The world is going through a difficult period. How did you spend the pandemic process? What has this process changed in your life? Many negative aspects of the pandemic process can be mentioned, but instead of concentrating on it, I prefer to talk about its contributions to me. In the century we live in, we live in a period where the world is digitalized. The extent to which the tools offered by this transformation had a place in our lives was a point that we all had to question. Thanks to the pandemic, I think I had the opportunity to question this transformation for myself. We went through a period when we tried to integrate conventional education-teaching tools with digital tools, sometimes we struggled but overcame. It was a process where we reviewed and updated the teaching methods to maintain the course flow through digital platforms. I can say that I spent the past 1.5 years very productive in terms of professional development. The online presence of national and international conferences allowed me to participate in many events. By planning my time during the day, I had the opportunity to read the books that I postponed for a long time / could not create time. During this time, I also wrote a master's thesis. I can say that I did not have the time to get bored. We have been separated from our work environment and colleagues for a long time. What are your thoughts on the new normal these days when our settlements are starting to open? Returning to school after 1.5 years of distance-work was both exciting and thought provoking. It is exciting to be able to share the same physical environment again with my teachers, colleagues and students, especially to be able to feel the energy of studio classes again. However, I think it is important not to leave behind my achievements in the distance education process. Considering the climate crisis in the world, I think that the goal of the new normal should not be a return to the conventional order, and the hybrid order setup should become widespread. Instead of seeing the new normal as the point where one process ends and another begins, we need to transfer our experience of 1.5 years to the coming periods. One method of this is to ensure and improve the continuity of the experiences gained in distance education. I aim to achieve this for myself in order not to widen the gap that may occur in adapting to digital methods between students and faculty members. |