The technological revolution has intensified competition for information, and this has boosted students’ demands for quality education. The whole world has turned to online education in all its forms to achieve this at the highest level. In the Middle East, where this trend has accelerated since the pandemic, the market for executive education and corporate training is expected to increase by 9.5 per cent annually to reach $9.4 billion (£7.5 billion) by 2030, according to a 2024 forecast from IndustryARC.
However, it has become difficult in our Arab world to keep pace with development and to apply quality standards to improve the educational process and raise the achievement level of students. Among the most pressing problems are:
- poor educational systems
- lack of reliable power supply within educational systems
- lack of training for university educators and other staff members
- students’ lack of awareness of teaching opportunities (such as technical seminars) and online materials in their field of study.
The educational system needs to find options to offer better-quality educational opportunities within universities’ budgets. Online learning is a way for higher education institutions to confront this challenge. Such courses will also prepare students to adapt to a rapidly changing world.
Globalisation and the technology and information revolution create particular challenges for the education sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Students need to understand the value of e-learning systems – and how to optimise the use of modern technologies – to provide:
- students’ self-motivated online learning skills
- understanding and comprehension of their field
- problem-solving skills
- build on students’ previous studies
- understanding the needs of the professional market
- measure of achievement.
At an institutional level, collaborations with universities in Asia and Africa in the medical, engineering and information technology fields are also important to enhance all levels of further education.
Educational curricula delivered in an electronic form – including audio and video material – stimulate students’ abilities to create, investigate and analyse the ideas presented. In addition, online courses encourage students to be independent in their choices, present ideas and apply self-criticism in the learning process. Such education, which can include academic and technical skills, aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 (quality education); this goal aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
How universities can demonstrate value to future students
To help students understand why they should undertake online courses, universities should ensure that they have a comprehensive website that outlines the features and benefits of e-learning. The student, as the target of the educational process, needs to see how traditional education and its values remain an essential part of a system that adds, develops and innovates for a promising future.
In addition to directing students to consult the university website, institutions can encourage them to enrol in online courses using Microsoft Teams, Google Meets and other tools for asynchronous learning. They should capitalise on the flexibility that the platforms give instructors and students to engage with course content at different times (and from different locations). Students can then follow course units as their schedules permit.
In order for e-learning to succeed in improving the quality of education and raising the level of student achievement, we advise:
- more interaction with e-learning systems and software
- universities to provide the tools to support e-learning, including infrastructure, funds and qualified human resources
- raising awareness in the community of how e-learning integrates with traditional education
- universities adopt a clear strategy and framework for their e-learning programme
- universities pivot their educational processes towards e-learning.
Providing graduates for the global workplace
In the MENA region, no one solution fits all, as Ahmed Kamal Ali of Arizona State University, wrote in Higher Education Digest last year. But many benefits are common across countries. “The scalability of online education in the region could increase interest from the public and private sectors to establish partnerships with domestic and international universities to upskill their workforce,” he said.
The labour market has increasing needs for graduates who show creative thinking and the ability to adapt to the speed of inventions and developments. This is true across industrial and commercial fields. E-learning technologies have witnessed great development in most countries of the world, contributing to the innovation of educational methods to keep pace with evolving demands.
Mohamed Abuelseoud Abdelzaher is a professor in chemistry at Al-Mustaqbal University, Iraq.
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