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Transforming Education: The Power of ICT (Lessons from Review of Smart Education Projects in Selected Arab

States)

Dr. Tayseer AlNoaimi The 2015 International Technology Leadership and

Instructional Technology Summit Taipei, Taiwan

November 21st, 2015

Structure of Presentation

• Overall Development Context in the Region

• Overview of Education Reforms in the Region

• Case Studies:

- Jordan Education Initiative

- Mohamad Bin Rashid Smart Learning Project

- TEAM Model Smarter Schools

• Lessons learnt :

- Risk Factors

- Right Drivers for successful ICT Integration in Education

All Arab countries, except for few countries, have indices in the minus which indicates little and slow progress on most of the MDG goals and indicators. The Arab Region is the only developing region that has been showing increase in poverty and hunger since 1990 MDGs Achievement Index (MDGI) for Arab Countries

Source: UN and LAS (2013)

Source: Data for 1990 and 2000 are based on World Bank 2013. Data for 2012 are ESCWA estimates.

Incidence of extreme poverty, based on the international poverty line at US$1.25 a day

Extreme poverty has increased and the rate of reducing undernourishment is below the target by 20% still.

Fiscal and Economic Context

In general, economic growth has decreased and countries’ debt has increased Consequences on rates of unemployment- since the economy is unable to absorb the youth entering the labor market- where it has soared to 15% in 2013 Economic insecurity leads to issues and concerns at multiple levels such as limited social protection and satisfaction and could ultimately lead to political instability

Youth unemployment rates (%)

Total unemployment rates (%)

Pre-Primary Gross Enrollment Rate: Few countries higher than 70%

Arab Region among the lowest : Only a quarter of Arab children are attending pre-primary education and are going on to Grade 1 with some previous schooling experience( on average .5 of a school year) leaving quality aside, 8 % points increase from 2000 compared to 17% points World-wide

0 20 40 60 80 100

Algeria

Djibouti

Iraq

Kuwait

Libya

Morocco

Palestine

Saudi

Syria

UAE

Most Recent 2000

0 20 40 60 80 100

World

Arab States

Central and Eastern…

Central Asia

East Asia and the…

Latin America and…

North America and…

South and West Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

50

23

72

32

62

73

85

50

18

2011

2000

Despite noticeable progress, Arab countries have not yet achieved universal primary education where they are at an average of 89% Adjusted Net Enrolment Rate (ANER) in 2011,10 percentage point increase since 1999 & still below World average

• Advancement in the region is comparable to that of the world(10% points) •Steeper increase between 2000 and 2007 but then it more or less plateaus(World) •Arab Region had a not so steep but steadier increase over the 12 year period.

0 20 40 60 80 100

Algeria

Djibouti

Iraq

Kuwait

Libya

Morocco

Palestine

Saudi

Syria

UAE

ANER Primary

Goal 2 ANER Most Recent Goal 2 ANER 2000

0 50 100

World

Central and…

Latin America…

Sub-Saharan…

91 89

96 97 95 98

78

2011

1999

80.71 85.67

89.18

70

80

90

100

2000 2007 2012

World

Arab States

Out-of-School Children-Primary

Despite significant progress in system expansion, close to 5 million Arab Children are still out of school( 8.4% of all out-of-school children world –wide): 60% are females compared to 53% world-wide

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

6000057,186

4,823 732 290

5,118 2,726 1,249

12,450

29,798

3.757 M out-of-school Arab Adolescents, 55% are Females Out-of-School Adolescents 2011(000)

World

Arab States

Central and Eastern Europe

Central Asia

East Asia and the Pacific

Latin America and the Caribbean

North America and Western Europe

South and West Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

69,413

3,757

1,129

397

8,944

1,494

583

31,277

21,832

Adult Illiterates amount to M 773,549 world-wide of which M 47,603 are Arabs(67% are Females, 90% in 6 Countries), 8% decline since 2000( 12% decline World-wide)

Distribution of illiterate adults by region Illiterate Adults

0 200000 400000 600000 800000

World

Arab States

Central and Eastern Europe

Central Asia

East Asia and the Pacific

Latin America and the Caribbean

North America and Western Europe

South and West Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

773,549

47,603

4,919

290

89,478

35,614

407,021

181,950

Goal 4: Youth Illiterates amount to 98,431,000 world-wide of which 5,170,000 are Arab youths(63% are females compared to 57% world average)

