Jordan e-learning plan may go global
An innovative, e-learning initiative first undertaken by Jordan two years ago has been a success and could serve as a global template, the education minister said.
Minister Khalid Toukan spoke at a meeting sponsored by the World Economic Forum and the Jordanian government on Wednesday to review the progress of the Jordan Education Initiative, which incorporates computers and digitised curriculum in Jordan‘s classrooms.
“We have witnessed key achievements in e-learning with the digitisation of math, Arabic, (information technology) English as a foreign language, science and civics curricula,” he told reporters at a press conference.
“The success that the JEI has made so far has helped to push forward this initiative in order to become the global education initiative.”
More than 100 Arab and foreign education practitioners, policy makers and technology specialists participated in the two-day meeting.
Jordan was chosen by the WEF two years ago to serve as a pilot country for the initiative and to serve a benchmark for development in other countries in the region.
Partnerships
Jordan’s Information Technology Minister Nadia Helmi al-Said said the country’s “curriculum development work in particular has forged partnerships between the global and local private sector, with Jordanian firms benefiting from international cooperation and investment into a key niche area of the Jordanian IT sector”.
Last month, Microsoft agreed to expand its services in Jordan during a visit to the kingdom by the corporation’s chairman, Bill Gates.
The agreement allows Jordan to use legally licensed Microsoft programmes in Jordan’s schools and universities.
Later on Wednesday, Palestinian officials discussed the possibility of modelling their educational system on the Jordanian initiative. Details were not immediately available.
The World Economic Forum also is expected to launch a global education initiative during the meeting based on the Jordanian model to be implemented in several countries in the region and beyond – including Egypt, India, and Pakistan.