Experts in e-Learning have called for a change of mindset and greater collaboration among education ministries, school administrators, teachers and parents to speed the development of e-Learning in the GCC and better prepare students for jobs in the Knowledge Economy.

Speaking at an e-Learning workshop presented by the Egyptian IT Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) at Gitex 2008, Dr John Zook, an advisor to the UAE Ministry of Education, said, “There needs to be greater partnership between government, schools and parents to understand that the way teachers teach must change.

“Globalisation means that the jobs of tomorrow are in the Knowledge Economy.  To produce students with the right skills we need to change from prescriptive learning of facts to a method of teaching that encourages the understanding of processes and critical thinking skills.”

The panel also called for greater government support for faster and cheaper broadband internet access for schools.

“Expecting schools to pay commercial rates for broadband access is a tax on education,” said Ahmed Badr, vice president of services, ITWorx. “Our experience of implementing e-Learning programmes for Kent and Durham county councils in the United Kingdom shows that local and national government support is essential.”

The UAE Ministry of Education in partnership with ITWorx has completed the roll-out out of its pioneering e-learning platform, in both Arabic and English, to 50 El Ghad schools in the Emirates.

ITWorx, which is the global reference site for training and development of the Microsoft Learning Gateway, has also been commissioned by GEMS to provide an e-Learning platform to its 27 schools, and it is working with Qatar’s Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR), to roll out its Knowledge Net portal.

'e-Learning is transforming education and we all have a responsibility to ensure that the students of today are equipped with the skills of tomorrow,' added Hossam Megahed, ITIDA board member.

ITIDA (www.egypt-on.com) is the organisation that has been tasked with developing the IT sector in Egypt. The agency relies on partnerships with local and international institutions and bodies with the aim of enhancing the human capacity and technical skills that has lead to Egypt becoming one of the fastest growing hotspots for the global outsourcing sector.-TradeArabia News Service