Blackboard, a global leader in education technology, will expand its Middle East programme with local partnership BME Holding to meet growing demand for online teaching and learning solutions.

With offices in Beirut and Riyadh, BME will work closely with six partners throughout the region to better support clients and the wider use of education technology in schools and universities, corporations, government, military and professional organizations.

A number of institutions in the Middle East – including King Saud University, King Faisal University, Higher Colleges of Technology and the American University of Sharjah – have already adopted Blackboard Learn for online learning, Blackboard Collaborate for Web conferencing and Blackboard Mobile Learn to support teaching and learning through native applications for mobile devices, according to a statement.

Blackboard also recently signed two major national agreements in the Middle East to further accelerate the availability and adoption of state of the art education technology.

“This partnership strengthens our ability to support the wider use of learning technologies in the Middle East where we’re seeing greater demand for them,” said Michael Chasen, CEO and president of Blackboard.

“With this effort we can better support the increasing adoption of education technology in the region with solutions that support all aspects of the education experience.”

Through Blackboard’s increased regional presence, clients will benefit from more fluid relationships with the company around product, service and support issues, the statement said.

The effort will also give Blackboard an opportunity to better understand challenges and opportunities faced by educational institutions in the Middle East and to foster closer relationships with leaders in government and business working to support them.

“We have expanded our partnership with Blackboard to cover online learning management, mobile learning, Web collaboration tools and distance learning in an effort to meet a high demand for online learning and create a more engaging, interactive and effective education experience,” said Dr Sami M. Al Homod, dean of E-Learning and Distance Learning at King Saud University. – TradeArabia News Service