Center for Continuing Education
Birzeit University

Achievements

• Driven by the British Council, ULI was asked to conduct an evaluation study of their Pilot Teacher Training model of its Regional ICT in Education Project.  This was to ensure that the project produces a model for sustainable capacity building of teachers in Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt.
  
  

ULI was asked to:

• design an evaluation framework using state-of-the-art tools and methodologies;
• collect relevant quantitative and qualitative data in each of the five participating countries (Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt as well as Palestine);
• analyze and interpret the data with particular attention to the pre-determined indicators that can be used to measure progress in implementing planned activities and achieving both anticipated and unanticipated results;

produce an evaluation reporting describing the findings and offering recommendations relative to the contributions the RICTE project can offer to the development of a sustainable model for teacher capacity building. In March 2006, ULI participated in a conference for all regional participants where the evaluation results was delivered and built upon.

• The Palestinian Education Initiative (PEI):

  Several of ULI's team were integrally involved in the development of the PEI conceptual framework and strategy from the beginning of the process.  They are currently playing an active role in the training and life long learning tracks, two key components of the national strategy in which ICT and vocational training are of particular relevance.

   To learn more about the Palestine Education Initiative, go to www.pei.ps

   

• A two-year EU-initiative was launched in January 2005, the Mediterranean Virtual University (MVU) and is led by the Danish Aalborg University. The project is a collaborative effort by eleven Mediterranean and northern European universities aiming to design online engineering and information technology degree courses, pilot them locally and internationally, and thenenable learners globally to study online.

Four Birzeit University lecturers participated, and, along with members of ULI's multi-media team, took part in a year-long training programme on electronic course design.

 The lecturers designed the following four courses: Introduction to the World Wide Web, Software Development and System Programming, Programming for the World Wide Web, and Coding and Information Theory.

To learn more about the Mediterranean Virtual University (MVU),
goto www.mvu-pal.net

• BIZREH's objective was to enhance the quality and efficiency of learning and teaching in Palestinian formal and non formal educational systems through implementing pedagogical best practices empowered by technology.

  Its main objectives included:

  • Build a Learning Innovation Team (LIT) that is able to work with different subject matter experts (SMEs) in developing e- enabled courses.
  • Develop e- enabled courses based on the constructivism approach.
  • Search and implement suitable electronic learning systems
  • Conduct relevant basic and applied researches that may help in the development process.
    
    

  Its outcome was the development of a number of e-enabled courses:

  • Chemistry and math for 9th grade;
  • English Communications and English for Journalists at the Undergraduate level
  • Water Transport and Distribution Systems.

  • In cooperation with the UNDP, ULI is currently implementing SEEC, a pilot training project which will deliver four major outputs that would ultimately pave the road for establishing a training program which can be replicated nationwide for the benefit of the Palestinian educational system and its teachers.
    
    

  The outputs expected at the end of the pilot are:

  • Piloted training manual targeting teachers to be able to design, develop and evaluate e-enabled courses.
  • A set of e-enabled curricula: teachers divided equally between math and the sciences will be able to design, develop and evaluate e-enabled courses.
  • Documentation of the curricula development and teacher training process and transformation of that experience into formal curricula, methodology and delivery system for training teachers to develop and deliver their own e-enabled curricula.

• ULI is also developing an Online PC Technician Course, the first of its kind in the Arab world, in both language and nature.  While there are many PC technician curricula in other languages, this course will be the first one being developed in Arabic.

  This course is based on the alternative model of blended learning, and adopts the latest pedagogical and educational theories and best practices of e-learning.  Hence, it is designed to enable its learners to cover the theoretical course material self-paced using the electronically empowered material, i.e., interactive simulations, demonstrations, self explanatory figures and illustrations, as well as self assessment tools.  This forms the basis of the required knowledge enabling them to perform the experiments in the real lab environment.