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 The Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR), the IT and telecom sectors’ new policy making and regulatory agency, has a broad mandate to make technology an accessible and integral part of Qataris’ everyday life -- especially when it comes to learning.
“We want to be a leading nation in educational excellence through technology,” says Mohamed Al-Ansari, manager of e-Education at ictQATAR. But he notes that closing the digital divide goes beyond putting lots of computers in schools. “From our perspective, the digital divide is more than the question of ICT access and e-literacy. The digital divide addresses the ability to use ICT to access, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information to construct understanding and functional knowledge.”
The agency has a specific and ambitious e-Education strategy, centered around five areas:
Infrastructure. Implement infrastructure-related programs aimed at providing connectivity, computers and other smart devices to be used in the teaching process.
• Learning and management systems. Institute systems to support the teaching, learning and management processes, including the Learning Management System, School Management System, and Content Management System.
Learning and instructional resources. Provide digital forms of content containing human-computer interactive materials as alternative resources that activate the learner, support self-learning, promote higher order cognitive skills (e.g. problem solving, critical thinking), provide opportunities to contextualize learning, and offer a source of updated and interrelated information (e.g. encyclopaedias, e-libraries).
Professional development. Implement programs to provide teachers with extensive training in adopting the ICT innovative pedagogical approach, which is the use of ICT to facilitate students’ learning processes, using resources such as collaborative technologies, simulation, construction tools, and the like.
Leadership and planning: Work with school leadership to incorporate ICT as an essential transformative tool for education and training. Help school leadership with planning, in order to gain and maintain focus, make the right decisions for investment, monitor progress (with indicators), and achieve goals.
IctQATAR’s e-Education strategy supports the reform initiative that has given birth to the Independent Schools and the adoption of the SEC curriculum standards at schools.
It shares with it the emphasis on “a learner-centered environment, where students engage in active, exploratory, inquiry-based learning and where they exercise and apply creativity, analytical skills, critical thinking, and informed decision making,” says Dr. Al-Ansari.
Like the Independent Schools, the e-Education plan aims to give students access to instructional and learning resources with high quality and relevant materials, foment parental involvement in education, and increase communication between parents and schools. This concept anchors learning in a real-world context, where students have opportunities to experiment ideas and understanding and also apply these in actual situations, solve authentic problems, and conduct analysis of live data. There will also be an appreciation of diversity and internationalism through partnering with international schools (e.g., Global Gateway) and also through access to updated information. There will be individualized instruction, where teachers give appropriate attention to students’ individual needs.
Specifically, ictQATAR and the SEC have signed an agreement that delineates roles and responsibilities when it comes to implementing this strategy. An e-Education Implementation Committee, formed by ictQATAR and the SEC, has been created and reports to Sheikha Al-Mahmoud, Secretary General of the SEC, and Hessa Al-Jaber, Secretary General of ictQATAR. More mutual projects, such as an ICT Curriculum and an e-Library system, are expected to be undertaken in the future.
One of the significant projects that ictQATAR is implementing in schools is the e-Schoolbag. The e-Schoolbag package will provide each student with a Tablet PC that allows for digital inking technology, i.e. note-taking, sharing and editing information electronically. The package will also include e-contents on science, math, and English which will be used by teachers as ready-to-use materials mapped to the Qatari curriculum standards and allow them to customize and add their own materials to fit their students’ needs.
To assist in the implementation of the e-Schoolbag project, ictQATAR has signed an agreement with Singapore, a country with advanced ICT projects and with very successful e-education programs. ictQATAR entered into a strategic partnership with the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) to introduce a number of innovative projects in Qatari schools and provide local educators with the opportunity to gain knowledge of Singapore’s leading experience in ICT development. Under the agreement, leading educational technologists from Singapore will oversee the implementation of the e-Schoolbag in Qatari schools and provide the necessary training for teachers in technical and pedagogical skills. Thus far, one Independent School, the Al-Wakra Preparatory Independent School for Girls, is piloting the e-Schoolbag program.
The Knowledge Net, meanwhile, introduces the Learning Management System (LMS) as a platform for communication and content management between students and teachers at one level, and parents and teachers at another. This system allows for tracking of students’ records and progress, administering online tests, and facilitating students’ discussions over a given topic. The system also allows the integration of e-Content materials. In spring 2006 ictQATAR piloted Knowledge Net in grades seven and 10 in eight Independent Schools. A feasibility and impact study was conducted by Qatar University. ictQATAR is implementing the solution in grades seven through 12 in 12 Independent Schools this academic year 2006/2007. It is now working with the SEC to roll out the initiative to an additional 25 schools.
In addition to the K-12 program, the e-Education strategy includes an “Innovation and Capability Building Program” which focuses on developing human capital across all demographic groups. The ultimate aim is to increase the supply of an ICT-skilled workforce. Today, 23 percent of the population of Qatar aged over 15 is ICT literate, and the e-literacy rate is expected to continue growing at a moderate rate in the coming years. ictQATAR has launched e-literacy and awareness initiatives to fuel the momentum that drove ICT literacy increases since 1996, the year of the introduction of the Internet in Qatar.
ictQATAR will promote ICT Knowledgeable citizen through raising awareness, promoting access, and providing training and support in technology. Its major initiative to meet this objective is awarding a certification for basic computer and ICT concepts and skills. The program targets all Qatari work force, government employees, and teachers. This year it targets 3,500 government staff, including 2,000 teachers in the Independent Schools.
Says Dr. Al-Ansari: “Teachers need to adapt to the real meaning of e-learning, where ICT mediates the process of learning and exchange of ideas in a way that allows learners and teachers to interconnect in a non-linear manner. This non-linearity supports moving away from a traditional way of delivering instruction to a more interactive learning environment.”
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