International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their
Implications
July 2022 Volume: 13, Issue: 1, ISSN 1309-6249
Copyright © International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications / www.ijonte.org
Examination of Theses Related to e-Twinning in Turkey
1
Derya SÖNMEZ
2
Abstract
The aim of this research is to examine the thesis studies on eTwinning in Turkey. In the research,
document review, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. The theses, which are the data
source in the research, were obtained by using the National Thesis Center database on the website of
YÖK (Higher Education Council). The study group of the research consists of 9 thesis studies selected
by writing "eTwinning" in the scanning part of the YÖK National Thesis Center page on April 1, 2022.
In the examination of thesis studies, theses; the year it was published, the university it was published
in, the institute it was published in, the research method, the gender of the researchers, the title of
the consultant, and the working group were taken as basis. According to the research findings, there
were no thesis studies on eTwinning before 2018, the thesis studies were carried out in 2021 at the
most, the theses were published by 9 different universities, the theses were published by the
educational sciences institutes the most, the gender of the thesis researchers was the most female,
the thesis studies were mostly associate professors. It has been determined that the study group of
the theses is mostly English teachers. As a result, it can be said that although the number of teachers
and projects interested in eTwinning is high in Turkey, the number of theses related to eTwinning is
insufficient. In order to increase the number of academic studies related to eTwinning, it can be
suggested that teachers who implement eTwinning projects should be supported and directed in this
direction.
Keywords: Document review, E-learning, eTwinning.
Introduction
eTwinning is a network of online e-learning projects created by the Council of Europe in 2005 for
schools in Europe. Turkey, which was included in 2009, is in the first place among the countries in the
eTwinning platform in terms of the number of projects and the number of registered teachers
(Basaran, Kaya, Akbas & Yalcın, 2020).
In joint projects created by at least two schools in e-Twinning projects, the subject can be any
identified topic. However, the determined project topic should be suitable for the use of information
and communication technologies and should be integrated with the national curricula of the schools
participating in the project. It has been proven that eTwinning projects that contain these features
develop the basic competences specified by the European Parliament and the Council in students
(Kearney & Gras-Valazquez, 2015). Analysis of reports produced by the Central Support Service and
the National Support Service in Brussels shows that participation in eTwinning projects has many
benefits for both students and teachers (Carpenter & Tanner 2013).
The eTwinning platform aims to develop new and innovative ways of using ICT in European schools
through school partnerships by promoting online collaboration between teachers and students (Galvin
et al., 2006). According to Manfredini (2007), eTwinning provides an opportunity for students to get
1
This study was presented 13th International Congress on New Trends in Education.
2
Corresponding author: Teacher, Ministry of National Education, Kahramanmaraş/Türkiye, deryasnmzim@hotmail.com,
ORCID:0000-0003-1265-9059.