 Innovating Education Technology in the Middle East
Summary: Academia Arabia aim to provide a platform for Ministries, government bodies, private professionals, industry experts and solution providers to discuss and brainstorm on the reforms and innovations in the region’s education sector
With an increase in Middle East’s focus on innovation and e-learning, there has been a rise in the investment by global and regional education suppliers in the region. The region’s e-learning market revenues are speculated to rise to $560.7 million by 2016.
Saudi Arabia has announced that education budgets this year will rise 13% to US$36.7 billion (Dh134.80bn), accounting for more than a quarter of the country’s entire budget expenditure. From a pure resource-dependent economy, Saudi Arabia is now firmly on track to become a knowledge-driven economy.
Due to heavy investments by the government in education sector, innovation and e-learning, there has been a rapid increase in the requirement and demand for eLearning education facilities in the country. According to a research report by Market Research.com, the demand for eLearning modules will be driven by factors like rising investment and eLearning, which has been emerging as a substitute of distance education.
In order to keep up with the trends of the education industry, more and more institutions as well as organisations across the country are adopting eLearning, simulation and other forms of innovation in education.
“There is no doubt that advanced technology that is available in many countries showed that education can and will be improved if these latest technology can be utilized to allow the learners to learn more and better†said Dr. Talal H. Maghrabi, General Manager – IT Infrastructure at Ministry of Education, KSA.
Academia Arabia is being organised with an aim to provide a platform for regional experts to discuss the reforms and innovations in the education sector. Rotating around the central theme of “Collaborate – Innovate – Educateâ€, Academia Arabia is being organized with an aim to provide a platform for Ministries, government bodies, private professionals, industry experts and solution providers to discuss and brainstorm on the reforms and innovations in the education sector in the region.
Speaking about the role of technology in education, Dr. Osama A Mohamed, Associate Dean,College of Engineering at Abu Dhabi University said “Today’s technology places a lot of power in the hands of learners, enhances their visualization skills, information gathering from across the world, and offers innovative ways to present their concepts.â€
“I believe that exchanging experiences and new ideas is the most effective way to save time and expenses of trying ideas that (were already proven) are not working in our country – The Kingdom of Saudi Arabiaâ€, said Dr. Mohammed Salem Alzahrani, College of Engineering,Vice-Dean for Development and Quality at Umm Al-Qura University.
Being held on 10 – 11 April 2016 at Novotel Riyadh Al Anoud, Riyadh – KSA, this conference will focus on important issues for the region such as sustainable education & role of social networks, reforming education in region, smart campuses, innovation in education, role of simulation in education and blended learning among other topics.
Intriguing presentations, interactive panel discussions and real-life case studies will be featured at the two-day conference in order to discuss and brainstorm the future of education in the region. For more information, request the conference agenda by emailing at mohor.mukherjee@fleming.events
