IfG.CC - The Institute for eGovernment

As the world responds to the COVID-19 pandemic, most governments have temporarily closed all educational institutions. These nationwide closures have impacted 90 per cent of the world’s student population. Localised closures in other countries have affected millions of additional learners.

Consequently, there is an unprecedented shift toward distance learning. Institutes are rushing to move their courses online; students are flocking to e-books and e-learning, and researchers are relying heavily on electronic journals.

e-Services is trending in the region, and Kuwait is not lagging far behind. Some countries have already implemented eLearning in schools successfully. In this interview, Mohammed Amro Maken, CEO of Arab Information Management Services (AIMS) talks about the scope and challenges of eServices in Kuwait. His company was among the pioneers who ushered in the era of IT services in Kuwait, He remembers the first mainframe that was shipped into Kuwait for installation at Kuwait University. It was as big as a room. Amro is also actively engaged in establishing eLearning services and is optimistic about the response from the Ministry of Education. Towards that end he has tied up with SIVECO Romania, gearing for what he sees as a revolution in teaching methods at schools. In his estimate the day Kuwait will become nearly paperless is not far to come. Also contributing to this interview is the Territory Manager of SIVECO Romania, Vlad Zaharia, who was in Kuwait to sign an agreement with AIMS for the implementation of eLearning in the country.

An increased emphasis on e-learning in Saudi Arabia’s education system, coupled with targets to modernise teaching methods, underpin a wider drive to diversify the economy away from oil and create more jobs.

Last year, a five-year SR80bn ($21.3bn) plan was approved to develop Saudi Arabia’s education sector, in addition to the annual allocation to the Ministry of Education. As part of the plan, 25,000 teachers will be trained overseas and resources are to be allocated to improve the online capabilities of educational institutions and promote e-learning.

Around the world, information and communication technologies are transforming the teaching and learning processes. Virtual learning environments are one of the most widely used technologies in universities today. According to literature, the incorporation of any technology into an organisation will have an impact on the various groups within it. As a result, there are numerous theories about how the implementation process should be carried out to adapt the community to the new system.

Even before the digital revolution, various theories about how technology would transform teaching and learning had been proposed. Over the last thirty years, key inventions such as interactive whiteboards, the World Wide Web, Windows ’95 – which encouraged the adoption of the home computer, smartphones, and mobile applications – have been in the spotlight. Each of these technological breakthroughs was expected to alter the face of education as we knew it.

As you may know, the president of the country, Robert Mugabe, and the ICT minster launched the first phase of the deployment of e-Learning facilities at Zimbabwe’s primary and secondary schools last week. “After Tsholotsho we will now be going into the various districts. We’re looking at at least a thousand schools before December [this year]” said Chamisa.

The move is part of the university's ongoing efforts to build better competencies, leadership skills and effective communication among learners under the highest standards of excellence.

Commenting on the deal, Dr Mansoor Al Awar, the chancellor, said: “We are committed to continuously enriching and developing our core academic services and offerings while meeting the needs and aspirations of the largest audience possible. We are pleased to have signed a strategic partnership deal with Global Learning SARL, an organisation that has opened new prospects and promising opportunities to the e-learning community."

The Vice President said Ghana has initiated a number of policies and programmes to meet the achievement of this goal. He outlined the ICT for accelerated development policy, ICT education, strategic document and the establishment of Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence. He said the developing World should brace themselves to challenge the brain drain.

While infrastructure in the equatorial region is underdeveloped, it does have a key advantage: plentiful, reliable sunlight. Mobile solar classrooms, an ever more common sight trundling along the potholed roads of rural Africa, show that the creative use of an abundant resource can overcome disadvantages.

Most African countries have embraced technology in education, according to the eLearning Africa 2012 report, the first significant attempt to provide a snapshot of how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and better connectivity are believed to be changing the face of education in Africa.

The report by eLearning Africa, an organization based in Germany, is based on a detailed survey of almost 450 education professionals across the continent. The report, launched by Benin Minister of Communication and Information and Communication Technology Max Ahouéké in Cotonou, Benin, last week at the eLearning Africa conference, shows that 71 percent of those surveyed are now using ICT enhanced learning in their classrooms and 48 percent use mobile phones for education.

African governments, private companies and international donors are investing in ICT for education across the continent. Why? As Paul Jhin – CEO of UN Global Initiative on computer for Schools stated: “Our studies revealed that countries that have the more computers will perform better and improve their economic developments compared to those that have less.”

"We have trained 6,500 people in 30 different courses," Marta Mena, coordinator of the Electronic Learning (E-Learning) Training Programme (PROCAE), told IPS. The initiative is part of the State Modernisation Project, launched in 2005 under the Subsecretariat of Public Administration, during the government of centre-left President Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007).

The Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (UN-APCICT/ESCAP), a regional institute of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, today concluded a Training of Trainers Workshop on Improving Public Service through ICT, co-organized in partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the National Information Society Agency (NIA) of the Republic of Korea.

CEO of Carers NSW, Elena Katrakis, stated: “The Mental Health Foundations for Carers resource sets out some of the issues carers of someone with a mental illness may face and the types of support they may need in their caring role.”

Instead of students passively learning from a lecturer, imagine immersive online “serious” games where students can learn through practice.

Virtual patients now allow medical students at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) to develop diagnostic and clinical skills through online scenarios. They can learn from their mistakes with no adverse consequences for real life patients and without the need to be at the university.

New developments driven by IoT and M2M - cities leading the chargeSmart Societies based on Big Data.

M2M (machine-to-machine) and IoT (Internet of Things) linked to data analytics (big data) developments are accelerating, and as more companies enter this sector and spend money on developing it, we will see further astonishing innovations emerge over the next few years. Applications are already being used in infrastructure, telecommunications, healthcare, education as well as in government; we will address this in detail in this report.

Internet portal of the school www.mesafedenmekteb.edu.az has been also presented at the opening ceremony, the ICT Information Centre told Gun.Az.

The event was attended by Education Minister Misir Mardanov, as well as different representatives of the education sphere.

The signing ceremony was held at the eGovernment Authority headquarters in the presence of Bipa Director General Dr. Raed Mohammed bin Shams, the CEO of the eGovernment Authority Mr. Mohammed Ali Al Qaed, and a number of officials from both organizations.

BIPA director general Dr Raed Mohammed bin Shams and eGA CEO Mohammed Ali Al Qaed signed the MoU at the eGA headquarters in the presence of officials from both organizations.

Dr Mohammed stressed the need of continuous learning through the various elearning and etraining channels and described it as an essential part of Bipa strategy within the framework of 'Bahrain Economic Vision 2030.'

It offers registration for the language programmes provided by the ministry through its community services and continuous education departments.