Ministry, Orange and UNICEF expand IT blended learning to public schools

AMMAN — Building on the successful implementation of the first two phases of the IT Blended Learning Initiative “Menhaji Al-Tafaouli”, the Ministry of Education, Orange Jordan and UNICEF on Thursday announced the expansion of their partnership to 17 additional public schools across the Kingdom, a joint statement said.

 The announcement came during a visit by Education Minister Omar Razzaz, UNICEF country representative Robert Jenkins and Orange Jordan representatives to Shmeisani Gharbi School for Girls in Amman, one of the schools currently implementing the IT Blended Learning programme.

 During the visit, Razzaz said that the project is “very important” to the ministry, as it represents a model for technology deployment in the educational process in a way that complies with the most updated teaching methods in the world, the statement said.

He added that it also provides the ministry with the opportunity to study and evaluate this model for continuous development in a way suitable for the classroom and needs of teachers in Jordan. 

The IT Blended Learning Approach involves the development of e-content based on the Ministry of Education’s formal education curriculum. The activities introduce additional learning tools including videos, virtual experiments and quizzes to complement more traditional ways of learning, according to the statement.  

In the partnership’s first two phases, dynamic digital content was developed for math and science subjects aimed at children in 5th and 6th grades. The initiative was successfully implemented in 20 schools. 

The renewed partnership will expand this e-content to Grades 1-4 and 7. 

 “We are happy with this visit that gave us the opportunity to witness the success of this initiative that contributes to changing teaching mechanisms for the subjects of science and mathematics and transforms the traditional way of teaching into an interactive and enjoyable one,” said Raslan Deiranieh, deputy CEO of Orange Jordan.

 Orange Jordan and UNICEF will provide the required equipment and services to new schools implementing the initiative, including transforming classrooms into digital labs connected to the Internet, the statement added. 

The programme will also continue to support the provision of necessary training and development programmes by the Queen Rania Centre for Information and Technology to Ministry of Education staff and teachers.

 In the 2016/2017 academic year, 1,508 students benefited from the initiative, while 67 teachers received training. The expansion of the agreement will raise the total number of students attending the blended learning classes to 4,374 and the number of trained teachers to 99 in 37 schools, the statement concluded.