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

Variable but low performance with almost 100 points less than World average( 1.5 Grade below expected World Student) 47% of Arab Grade 8 students are performing below low benchmark

366

371

380

394

404

406

406

409

410

425

449

456

500

524

0 200 400 600

(41) Oman

(40) Morocco

(39) Syrian Arab Republic

(37) Saudi Arabia

(36) Palestinian Nat'l…

Arab states

(35) Jordan

(34) Bahrain

(33) Qatar

(30) Tunisia

(25) Lebanon

(23) United Arab Emirates

TIMSS Scaled Centrepoint

Top 20 countries

TIMSS - Grade 8

Mathematics

27%

46%

47%

48%

27%

53%

45%

61%

39%

57%

64%

25%

11%

47%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

United Arab Emirates

Qatar

Bahrain

Palestine

Lebanon

Saudi Arabia

Jordan

Oman

Tunisia

Syria

Morocco

TIMSS Average

Top 20 countries

Arab states

TIMSS 2011 - G8 Mathematics

Below Low benchmark Low benchmarkIntermediate benchmark High benchmarkAdvanced benchmark

Variable but low performance: 72 points below scale centerpoint 37% of Arab G8 students are performing below low benchmark

376

406

419

420

420

426

428

436

439

449

452

465

500

528

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

(41) Morocco

(40) Lebanon

(37) Qatar

(36) Palestinian Nat'l Auth.

(34) Oman

(32) Syrian Arab Republic

Arab states

(31) Saudi Arabia

(29) Tunisia

(28) Jordan

(26) Bahrain

(23) United Arab Emirates

TIMSS Scaled Centrepoint

Top 20 countries

TIMSS - Grade 8 Science

25%

30%

42%

28%

41%

41%

46%

32%

37%

28%

61%

21%

9%

37%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

United Arab Emirates

Qatar

Bahrain

Palestine

Lebanon

Saudi Arabia

Jordan

Oman

Tunisia

Syria

Morocco

TIMSS Average

Top 20 countries

Arab states

TIMSS 2011 - G8 Science

Below Low benchmark Low benchmarkIntermediate benchmark High benchmarkAdvanced benchmark

Conclusions Despite Commendable progress over the last 15 years •Education For All is an unfinished agenda

• Only a quarter of Arab children are attending pre-primary education and only a

percentage of that quarter would have had quality early childhood education • Universal primary education not completely achieved: ANER .89 • Despite significant progress in system expansion, close to 5 million Arab

primary education Children are still out of school • NER in secondary despite progress is still low(.63) • 3.7 Million Arab adolescents are out of school • Share of TVET dropped from 14% to 9% • Significant Progress in adult literacy (77%) and impressive increase in Youth

Literacy Rates • 47.6 Million adult Arabs(67% are Females, 90% in 6 Countries) are illiterates of

whom 5.17 are Arab youths • Arab region has achieved more noticeable progress in Gender Parity compared

to other goals but not in gender equality • Quality defined as measurable learning outcomes especially in literacy,

numeracy, and essential life-skills to be achieved by all learners is the biggest challenge and Arab States are lagging behind on International Assessments

•The evolving context for a post-2015 framework is dramatically different than that at the turn of the millennium

• increased instability

• slow economic growth rates,

• high levels of unemployment especially among youth,

• increased insecurities and

• deepened financial crisis.

Mix of Successes and Failures

Focus was on technical aspects out of its contextual factors

Focus was more on inputs than on Results

Reform is more of a project- based rather than a deeply embedded transformation

movement

Reform is centrally developed and designed rather than in an inclusive manner/Top-

down

Lack of accountability mechanisms and a coherent monitoring and evaluation

framework

In conclusion,

Lots of Energy, Little light

Most, if not all, reforms have

• Followed almost patented approaches that originated elsewhere (despite a rhetoric of being home-grown and grassroots…)

• Been developed by local and expatriate experts with limited popular participation

• Resulted in projects and programs to address each and EVERY concern that have been:

• Bounded by levels and domains • Running simultaneously in parallel • Managed largely independently • Loosely-coupled; not well-aligned and linked

• Taken a lot of time and money to implement

• Enjoyed limited success

• Been difficult to sustain

• And led primarily to new reforms

ICT Integration Cycle

Jordan Education Initiative JEI

Phase I – Laying the foundation

2003-2007

JEI Start… • An initiative of His Majesty King Abdullah II, launched in 2003

• First PPP program in education launched under WEF

• Partners MoE, MoICT, local ICT private sector and global private sector

• Introducing innovation and integrating ICT in education

• Investment of over 30 million USD in phase one.

