Table Of ContentAlan S. Weber · Sihem Hamlaoui Editors
E-Learning
in the Middle
East and North
Africa (MENA)
Region
E-Learning in the Middle East and North Africa
(MENA) Region
Alan S. Weber • Sihem Hamlaoui
Editors
E-Learning in the Middle
East and North Africa
(MENA) Region
Editors
Alan S. Weber Sihem Hamlaoui
Premedical Linguistics
Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar Premedical Philipps-Universität Marburg
Doha, Qatar Marburg, Hessen, Germany
ISBN 978-3-319-68998-2 ISBN 978-3-319-68999-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68999-9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017960838
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Preface
This volume is the first comprehensive handbook covering the history, development,
and current and future practices of e-learning in the Middle East and North Africa
(MENA) region. E-learning (electronic learning) is defined herein as learning facili-
tated by computers and online networks such as the Internet and intranets and includes
mobile technologies, or m-learning, as well. Earlier definitions of e-learning also
involved the concepts of computer-assisted learning, computer-based instruction,
Web-based training, and computer-based training, generally meaning any form of
study using a computer and educational software, not necessarily involving the Internet
or intranets. The term “educational technology” is gaining currency as an umbrella
term; however, it should be noted that pens, paper, and blackboards are in fact forms
of technology (artificial assistance) used in the classroom. Educational technology
remains a useful conceptual term, since computers in the classroom have been
fetishized as a panacea for all educational problems, and all technology use by educa-
tors from simple to complex should first and foremost serve the interests of learning.
Some of the current e-learning teaching models – including blended and purely
autonomous virtual learning (formerly known as “self-study”) – grew out of dis-
tance education, still employed in universities throughout the world. Common
modalities for distance education, which continue in some areas of MENA, included
mailing paper-based study materials and later video cassettes, CD-ROMS, and
DVDs to students, in addition to radio and television broadcasts sponsored by
national governments. Assignments and exercises could be mailed back to instruc-
tors for correction, and individual tutorial could take place over the telephone (now
videoconferencing, online text chat, or email is commonly used), constituting an
early form of blended learning. During the transition to modern modalities of online
learning – which now represent an actual paradigm shift in pedagogical practice –
the Internet or an intranet was often only used as a substitute for snail mail, i.e., for
the distribution of learning materials and as a way of organizing classroom activities
through a learning management system, also called a virtual learning environment.
Interestingly, a common earlier term for LMS was CMS or course management
system, demonstrating the evolution of the LMS from a set of tools designed
primarily for instructors to manage a course more efficiently (such as attendance
v
vi Preface
rolls, recording exam scores, distributing announcements, etc.) to a system that is
integral to the way students learn and retain information. Both functionalities are
critical, since a poorly organized and managed course obviously greatly detracts
from efficient learning for students. Technology in the classroom, however, must be
integrated into learning goals and learning outcomes according to a pedagogical
plan for learning, i.e. using the proper virtual tool to achieve the desired educational
objective. Learning in most modern electronic pedagogies is designed to be student-
centered. Student-centered learning relies on individual ownership of knowledge
and peer learning, two areas in which e-learning has made a strong impact due to the
array of synchronous and asynchronous communication and collaborative tools
now available.
The regional designation Middle East and North Africa (MENA) used for this
volume is not entirely satisfactory for a variety of reasons, since originally the terms
“Middle East” and “Far East” invoked Europe as the reference point for “the cen-
ter.” Also, not all organizations use the term MENA consistently, and the member
countries of MENA vary according to different definitions. In this handbook, a
World Bank definition of the MENA countries was adopted with Djibouti added as
an illustrative end point in ICT and e-learning development. Similar definitions of
the region include the Arab States’ United Nations Development Programme (cov-
ering the Arabic-speaking-majority nations), the Arab League’s 22 member states,
and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), with 57 members including
both the Muslim-majority nations and nations with significant Muslim populations,
including Southeast Asian nations such as Indonesia and Malaysia which are cultur-
ally distinct from the MENA countries. The IMF has adopted the term MENAP
(MENA + Afghanistan + Pakistan) in its reports, adding two other Muslim-majority
but non-Arab countries.
