When Cigdem Meral ‘21PHD was a child in Istanbul, Turkey, she was unable to listen to an educational CD called Vitamins because her family didn’t have access to a CD or DVD player.
Later on, one of her teachers played educational content on the only computer in the classroom. And the idea of learning new things through technology fascinated Meral.
She always knew she wanted to be a teacher from the time she was in elementary school. Meral was amazed by how much knowledge her teachers had, but it was those childhood experiences that sparked her interest in educational technology.
“After I received my bachelor’s degree, I decided to work with special needs children instead of working as an elementary school teacher. That experience made me realize we had many ideas about education and using technology, except it did not include special education in…