communities

which search and discover knowledge in collaboration

with the other members and lecturers, may be

developed.

The e-learning, the more it will attribute

importance into organizing the learning communities

and rely on principles therein, with creative

approaches relevant to the learning activities realized

in these communities, will remain to be effective,

attractive and productive.

It is inevitable that the students participating in

the e-learning process should be trained in using the

educational management system.

The students making effective use of the

educational management system in e-learning, will

positively effect the success expected to be received.

The e-learning in the area of maritime education,

should also be able comply with the needs for

receiving the satellite data, their being updated and

evaluated.

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