Doha - The annual symposium of the Supreme Education Council (SEC), held at the Doha Sheraton yesterday focused on how technology can enhance teaching and learning in the class room.
H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, Vice Chairperson of the Council attended the symposium titled 'illuminating learning with technology." The annual event marked the anniversary of the launch of 'Education for a New Era' initiative in Qatar.
The Minister of Education and SEC's secretary general H E Sheikha Ahmed Al Mahmoud addressed the symposium.
"In today's highly connected world, technology is the key component of global progress and development in all aspects of life. We believe such an approach will have tremendous benefits. It will enable teachers in the classrooms to perform more qualitatively and with more confidence and creativity", said Sheikha Al Mahmoud.
"As educators, it is our duty to transform our approach towards technology. We need a new generation that understands the importance of technology, knows how to use it, adds to it and avoids its problems," she added.
She posed many questions about the role of technology in children's education, hoping that by the end of the symposium answers would be found.
The key-note speaker at the symposium was Dr Ron Owston, Professor of Education and funding director, Institute for Research on learning Technologies, York University.
"By the time a student reach the age 21 he/she will have spent 20, 000 hours watching TV, 15,000 hours surfing the web, 10,000 hours playing video games, and just 5,000 hours reading," he said.
"Students in our schools today do not know a word without digital technology. These 'Digital Natives' are different from previous generation of students in the way that they learn, share, work, shop, communicate and socialize," said Owston.
Owston also moderated a panel discussion led by Professor Nancy Law, director, Centre for Information technology in Education and head of IT Studies, Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong. Nancy spoke on pedagogical innovations in education and their applied practices from around the world.
Dr Mohamed Al Ansari, manager of e-Education department, ictQATAR spoke about Qatar's visions and objectives for the ICT. He also highlighted the national education strategy and explained its major components. A presentation on Qatar Technical School, the only vocational school in Qatar was given by Hassan Ali Al Muttawa, workshop coordinator of the school.
Another presentation was about Al-Wakra Independent School for girls, which was the first school in the Middle East to introduce e-Schoolbags.
"Integrating technology in the teaching and learning processes is a giant leap for schools in Qatar" said , said Hiyam Ibrahim, e-education manger of the school. Dr Ayoub Khaled Al-Ayoub, Faculty of Law, Kuwait University, also addressed the symposium.
© The Peninsula 2007
