Baku, May 10, AZERTAC
The Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World (FUIW), under the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) launched the Project for the Development of Open Education in the Federation’s Member Universities, which aims to build the capacity of professors to use open education resources and tools and integrate them in university curricula, and introduce them to the best new practices of disseminating such education tools, according to ICESCO’s official website.
Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General (DG), FUIW Secretary General, inaugurated the launching ceremony of the project, via videoconference, where he gave an address stressing the need to raise awareness of open education and provide training in this field through taking advantage of the current technological revolution, which offers huge opportunities in the fields of education and learning.
Moreover, the DG stressed that ICESCO is committed to promoting open education by capitalizing on modern technology to serve students and teachers, in order to achieve quality education and strengthen knowledge economy in the Member States.
Dr. AlMalik also stated that the project includes a series of training courses for professors and researchers in Member States’ universities and higher education institutions, which are based on three key components, namely building professors’ capacities, promoting best practices in universities, and fostering cooperation with international institutions to benefit from their experiences and resources in this regard.
In his address, Dr. Omar Halli, Advisor to ICESCO DG for the FUIW, said that about 400 teacher-researchers from 25 countries will benefit from this project through virtual trainings to develop their capacities to design open educational resources and use them in their daily activities with their students and colleagues.
Dr. Halli added that project will also provide an open accreditation plan to encourage teachers to create their own platforms and develop their distance teaching skills, noting that ICESCO and the FUIW will grant accreditation to at least one national institution and one university in each Member State where the training program is to be implemented.
Likewise, he stated that the project will be implemented over the course of two years, under the supervision of experts specialized in open education in a number of FUIW Member Universities and European universities.
Also taking part in the ceremony were Dr. Daniel Burgos, Vice Rector of the International University of La Rioja of Research and Technology in the Kingdom of Spain, and Dr. Khalid Berrada, Professor at Mohammed V University in Rabat, both supervisors of the training. Both officials praised the program and stressed its importance and its great potential to keep up with the evolution of the educational process in universities around the world.