|
Amman-May 8 , 2016 Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah visited the German Jordanian University’s (GJU) Madaba Campus on Sunday to support the University’s cutting-edge teaching initiatives, especially its collaboration with Edraak, the first digital platform for educational content in the Arab world. The partnership is the product of a memorandum of understanding signed between the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE), GJU, and the Queen Rania Foundation last year to develop an online national education course for GJU students that focuses on strengthening their understanding of national identity in an intercultural context. During the visit, Her Majesty met with the Dean of Graduate Studies and Scientific Research Professor Salem Al- Aqtash, and a number of students who completed Edraak’s online course, as well as lecturers who supervised the development of the course Dr. Abdallah Raggad, Safa Shweihat and Adel Hawatmeh. They discussed the benefits of the course and its potential to improve the accessibility of special content to students at the University and in the Arab world. The online course was developed in accordance with the educational standards set by the MoHE. Its format consists of short video lectures followed by assignments specifically designed to ensure that students understand and build on the lecture material. Students are either graded automatically by the web service, or by other students, which has allowed professors to teach several thousand students at the same time in a personalized manner. Accompanied by the Chairman of GJU Board of Trustees Eng. Othman Bdeir, GJU President Prof. Natheer Abu Obeid and GJU Vice Presidents Prof. Manar Fayyad and Prof. Anton Mangstl, Queen Rania also visited an exhibition showcasing projects by students in the robotics club. Applied Sciences Lecturer Dr. Natheer Rawashdeh briefed Her Majesty about the club’s projects and how they are developed to assist local technologies. The exhibition included an upper limb exoskeleton suit, Bluetooth controlled cars, and smart karts. The Queen also toured the water and renewable energy labs where she listened to a brief about the labs uses by each of Dr. Qasem Abdelal, Eng. Abeer Abu Othman , Dr. Mohammad Aladdous and Eng. Duaa’ Yousef. Her Majesty also dropped by a German language class that focuses on interactive dialogue as a way to advance applied language skills. |
