Jordan Times
Sunday, July 11, 2004
By Reem Halasa
AMMAN — The International Educational and Resources Network (iEARN) announced at the conclusion of their second regional conference in Amman Saturday that an advisory board for the Jordan branch is under establishment.“The board will help set up a framework for the branch before it starts operating officially and becomes recognised locally as a non-governmental organisation (NGO),” Mohammad Jarrah, Jordan's country coordinator, said.
The team will begin work within a month to set up the local management team, and prepare the outline for future strategy programmes for iEARN-Jordan, Jarrah added.
The Ministry of Education and the iEARN mother foundation will work together to establish the board, and integrate the iEARN programme in the ministry's e-learning programmes, according to a statement released by the organisation.
Members of the board will include representatives from the ministries of education and information and communications technology, and the private sector, added Jarrah.
The conference, the largest educational gathering in the country, highlighted the transition from traditional classrooms to the 21st century using technology, through a number of workshops.
The four-day conference also focused on project-based learning and opportunities for cross-cultural education through students' own projects and ideas, the statement added.
Workshops tackled topics such as the iEARN online programme, student empowerment, managing IT classrooms, evaluating project-based learning programmes, e-learning strategies, using ICT in learning English language and community service.
The statement concluded that the coming year would be an eventful one for the Jordan branch, bringing a wide range of opportunities for teachers and students in training, exchange programmes, participation in regional and international conferences, and core funding.
Minister of Education, Khalid Touqan said in the opening ceremony that such an initiative promotes the future of trade and business, “because it is creating a generation capable of interacting effectively in the new world.”
He added that it is a leap towards initiating an internationally credible education system, and a new approach in educational development.
At the closing ceremony, Touqan presented the participants with certificates.
Participants in the conference included representatives from Jordan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Egypt, Indonesia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Syria, Tunisia the United Arab Emirates and the US.
The conference was held in cooperation with iEARN -Jordan, iEARN-US and the Ministry of Education.