JEI Phase II – The Institution…

2008 onwards

One of Her Majesty’s Queen Rania Al

Abdullah non profit organizations

working on education

Holistic Approach

Pilot

M&E

Report

Rollout

Research

&

Innovate

Technical Infrastructure

• Math Whizz Busythings

• Eureka

• Sunflower for Science

• UCMAS

• Texas Instruments

Stimulating critical thinking & problem solving skills in

math and science

• E-blocks AlHudhod

• Rosetta Stone Little thinkers

• Clicker 3asafeer

• MyOn

• Kurzweil

• Busy things

Developing Literacy skills

• Classmate PC

• 1 to 1 using 3G

• Smart Schools

• Pop up classroom

Personalized

Learning

• Innovative teachers

• Oracle Thinkquest

• Innovative schools

• Project Management for students

Collaborative projects

• Oracle Academy (Alice)

• Hello world kids

• Apptrainers

• Students Programming Initiative with Microsoft

Developing programming and coding skills

• Four nations

• Youth Talk

• Voices for change

• T21

Improving communication Skills and intercultural

awareness

Creating a 21st Century Ecosystem

Mohammed Bin Rashid Smart Learning Program

The program launched

In 2012

ASPIRATIONS WAS THAT EACH CHILD SHOULD

HAVE HIS OWN LEARNING DEVICE

Maximising every learner’s potential –

improved participation, attainment and progression

INFRASTRUCTURE & CONTENT

SUPPORT

SCHO

OL PRINCIPAL TEACHER

HOME PARENTS

LEARNER EXPERIENC

E

Technology-

confident,

effective

schools

Engaged and

empowered

children and

families

Flexible and

sustainable

architecture

STRATEGIC APPROACH

Inside the School

Anytime Anywhere Learning

Teacher devices Smart Boards

Student Devices

Principals

4G 4G

مركز البيانات

Classroom

PROGRAM NUMBERS 2015/2016

40 Schools in DUBAI

63 Schools in SHARJAH

21 Schools in AJMAN 11

Schools in UMM AL QUWAIN 46 Schools in

RAK

27 Schools in FUJAIRAH

TOTAL NUMBER

OF STUDENTS 34,513

a

NUMBER

OF CLASSROOM

S

1,735

208

2015

146 2014

Program in numbers

Learning and content gateway for

40,000 Users Stude

nt

tables

34,513

Laptop for

Teachers

5,295 Smart

Boards

1,735 Classrooms

w i t h Interact

ive

content

3,254

Technical training for

5,000 trainees 40,000

Users

for the

data

center Technical

support

team serves

208 schools

Call Center

service Tools and

software

for 40,000 user

s

Professional

dev. for

72 Principals

Program in numbers

Mechanical, electrical, and

plumbing 208 1,735 Classrooms Schools

40 + Supportive

reports

and

researches

Project

management

activity

documents

375+ 262 MDF

Rooms Main distribution

frame 6 Implemented

Pilots In

30+ Schools

Program in numbers

Current Development Status • Over 100 TMSC implemented across Jordan, Sudan, and Dubai.

• Schools are starting to add tablets into the original smarter

classroom.

List of TEAM Model Smarter Schools • Modern Systems Schools, Jordan

• Islamic Educational College, Jordan

• Al-Sabilah School, Jordan

• Al-Hikmah Elementary School, Jordan

• Huwarrian International School, Jordan

• New English School, Jordan

• University of Jordan, Aqaba, Jordan

• Zarqa University, Jordan

• Sudan International Smart School, Sudan

• Technology Education Project Sudan (TEPS)

• Rising School, Dubai, UAE

• Cutting Edge, Dubai, UAE

Modern Systems Schools, Jordan

Started with 1 IRS Smarter Classroom in 2013 21 TBL Smarter Classrooms with tablets now!