Possibly the most significant defining feature of MENA is historical and politi-
cal: except for the southern Arabian Peninsula, Djibouti, and Iran, all MENA coun-
tries formed part of the Roman Empire at one point in time, and during the decline
of Rome beginning in the fifth century, the Islamic Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid,
and Fatimid caliphates replaced Roman rule in the countries we now designate as
MENA. Arab culture and Islamic religion left a lasting impact on the region, even
among non-Arab peoples.
In the modern period, regional political power was divided between the Ottoman
Empire and various European colonial powers, most notably France and England.
Also, a large percentage of the MENA region consists of desert or drylands due to
the massive Sahara Desert, Arabian Desert, and Iranian deserts which have led to
the development of similar patterns of culture and economic and agricultural devel-
opment. For example, although Tuareg and Imazighen peoples of North Africa are
linguistically and culturally distinct from Arab Bedouins, these peoples share many
cultural similarities due to their similar responses to dry conditions, such as nomadic
lifestyle and the use of camels.
Due to postcolonial politics, internal civil conflicts, and the redrawing of national
boundaries by European powers during the post-1918 period, some geographical
boundaries and even entire nation states are the subject of serious disputes within
Preface vii
the modern MENA region. For example, Western Sahara or the Sahrawi Arab
Democratic Republic is a disputed territory administered by Morocco, with 37
nations endorsing an indigenous government in exile. Palestine, whose borders are
coterminous with the State of Israel, is recognized by some nations as a sovereign
state, but not by others. Similar regional disputes arise in the use of the term Arabian
Gulf (al-khaleej al-arabi) by some of the Arab-speaking nations to describe what
has been known historically before the 1960s as the Persian Gulf (originally sinus
persica in Latin translations of Ptolemy and Strabo). Many of the borders of the
uninhabited desert regions of MENA were not resolved until the twentieth century;
the potential for the discovery of oil or water resources, however, led to more pre-
cise fixed boundaries after the first petroleum deposits were discovered in Iraq, Iran,
Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.
Except for Israel (a mixture of Jewish sects and Palestinian Muslim and Christian
Arabs) and Lebanon (with a substantial Christian population), all MENA countries
are Muslim-majority nations, and this fact adds another unifying characteristic to
the region. According to the Pew Research Center, 93% of the 341 million inhabit-
ants of MENA profess Islam. However, regional variations of Islamic practice cre-
ate diversity in MENA, with Sunnis, Salafists, Deobandis, Shias, Ibadhis, Sufis,
Ismailis, Alawites, etc. all adhering to slightly varying beliefs and customs.
Despite its flaws, MENA, therefore, remains a useful concept due to the histori-
cal, cultural, and geographical similarities of these nations, and the designation is
used widely in academia, media, and government.
Plan of the Book
Individual e-learning experts from each MENA country were asked to assess
e-learning activity in their country with respect to education, business, and govern-
ment. In each country study, e-learning is contextualized within the nation’s general
history, educational system, ICT ecosystem, e-readiness, and national development
plans. Each country study discusses the historical development of e-learning, the
scope and aims of e-learning within the country, current practices including pro-
grams, regulation, and accreditation, and future prospects for online learning in the
country. The chapters are followed by a comprehensive bibliography of major
research studies on the topic from the last 15 years – very little literature on
e- learning in the region exists before the year 2000.
Common patterns that readers will note concerning e-learning development in
MENA are that many member states have centralized governments with little
regional governance, along with centralized ministries or councils of education
which dictate policy and curricula for national e-learning implementation plans.
