RIYADH: Prince Sultan bin Salman, president and chairman of the board of directors of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), launched the first ever MIT OpenCourseWare (MIT OCW) mirror website at the King Faisal Palace on Sunday.
The official launching ceremony brought together the university's senior management. Prince Bandar Al-Saud, chairman of the executive committee for Alfaisal University, presided over the ceremony which was attended by Alfaisal University's cofounders, board members and leadership, including Dr. Ronald Bulbulian, acting provost, and Dr. Maher Alodan, acting dean of the College of Engineering.
"The launching of the MIT OpenCourseWare marks an historic event for education in the Kingdom as Alfaisal University's College of Engineering pioneered the way, being the first educational institution to host MIT OpenCourseWare materials in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the region," said Dr. Maher Alodan, acting dean of the College of Engineering.
MIT OCW is an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to put all of the educational materials from its undergraduate- and graduate-level courses online, partly free and openly available to anyone, anywhere. MIT OCW can be considered as a large-scale, Web-based publication of MIT course materials.
MIT OCW is a free and open educational resource for educators, students and self-learners, and supports MIT's mission to advance knowledge and education on a global scale.
"The cooperation between MIT and Alfaisal University will make these vast and top-quality materials available and accessible inside Saudi Arabia and all over the region through the mirror-website at Alfaisal University. We will also be taking the initiative in Arabizing some of the course materials on the website to increase its accessibility for our users," said Alodan.
Alfaisal University is hosting the course materials as part of the MIT OCW's mission to extend the reach and impact of OCW materials throughout the world. Like Alfaisal University, OCW content has been installed at a small number of mirror sites at educational institutions, and evaluation data show that these mirror sites are having a significant positive impact on teaching and learning in regions where these mirror sites are set up.
As a Mirror Site Program Partner, Alfaisal University continues to fulfill its mission being an active part of the worldwide community of educators and learners who are demonstrating the power of unlocking knowledge.
Alfaisal University is a student-centered teaching and research university committed to building national and international partnerships for growth and prosperity. It offers programs in the fields of medicine, engineering, science and general studies and business, and has forged collaborations with leading international institutions such as Partners Harvard Medical International (PHMI), MIT and the Institute of Manufacturing of the University of Cambridge, and appointed professor Michael E. Porter as adviser to the College of Business.
As part of its commitment to develop affiliations and collaborations with leading global corporations, institutions and organizations, the Alfaisal University College of Engineering signed a Memorandum of Understanding with MIT.
By Md Rasooldeen
© Arab News 2009
