The Implementation of E-Learning in Al-Quds Open University
(QOU)
Presentation to be presented to RUFO Workshop in December
2005
By Eng. Imad Hodali
University President Assistant for ICT & Multimedia Affairs
Director of Information and Communication Technology Center
(ICTC)
Abstract
This presentation sheds light on the implementation of E-Learning
in Al-Quds Open University (QOU). Being the largest academic
institution in Palestine with more than 45,000 students following an
Open-educational and Distance Learning system, QOU is moving with
parallel tracks to pursue a smooth transition to the E-Learning era.
On one hand, QOU established a multimedia production department
to take over the responsibility of producing multimedia CDs for a
selected number of courses. With more than 7 courses so far
produced, the content includes audio, video, animations and pre/post
tests evaluation.
In May 2004, QOU launched its portal system to take care of the
registration and other student records. In the second phase, the portal
is concentrating on the implementation of e-learning modules and
enhancing its infrastructure.
The third track is the Avicenna Virtual Campus where QOU
represents Palestine in this ambitious project that aims at creating
new community of universities sharing best practices and pedagogical
innovation through a network of E-learning centers across the
Mediterranean. The most concrete results of this project have been the
production of online courses where we have so far produced six 20hour courses/modules installed on the QOU Avicenna platform.
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Project RUFO- 1st Workshop
17-18 December 2005
National Institute for Educational Training (NIET)
Birzeit University Experience
in Designing, Developing and Delivering
e- enabled Courses
Dr. Osama Mimi
omimi@birzeit.edu
Abstract
Since 1997, Birzeit University (BZU) has been conducting practical,
experiential research on e-learning and the most appropriate methods
of enhancing education through e-technology. In 2002, BZU designed
and established a learning management system (“RITAJ”) that
facilitated and encouraged BZU’s adoption of an e-learning approach
to education. This project won the support of the university
management whose senior members, through the university’s chain of
command, directed the faculty to put their course materials on-line
through RITAJ. This action was the primary factor that enabled the
university to continue teaching during the military incursions and
closures in the West Bank in 2002.
During implementation of a two-year project co-funded by the Welfare
Association and the Consolidated Contracting Company (CCC), BZU
project team researched approaches to improving the quality of formal
and informal education and learning in Palestine through application
of current best practices and IT-empowered approaches to quality
improvement. Through practical experimentation and research, the
project team staff identified the key, essential actors needed to work
with subject matter experts (SMEs) to develop high quality on-line
courses. Such teams include education specialists, IT experts, and
multi-media technicians. The project research and development team
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has also invested in identifying the ideal virtual learning environment.
This knowledge and experience, not previously available in Palestine,
along with experience in forging industry partnerships and alliances,
makes the project team ideally suited to develop, deliver and test eenabled
courses.
Throughout
the
project,
two
undergraduate
university level courses, one post graduate level and two school level
courses were designed, developed and piloted during the first semester
of the 2004/2005 academic year. However, the post graduate course
(Water Distribution) will be piloted as a professional training course
targeting engineers at Palestinian municipalities in January 2006.
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An-Najah National University
Maher Arafat
An-Najah National University will describe its past and
current experience in e-learning including review of the
platform underdevelopment to provide on-line courses for
our students. Our main concern is to improve the quality of
education by blending and integrating the new era
technology offerings into our teaching/learning system, to
shape our e-future and to make an e-difference, also will
present our vision, objectives and implementation plan.
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E-Learning at Palestine Polytechnic University
Mahmoud Hasan AL-Saheb
alsaheb@ppu.edu
Palestine Polytechnic University
Administrative Sciences and Informatics College, Dean
Summary
Palestine Polytechnic University (PPU) is one of the leading polytechnic
universities in Palestine. It was founded in 1978 by the University
Graduates Union (UGU), which is a non-profit organization in Hebron
district.
The primary mission is to emphasize quality vocational and technical
engineering education. This is achieved by providing students with
practical knowledge to help them acquire an up-to-date experience
directly related to their disciplines.
Providing high level of quality in education raises many challenges; one
of these challenges is providing students the needed tools to learn. No
doubt that e-learning is one of the effective tools that can be used in this
regard. The university is planning to use e-learning as an additional
tool not as a replacement for the traditional teaching, this is because
technical and engineering nature of most of its programs.
This document summarizes the current situation at PPU, current
experience and project, and the university strategic plan for e-learning.
Many projects have been completed by staff initiatives, these projects
concentrated on developing e-courses and e-examination systems. An
experience has been earned in these areas.
Recently, "Effective Web-Based Syllabus" has been developed and
implemented at Administrative Sciences and Informatics College. This
system is the main step for developing MLS. A course syllabus can be a
valuable organization, communication, and learning tool, especially if it
is reflecting Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Academic Subject Review
and the MOHE program review documents. We can use the online
syllabus to provide the students with the needed information they need
in the right time, and we can use it as a main source for academic
subject review and self evaluation.
Without strategic plan and financial support nothing valuable can be
done, so Strategic Plan for e-learning is in its final stages and financial
support has been confirmed in the university budget for this year.
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Al-Quds University’s experience in
Electronic learning
Abstract
Al-Quds University has decided to embrace the concept of electronic
learning in the summer of 2004. A decision of using an electronic
learning management system where educators can deliver digital
content and communicate with their students seemed to be right at
that time. Clareoline, a Learning/Content management system was
used.
A pilot course was designed in the system and delivered in the
summer semester of 2004. The course had 40 registered students.
The services offered by the system included content host,
assignments, forums, chat rooms, and a communication module.