Al Sabilah School

Grand Opening in September 2015! Smart Building with 6 Smarter Classroom

Pilot Project in Jordan One-Year Project IRS in Semester 1 Tablets in Semester 2 3 Public Schools Beit Ras Basic Girls Marj Al Hamam Girls Thouqan Hindawi Boys

Paradigm shifts

Education around the world is experiencing major paradigm shifts in educational practices of teaching and learning under the umbrella of ICT enabled learning environment .

A shift in pedagogy and integrating ICT into education

Two types of pedagogy: Namely instruction and construction

The former approach is the traditional method.

ICT can contribute to a movement towards constructive teaching approaches and constructive teaching processes can lead to greater use of ICT in education.

Construction Instruction

Learner centered Interactive Teacher center Didactic Classroom Activity

Collaborator Sometimes expert

Fact teller Always expert

Teacher Role

Collaborator Sometimes expert

Listener Always learner

Student Role

Relationships Inquiry and Invention

Facts Memorization

Instructional Emphasis

Transformation of facts Accumulation of facts Concept of Knowledge

Quality of understanding Quantity Demonstration of Success

Criterion referenced Norm referenced Assessment

Communication, Collaboration. Information access, expression

Drill and practice Technology use

Changes in Teachers’ Roles

To from

Guide & Facilitator of Knowledge Transmitter of knowledge

Creator of Learning Environment Controller of Learning

Collaborator & Co-learner Always Expert

Using ICT to Enhance Learning Learning to use ICT

Interactive/ Experiential/Exploratory Didactive/ Expository

Changes in Learners’ Roles

To from

Active Learner Passive Learner

Producer of Knowledge Reproducer of Knowledge

Autonomous Learner Dependent Learner

Collaborative Learner Solitary Learner

Learning to Learn/Think/Create & Communicate Solely Learning Content

Changes in Curricula & Delivery

To from

Inquiry Based Memorizing Facts

Authentic Learning Artificial Teaching Exercises

Open & Flexible Delivery

(Any Time & Anywhere)

Rigid Delivery

(Fixed Time & Space)

Multi Path Progression Single Path Progression

Using ICT In Education: Some of The Risk Factors

•Lack of teachers support There are several main areas to consider here: the lack of teacher confidence and resistance to change, the lack of ICT Skills training for teacher support for the use of ICT within learning environments. ▪ Do as I Say, Not as I Do

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▪Technology Before Pedagogy

Technology is often introduced into the classroom with no thought on how it can be used for effective teaching . Where ICT is aligned with a sensible pedagogy, it can improve learning outcomes.

▪Information Overload and lack of Discrimination

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• Implementation Failure:

- Absence of a Shared Vision

- Variances in Objectives: technology is integrated when it is used in a seamless manner to support and extend curriculum and to engage students in meaningful learning. It is not something one does separately.

- Planning and Leadership

- Lack of access and Resources( Adequate technology)

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• Technology Lead Pedagogy:

Investing in and assuming that the digital world will carry the day vs instruction.

No successful country became good through using technology at the front. Without pedagogy in the lead technology may be driving us to distraction, with the child’s digital world detached from the school world.

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Risk – reducing Strategies 1. Adequate basic ICT skills training is required for all teachers .This training needs to be reinforced on a sufficiently basis to maintain pace with technology changes ( e.g. every year). 2. ICT –enabled pedagogy training is required for all teachers so they can embed ICT within their teaching strategies in an effective manner. 3. Teachers must have access to timely and effective ICT support within the school environment . 4. Teachers need to champion ICT and integrate it seamlessly into their pedagogy and to use ICT as much as they expect of their students. 5. A new technology must not be introduced into a learning environment until a suitable pedagogy exists to use that technology. 6. As with teachers, students need to see the value of using technology to improve their learning outcomes. ICT must empower students through control of the technology, and through this control they will be motivated towards better learning outcomes.

7. Pedagogy matches Technology:

Technology will be a dramatic accelerator if we can put instruction and skilled, motivated teachers

and students in the lead. This is the necessary impetus to reverse the trend of technology racing ahead of pedagogy: learning and instruction will become the driving forces, so we will ride the technology wave instead of being at the mercy of a powerful, but intrinsically aimless, phenomenon.

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Right Drivers to Successful Integration of ICT in Education

1. The learning–instruction–assessment nexus.

2. Social capital to build the profession.

3. Pedagogy matches technology.

Power new pedagogical innovations with technology. 4. Systemic

synergy.

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