New ways of teaching in MENA region

This project is to prepare AUIS to start directing the university to implement online pedagogy within the university. The main goal is to adapt some classes to a hybrid classroom, following instruction on digital pedagogy to encourage instructors to make use of the technological resources already in their classrooms. Online education benefits much of the student population, and especially the population of students who are disabled, as it offers accessibility not only to people with mobility impairments but also to those with hearing and sight loss and many other impairments that would ordinarily restrict people from a traditional “brick and mortar” education. The first phase begins by developing a survey to understand how many students prefer online resources. A companion survey gathers instructors’ perspectives. Preliminary results suggest that students want online education but that instructors are reluctant to use technology in their classrooms because of their fear of technological errors, never having received a proper orientation on the capacity and impact of using classroom technology. A focus group discussion of faculty, students, and IT instructors will follow the surveys to evaluate the impact of this project. The findings will be presented in the Community Idea Exchange session in AMICAL 2020 in Kuwait.