Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University, HBMSU, joined prestigious international institutions at the recently concluded UNESCO’s ‘Mobile Learning Week 2020’ (MLW 2020), held under the theme ‘Beyond Disruption: Technology-Enabled Learning Futures’.
The virtual event served as a strategic platform to engage with global organisations as the participants explored new opportunities to continue building technology-enabled learning system amid the challenges facing the education community due to the coronavirus disease pandemic.
The attendees stressed the need for concerted efforts and use of advanced technologies to guarantee uninterrupted education during emergencies and crises, similar to what has been done in the UAE. The experience of the UAE in handling crises with an impact on education has served as a model for other countries, specifically the implementation of distance learning.
Professor Moustafa Hassan, Vice Chancellor for International Cooperation, represented HBMSU in the discussions. During a breakout session titled ‘Resources for Distance Learning in Higher Education,’ he delivered a lecture on ‘Empowering Teachers in the Face of COVID-19: The HBMSU Survival Kit.’ In his presentation, Professor Hassan shed light on the pioneering model adopted by HBMSU to provide lifelong learning and showcased the university’s achievements as the first accredited university for online education in the Arab world.
He also showcased HBMSU’s pioneering global initiative launched initially in cooperation with the UAE Ministry of Education.
Later held in partnership with the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, UNESCO IITE, the crash course, ‘Be an Online Tutor in 24 Hours’ was offered by the university to global learners in Arabic, English, French, Spanish, and Russian.
He explained that the highly successful initiative attracted learners from more than 100 countries around the world with more than 300,000 registrations recorded, and more than 100,000 certificates issued. This achievement proved once again that the first-of-its-kind initiative was pivotal to the ongoing efforts to provide teachers and faculties in the UAE and worldwide with skills necessary for them to efficiently adapt to the distance learning model based on best international practices, he added.
Dr. Mansoor Al Awar, Chancellor of HBMSU, said, “The MLW 2020 was held at a time when the world, specifically the education community, continues to face enormous challenges due to COVID-19, which has affected more than 1.5 billion students in 180 countries. The event served as a strategic platform for us to share our unique experiences to ensure continuity in the education system during crises, in line with the directives of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and President of HBMSU. Smart technology is the cornerstone of advanced education, with the adoption of new concepts and unconventional measures serving to guarantee uninterrupted education delivered in safe environments.”