Most MENA nations have developed nationwide plans of varying degrees of effec-
tiveness for incorporating ICT into all facets of life, including electronic banking,
public e-services (e-government) through comprehensive government portals, edu-
cation, and the promotion of the use of the Internet in business.
viii Preface
E-learning has witnessed explosive growth in the last two decades in MENA. The
World Economic Forum in 2017 argued that further investments in ICT training will
spur economic development in the region, diversify the economies, and provide
critical services for other industries: “to harness the sector’s full potential, and
ensure the market’s future skills needs are met, governments across the MENA
region should encourage vocational training within the ICT sector itself, and pro-
vide support and recognition to specialized capacity-building and certification pro-
grammes, such as micro-credentials, addressing the needs of individuals, institutions
and industry.” E-learning is particularly well suited for delivering ICT courses
online – with occasional blended learning meetings with mentors via videoconfer-
encing. E-learning can aid in the training of national workforces without the neces-
sity of building new universities and technical colleges and hiring expatriate
educators or the costly option of sending students abroad for their education (a
currently common solution at the PhD level). Sending students abroad can contrib-
ute to brain drain since PhD candidates develop professional and social networks in
their host countries while obtaining their degrees and often accept job offers via
these networks outside their home country. E-learning, in the form of informal and
lifelong learning, can also keep the unemployed “youth bulge” common in many
MENA countries engaged in useful activities.
One barrier to e-learning development region-wide is the widespread shortage of
trained ICT professionals who can set up, customize, and maintain platforms and
learning management systems. Education systems will need to adapt to provide
more of the basic digital literacy skills which are now required to function in a mod-
ern, globalized world. Internet banking, communication through social media apps,
contactless payment, and the use of government e-portals for services are now ubiq-
uitous in the developed world and require at least a minimal knowledge of comput-
ers and the Internet. Although countries like Egypt, Israel, and Turkey are now
exporters of ICT services and products, few other MENA countries are able to meet
full capacity in this sector with locally trained technicians.
Additionally, teacher training programs need to include an online learning com-
ponent since e-learning methods will undoubtedly eventually merge with normative
teaching praxis and become an expected mode of best-practices learning. Even if
institutions cannot afford ICT support for in-house e-learning systems and hardware
for students, low-cost Internet-enabled phones or tablets can access the wealth of
free and low-cost educational materials now on the Internet which only require an
Internet browser and connection. Thus cloud computing (remote server) solutions
should become increasingly attractive as an educational option for developing coun-
tries. Sites such as Wikipedia, Khan Academy, iTunes U, and MOOCs on platforms
such as Coursera, edX, and Udemy should not be ignored by educators in both
developed and developing nations.
Doha, Qatar Alan S. Weber
Acknowledgments
Ali Sharaf Al Musawi of Sultan Qaboos University assisted with locating suitable
chapter experts. Ross MacDonald and Carol Ann Nonino of the Weill Cornell
Medicine–Qatar DeLib Library located difficult-to-access articles, books, and con-
ference procedia from the Cornell University library system. Qatar’s Ministry of
Transport and Communications (ictQATAR) provided access to reports, white
papers, and statistics on e-learning in the region. Qatar Foundation for Education,
Science and Community Development in Doha, Qatar, as well as Weill Cornell
Medicine–Qatar provided financial support through various funding mechanisms
during the preparation of this volume. The coeditor Sihem Hamloui diligently
assisted with translation, chapter writing, and locating authors. Melissa James and
Brinda Megasyamalan of Springer were always available for advice and support
while compiling and editing the final manuscript. Finally, I would like to thank the
chapter authors who were a pleasure to work with and who patiently revised and
corrected their work to high standards of scholarship.
ix
Contents
1 Algeria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Mahieddine Djoudi
2 Bahrain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Nina Abdul Razzak
3 Djibouti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Adem Salhi and Sihem Hamlaoui
4 Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Mahmoud M. El-Khouly
5 Iran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Kourosh Fathi Vajargah and Esmaeil Jafari
6 Iraq . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Ahmed Sameer Alnuaimi
7 Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Yoav Yair
8 Jordan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Mofeed Abumosa and Sawsan Mashal
9 Kuwait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Salah Al-Sharhan
10 Lebanon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Fawzi Baroud
11 Libya. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Aisha Ammar Almansuri
12 Morocco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Rachida Ajhoun and Najima Daoudi
xi
