Dubai, January 31st  2009: The 2nd Forum on e-learning Excellence in the Middle East, organized by e-TQM College, concluded its activities. The four day event at Jumeirah Beach Hotel witnessed the participation of large numbers of international experts in the field of e-learning as well as individuals interested in e-learning and continuing education. 

Commenting on the success of the forum, Dr. Mansoor Al Awar, Vice President of e-TQM College said:

"The success of the e-learning forum this year went above and beyond our expectations.  The Forum consisted of keynote speeches, workshops, Q&A debates and focus group discussions. It will without a doubt have a significant positive impact on the e-learning sector in the Arab World." 

"The forum attracted many international e-learning experts and speakers in the field of e-learning such as Mr.  Elliott Masie Founder and CEO of the Massie Center. USA, Mr. Fabrizio Cardinaly  Founder and CEO of Giunti Labs. Italy, and Prof. Robin Mason, Professor of Educational Technology. Open University, UK. They discussed the future of e-learning and its implementation. It was an opportunity for teachers, researchers and practitioners of e-learning to deepen their knowledge about this subject. The Forum concentrated on four main elements Inspire, Innovate, Initiate, and Impact."

"The exchange of experiences in this conference was great. It was not restricted to lecturers or workshop facilitators, but was a mutual experience exchange between the participants and facilitators." Concluded Al Awar.

In addition, the College organized an exhibition called  'The e-learning market' on Wednesday and Thursday. The exhibition was open for public. It showcased e-learning technologies and gave attendees the opportunity to try them out. Illustrations of virtual classrooms were also displayed.

A Gala Dinner held on day 2 of the forum awarded several professionals for their contribution to e-learning; best paper and best presentation. Mr. Hilal O. Al-Siyabi from Oman and Gregory C. Sales from the US were awarded for their paper on Oman's Online Teacher Training Project: A Case Study and Miss Martha Robinson, and Mr. Mohamed Ally from Canada were awarded for their paper on Transition to e-Learning in a Gulf Arab Country.

The highlight of the forum was without a doubt the announcement of the declaration of intent to establish an e-Learning Certification Center that will develop a framework for quality assessment and improvement systems based on the world class CEL Quality system in the MENA Region.

Dr. Narimane Hadj Hamou, Assistant vice president for academic affairs at e-TQM College and forum chair thanked the participants for their contribution to enrich this forum in her closure speech saying:

"In the name of e-TQM College I would like to thank you all for sharing your thoughts and innovative ideas with us, this helps our forum to become one of the pioneering forums in the field of e-learning worldwide."

"The next Forum on e-learning excellence in the Middle East will be held in February 2010, next year we will focus on many issues such as impacts and strategies of e-learning."

-Ends-

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© Press Release 2009