Episode 02 of DigiSET TALKS, curated by TIZDER, a Turkish education association, with a scientific contribution from Fatih Cebeci, a vocational and technical teacher at the Turkish Ministry of National Education. The series is scientifically coordinated by the University of Siena and produced by OPENCOM.
A mechatronics workshop is a place you learn with your hands: the weight of the tools, the smell of solder, a circuit that closes or it does not. Then the doors lock, and all of it has to fit onto a flat screen.
What happens to a trade you learn by hand when it moves online? Fatih Cebeci studied 153 vocational students in a mechatronics department near Istanbul during the shift to distance learning, and found something counterintuitive: neither study habits nor academic track predicted how much they wanted to keep learning at a distance. What did was how well the online teaching was designed. We follow that into what good design means for a practical subject, from multimedia principles to rewatchable video and simulators that restore a feedback loop, and into how the teacher’s role shifts, from instructor to guide to facilitator. And we arrive at a firm claim: well-designed, student-centred technology does not replace the teacher, it changes the role, and what endures is the teacher who adapts and keeps learning sustainable.
Scientific sources. This episode is grounded in the study made available by the contributor: Fatih Cebeci, Examination of the student desires for distance education of vocational courses in terms of studying habits, academic orientation and the effectiveness of distance education: example of mechatronics department students.
About DigiSET TALKS. DigiSET TALKS is the podcast of DigiSET, the European Teacher Academy funded by Erasmus+. Short two voice conversations about how teaching is changing, across digital skills, sustainability and professional judgement. The series is an activity of the project, led by the University of Siena in collaboration with OPENCOM, which handles production. DigiSET is coordinated by the University for Continuing Education Krems and brings together sixteen organisations across eight European countries to define a new competence profile for practising teachers.
All episodes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYQufyMn3lcY Find out more: digisetproject.eu
Co-funded by the European Union. Project number: 101249272 — DigiSET — ERASMUS-EDU-2025-PEX-TEACH-ACA. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
