Jordan needs to focus more on online education — experts

AMMAN — The situation of online education in Jordan is “painful” with the Kingdom lagging behind in adopting online education strategies, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, founder and chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organisation (TAG-ORG) said Tuesday.

“Although Jordan has introduced ICT solutions and technologies in the education process, when it comes to online education we are very late and the situation is very painful,” Abu-Ghazaleh said at the Education Technology Conference and Fair, which attracted international experts and officials from the ICT and education sectors.

He called for keeping up with latest technologies in the field of education.

“Up to now, the government in Jordan still considers online education as a prohibited issue and does not even recognise certificates acquired online,” the former senator said at the opening of the three-day event, organised by the Jordan Computer Society.

Participants at the conference underlined the need for more efforts to integrate technology in education, which they said will reflect positively on the performance of students.

“Conventional teaching methods are insufficient to trigger innovation among students. Therefore, adopting technologies in the classroom is a necessity nowadays,” Qasem Khatib, a representative of the education minister, said at the event.

He added that the ministry has implemented several projects to open computer labs at the country’s schools, and invested in training human resources on computer skills and technologies.

Participants also stressed that a well-prepared infrastructure plays a key role in boosting e-learning.

In this regard, ICT Minister Azzam Sleit referred to the National Broadband Project, which seeks to connect the country’s public schools and other facilities to a high-speed Internet network.

The minister also reviewed several projects the government is implementing in the field of e-services.