By the end of summer 2004, a review for the system was done by the
Said Khoury Information Technology Center of Excellence (SKITCE).
Due to security and functionality limitations of Clareoline, SKITCE
recommended that other E-learning system should be used.
In Fall 2004/5, Moodle, was installed and used in parallel with
Clareoline. After using the two systems for one semester, it was
obvious that Moodle was more advanced and secure than Claroline.
Starting spring 2004/5, Claroline was disabled, and Moodle was
officially adopted as the Learning/Content management system at AlQuds University.
At first, only the CS and IT faculties used the system. By the end of
fall 2004/5semester, a training workshop was conducted. All deans
were trained on the Use of Moodle. On spring 2005, other educators
from different departments started to use the system. This semester,
there are 51 electronic courses offered and 1173 users.
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Mobilization as a key element for success in e-learning
F. D’HAUTCOURT
Abstract
The Author is a Director of the Centre for Educational Technology for the « Université
Libre de Bruxelles » (ULB)
The Centre for Educational Technology is a general administrative structure dedicated to
teachers at the University whatever their department or institute.
This structure has been created six years ago for the purposes of promoting and
improving the use of ICT’s among the faculties.
The speech begins by evoking a study realised in 2003 (in the frame of an European
project called RECRE@SUP) into the necessary conditions for implementing
technologies in higher education and change management in higher education
institutions. This study shows that according to different times and ryhtms, HE
institutions encounter the same stage of development.
 First, individual and isolated achievements (maintaining cases outside the normal
teaching practice of the institution).
 Second, a period of proselytes asking for technical support from the computer’s
department before an institutional involvement.
 Third, the development of a resource centre such as the CTE which combines
pedagogy and technology.
After presenting the study, the Author wonders what are the reasons why a conventional
university decides to invest in e-learning. These reasons are threefolds: new students’
needs, innovative pedagogical approach, and last but not least, being in fashion.
If ICT’s are a factor for improving the quality of teaching, it doesn’t mean that any elearning project is by itself a success story. A study conducted in the frame of the
belgian’s cooperation highlights nine factors of success in distance teaching. A closer
look shows that mobilization of all actors is a key element for success.
Who are these actors: quiet obviously, the teacher and his/her team but also technical
developers, pedagogical advisors, tutors (people who assist the student in his learning),
students and administrative staff. Designing and implementing an e-learning project is a
teamwork and institutional support is crucial for success.
In order to illustrate this last point a CTE’s achievement is presented: a
technopedagogical fund called FAT. FAT is a vice-chancellor’s initiative which allocates
resources and manage annually ten e-learning projects at the University.
A similar approach has been adopted in nthe frame of another project entitled
COUPOLE, establishment of an inter-institutional centre which aims at improving the
sharing of resources developed by various partners.
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Pedagogical choices as key factors for success,
Marie-Jose BARBOT, Claude DEBON
ODL constitutes a specific mode for learning/apprenticeship which involves
pedagogical choices and decisions which intervene at the very start of a project…..
These choices have important effects on the motivation to learn, on the conditions of
this continuing motivation and on the success of the apprenticeship.
A specific mode of training in absentia ( taking into account the absence of the face
to face)
ODL involves the building up of another mode of a situation of
learning/apprenticeship, and of relations between instructors and students. ODL is not
a training that substitutes the traditional one, but it is another way, original, where one
has to invent in order to avoid the fears and the feeling of abandon which is linked to
any change. In fact, ODL disrupts the three units of time ( schedule), location (
courses’ halls) and activities ( all the students study the same thing at the same time)
which is specific to classical learning in the traditional way. The matter therefore is to
conceive new references to activate apprenticeship and render the training more
efficient.
Three types of pedagogical models integrating ITC
They do not constitute a model of action but an approach for understanding ODL in
such a way as to make possible its evolution in the different phases of its development
- 1st type : characterised by the optimisation of the classical transmissive model
or lecttures which delivers validated knowledge to a larger number. The
content is put on line, duplicated and the emphasis is put on the
implementation of the contents, their validation, the personal work of the
students which is based on new tools of distance communication ( e-mails,
forum…).
- 2nd type : caracterised by an active pedagogy centered on the student with a
defined process of learning in terms of competences by the combination of
knowledge and know-hows. The possibilities of technologies (multimedia and
interactivity) are exploited with the creation of new resources at the service of
a cognitive autonomy and the development of capacities of self-direction and
self-evaluation, all the while maintaining oneself in an exact framework of
objectives of training and certification.
- 3rd type : caracterised by the reinforcement of the individualization of training
taking into account the projects experiences adauired, and the personalprofessional history of the students. Upholding strongly human mediation, non
on line is associated with use of technological resources whether built or
choosen to accompany the students in the management of their global project.
4 phases requiring a pedagogical selection :
1- Finality and Feasibility of ODL : status, challenges, analysis of gains and obstacles
that are linked to the project, the needs of the public and the regular practices of
learning and apprenticeship, definition of finalities and objectives ;
2- Terms of reference, budget, plannning, role of the different actors : decisions of
openness and evolution : 1) of the system, 2) of the script writing of the modules or
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the selection of the resources, 3) of the role of the actors ; scheduling the phases of the
implementation ;
3- Production, information, communication : engagement and training of the different
actors of education, diffusion of information, distribution of the tasks ; concrete
elaboration of the environments of apprenticeship, resources, of tools of follow-up ;
4- Real usage and evaluation : Analysis of the practices, constant adjustment for
enriching the apprenticeship environment and to better calibrate types of mediation.
Identification of cognitive and social obstacles. Remediations and optimisation.
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