Abu-Ghazaleh Tackles "Online Education Tsunami" in his Keynote Speech at 2014 Congress of Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-University
Abu-Ghazaleh Tackles "Online Education Tsunami" in his Keynote Speech at 2014 Congress of Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-University
Entitled “Online Education Tsunami”, HE Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh stated that online education allows universities to more fully and easily utilize information and communication technologies in the classroom
DUBAI ---- March 4, 2014 ---- HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org) and president of Talal Abu- Ghazaleh University (TAGI-UNI) delivered the keynote Speech at the 2014 Congress of Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (HBMeU) held at the Atlantis, the Palm Dubai Hotel.
The Congress was held March 3-5, 2014 under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and President of HBMSU.
Entitled “Online Education Tsunami”, HE Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh stated that online education allows universities to more fully and easily utilize information and communication technologies in the classroom, to improve pedagogical models, and use metrics to capture all key information and analyze teacher and student performance, as well as performance of the course-ware itself.
“These capabilities, which are much enhanced, compared to traditional university classrooms, make online education, education without walls, of interest to traditional schools, as well as new purely online models,” he said.
However, he warned that the failure of educational institutions is evident and will only get worse unless radical steps are taken to reform them.
In addition, he citedsome facts and numbers that reflect the growth and demand of online education globally and its effectiveness, underlining the fact thatonline programs will allow institutions to really get back to the core of delivering a good education to learners at a cheaper cost.
He underlined the new Tsunami represented by the online education which is coming but cannot be predicted and that we have to walk with it and adapt for a better education to the next generations.
He also presented a number of TAG-Org’s pioneering initiatives including Talal Abu-Ghazaleh University (TAGI-UNI), TAGEPEDIA, TAGITOP, TAG CLOUD among others.
“TAGI-UNI is a pioneering alliance bringing together the best educational institutions globally, under one umbrella. Acting as a gateway to online education, it ensures that only the highest quality online programs are offered to its students from reputable international universities and training institutes. This eases the burden on students to find a reputable online program, supports them in registering with a world-class institution, and provides them with the assurance that they will be backed throughout the duration of their studies by the reputation of the TAGI-UNI mother company -- the Talal Abu Ghazaleh Organization. (TAG-org, http://www.tagorg.com).”
In order to change attitudes towards online learning, “we need more studies showing unbiased comparisons between online and traditional learning. These should cover facts such as the relevant cost of providing each style of education, costs of content development, manpower required as well as measure the effect on student learning outcomes. We should remember that educators have a commitment to educate and produce scholars of tomorrow without leaving students neck deep in debt.”
HE Abu-Ghazaleh concluded that it is of utmost importance that we do not just stand and wait for this ‘tsunami’ to overpower our education system. “Rather we need to adapt in order to provide a better education for future generations. Adapting is what we as humans do best, and this is what we need to do in order to preserve education for future generations.”
With the theme “Leading Transformation to Sustainable Excellence”, HBMeU’s 2014 Congress featured important scientific conferences and many other activities including policy and strategy roundtables, research awards, hands-on post-congress workshops and many formal and informal networking opportunities. Prominent speakers including HE Saaed Al Tayer, HE Prof. Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz Al Mosa, HE Dr. Amin Al Amiri, Dr. Michael Rigby and Mr. Charles Aubrey took part in the event.