ICDL in Jordan

Jordan

Promoting e-literacy among students has been brought to the forefront of the Education Ministry's agenda as an essential component in placing Jordan's educational system on the global map.

Ranging from the computerisation of schools to the e-training of teachers in addition to introducing computer-based learning, this nationwide initiative is working in line with His Majesty King Abdullah's efforts to make Jordan an IT hub in the region.

The computerisation of schools has so far materialised into 20,000 PCs currently installed in 1,000 public secondary schools (grades 11-12).

Two children enjoy a computer class offered by the Jordan Telecom Fund (photo courtesy the Jordan Telecom Fund)

Another 400 preparatory schools (grades 7-10) are next in line on the Education Ministry's e-revolution checklist for this year. "Computerisation of the designated 400 prep-schools, scheduled for this year, comes as part of the National Socio-Economic Transformation Plan and was recently approved by the prime minister at an estimated cost of JD9.5 million," Minister of Education Khalid Touqan told The Jordan Times. The minister said that of 10,000 PCs pledged to the Kingdom's preparatory schools by the World Bank, 3,000 arrived in July.

"We are now awaiting a further shipment of 3,000 PCs provided through the Jordanian-Spanish Protocol, and expected to arrive by mid-September," he said.

By the end of 2002, 38,000 computers will be installed in the Kingdom's secondary and preparatory schools, according to Touqan.

But the target ratio of 8 students to a computer is expected to be reached by the end of 2003 when an estimated 60,000 PCs have been installed.

Al Zahra Public School (ZPS) in Amman's 7th Circle area is one of the 1,000 secondary schools that has undergone the computerisation process. It is currently equipped with one computer lab holding 21 PCs.

Hadeel Farfoureh, one of the two computer teachers at the school, says that the number of PCs should be doubled.

"In a school that has 1,100 students, we need at least two computer labs," Farfoureh said.

The school provides three computer classes a week for secondary school students and two classes per week for seventh to tenth graders, she explained.

Farfoureh, who holds a bachelors degree in computer science, also underwent the International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) required by the MoE.

The ICDL programme, currently being taken by state employees in various departments as part of the overall e-government initiative, covers basic information technology (IT) and consists of four modules on various Windows applications and word processing.

Leila Khaled is another teacher who took the ICDL training.

"The outcome of this training enabled my colleagues and I to build a database of necessary information regarding the school," said Khaled, adding that, "the next step is to integrate the students' final examination results onto the database."

Sarah Faleh, an eighth grader at ZPS who claims to have acquired new IT skills during her computer classes, says that it gets crowded with three students to a PC in a class of 45 pupils.

"That's too much," said the 14-year-old in a huff.

Meanwhile, Manal Bitar, Faleh's fellow eighth grade classmate has learnt new IT skills from her school that she now applies to her home PC.

"In the past I only used to play games on my home computer, but now I can draw and use Microsoft applications on it," said Bitar.

Approach at elementary level

The computerisation process in elementary schools (grades 1-6) will take on a different approach to that of secondary and preparatory schools.

"The Electronic Board Technology will be used for the younger grades, whereby the teacher will demonstrate computer applications through the use of these boards," said Touqan.

The reason for this approach, explained the minister, is because many of these elementary schools are lacking in space and are unfit to accommodate a computer lab.

The MoE's computer curriculum was launched in 2000 and designed to cover a three-year action plan in order to lay the foundation of information technology (IT) education in terms of setting up computer labs, networking and connecting all the schools via intranet, according to Mahmoud Massad, general director of the curricula directorate at the MoE.

"The year 2000 incorporated the computer curriculum for grades seven, 11 and 12, while in 2001, grades eight and ten were added on, and this year grades seven through 12 were included", said Massad, adding that, by next year, the curriculum will apply to all grades.

The curriculum, he explained, is divided into two parts, introduction to computing and the Internet, and computer-based learning to approach subjects like English, math and physics.

According to Massad, the application of computer-based learning for physics has already been incorporated into this year's curriculum for grades 7-12.

By 2005, the ministry also hopes to implement Internet-based learning by using websites outside the ministry's curriculum to aid e learning in the designated subjects, he said.

Menhaj.com, an e-learning website, approved by the MoE, bases its content on the syllabus set forth by the ministry.

The website, acting as a complimentary aid for students, provides additional content through advanced research and graphic tools.

"Our primary goal is to extend the e-learning initiative to all public schools in order to promote this project on a nation-wide scale," explained Ghassan Lahham, CEO of menhaj.com, a company that is currently working with the MoE to digitise the subject of physics for eleventh graders.

The digitisation process of content entails converting traditional school lessons into electronic ones accessed via an Intranet system that links several schools together.

Several foreign funding agencies and local institutions that have taken an eager part in promoting e-education curricula in schools are working hand-in-hand with the MoE.

One such example is, the Jordan Telecom Fund (JTF), a subsidiary initiative of Jordan Telecom, and the Kingdom's sole land-line provider. The fund was established in September 2001 to create IT awareness among students and teachers.

Through a roving tent and bus, fully equipped with computers linked to the Internet, the JTF to date has visited the country's 30 educational directorates.

"Approximately 33,000 students, many of them coming from the most remote areas of the Kingdom, have benefited from this initiative," said JTF President, Mohammad Hiyari.

Currently, the JTF is focusing on specialised e-training for teachers, mirroring its support of the MoE's emphasis on the e-literacy of educators.

The JTF Internet bus is now based in Sukaina Public School in Jabal Hussein, where 100 teachers are receiving intensive IT training, said Hiyari.

With 1,062,359 students in the Kingdom's 3,000 public schools, efforts to integrate e-education and create IT awareness seem to be on the right track.

According to Massad, the computer-based curriculum will promote interactive learning among students and help them acquire the necessary "thinking skills" for the non-stop search for knowledge.

Source: The Jordan Times, September, 2002