Fikri Işık, Minister of Science, Industry and Technology, stated that the Pardus interface, which includes many user-friendly features, will make a great contribution to making lessons much more useful, educational and entertaining.

At the Pardus "Interactive Smart Board Interface Project" (ETAP) Introduction Meeting, which was developed for the interactive boards used in the FATIH Project in cooperation with the Ministry of National Education and TÜBİTAK, Işık said that smart boards are among the most important materials of the FATIH Project.

Explaining that they have made serious innovations in the Pardus interface in order for students and teachers to use the interactive boards more effectively and easily, Işık said that the interface-related problems in the use of the boards have been identified and solved one by one and many new features have been added. Işık said, "The improved Pardus interface, which includes many user-friendly features, will make a great contribution to making the lessons much more useful, educational and entertaining."

Emphasizing that students should enjoy going to school, Işık said that there is a need to use technology more effectively in education to ensure this. Işık stated that the interface developed attracted great interest at fairs abroad and that work on the English version is ongoing.

Mentioning that the FATIH Project is perhaps Turkey's most important and comprehensive project, Işık said, "We did not construct the project only as an educational move. While creating the project, we also aimed to encourage the production of domestic technology. In this respect, we attach great importance to the use of Pardus, our own operating system, in the tablets we distribute to our children and the smart boards used in classrooms."

Emphasizing that it is important to be the first in technology, Işık said that users experience uneasiness when choosing a different product instead of the first one they used. For this reason, Işık noted that it is of great importance for children to meet and use Pardus at an early age.

Fikri Işık said that with the increase in the use of Pardus, the license and service fees paid abroad in one year, which is almost a billion dollars, will be prevented, the country will become a country that sells services and licenses abroad, many domestic companies will emerge in the field of software, and a much better defense system will be built in terms of cyber security.

Stating that Pardus did not receive as much attention from the public as other projects, Işık said, "I believe that Pardus is as important a project as the Informatics Valley, domestic automobile and national satellites."

Pointing out that robots will replace waiters and waitresses and barbers as a result of technological development, Işık said that there will definitely be a need for people to design robots and develop their software. Işık stated that in the future, the importance of human beings will increase rather than decrease.

Write your own play period

Referring to the inclusion of the coding course in the curriculum as extremely important, Işık said, "This field is one of the most important fields that will determine Turkey's place in the coming period." Işık stated that they will carry out projects at TÜBİTAK to encourage young people to write code.

Işık said that instead of forbidding children to play games, it is necessary to give them the skills to play a role in that game, and in the next stage, children should be directed to write their own plays.

Fikri Işık noted that they will support the Ministry of National Education's every work on the use of technology in education in the future.

In his speech at the ceremony, Minister of National Education Nabi Avcı explained that the meeting was organized to see the Pardus software developed for the interactive whiteboards installed in schools within the scope of the FATIH Project and the opportunities and ease of use provided by the new interface.

Stating that ETAP, which is a new study, marks a new stage in the use of interactive whiteboards, Minister Avcı said that one of the most powerful aspects of the FATIH Project is that the installed devices can be easily updated and controlled remotely.

Stating that they are aware that without updates taking into account the developments in software and the needs of end-users, the devices installed or distributed will become idle, Minister Avcı said the following in his speech:

"The new interactive whiteboard interface also demonstrates the FATIH Project's aggressiveness in updating and renewing itself. This new interface for interactive whiteboards was designed as a new interface by modifying the existing Pardus interface in line with the needs in order to enable teachers and students to use the interactive whiteboard more easily, especially during lessons. The design and new features have been developed with the idea of making the use of a touch screen device easier and more effective."

Prof. Dr. Arif Ergin, President of TÜBİTAK, stated that important steps continue to be taken in the Pardus Project and said that they aim to provide an environment where teachers and students enjoy their work.

At the introductory meeting, presentations were made on the Pardus software, the national operating system developed by TÜBİTAK to be used on interactive whiteboards, and the innovations brought by the new interface.