The Minister of Higher Education & Scientific Research Visits AAU and Reviews Its E-learning Experience

The Minister of Higher Education & Scientific Research, Dr. Muhammad Khair Abu Qudis, began his field visits to Jordanian universities on Tuesday morning 24\11\2020 by visiting AAU. This visit aimed to view the achievements of the University and its experience in the field of e-learning (online learning) at Al Hourani Center for E-Learning and to identify the most prominent challenges facing Jordanian higher education institutions in this area.The AAU President, Prof. Sari Hamdan, the AAU Vice-Presidents and Assistants along with a limited number of members of the administrative staff received the guest. On this visit, Minister Abu Qudis was accompanied by Dr. Ahmed Al-Majdoubah, the Chairman of the National Committee which was set up by the Higher Education Council to integrate e-learning into the higher education programs. At the beginning, Prof. Khaled Al Kaabneh, the AAU Vice President for Scientific Faculties Affairs and the Director of Al-Hourani Center welcomed the honorable attendance and presented an introductory video on how to switch to the online learning and what the University has achieved in keeping pace with the development of e-learning during the Corona Virus pandemic. Prof. Al Kaabneh also talked about the plans that the University drew to keep pace with this transformation in a fast and systematized way and shed light on the objectives that were achieved through the use of the global Microsoft Teams System. He explained how it was done through an operation room that works around the clock, whereby it began its work by holding intensive and rapid training courses for members of the academic and administrative staffs who are concerned with controlling and managing the online learning system. Moreover, he explained how to follow up the percentage of students’ daily attendance of lectures, the reports submitted about the percentages of students' attendance of lectures and exams and the extent of their commitment to them. Prof. Al Kaabneh also touched on the University’s efforts of establishing a digital library with the videos and the special materials that it contains and linked them to the courses that are taught. Finally, they viewed a group of lectures in various faculties, which are held directly via the Teams program.Dr. Anas Al-Saud, Assistant to the President for Accreditation and International Classification Affairs talked about the classification and international accreditations that the University has attained during this year. Meanwhile, his Excellency Prof. Muhammad Abu Qudis delivered a speech where he expressed his pleasure for visiting the pioneer of private universities, namely Al-Ahliyya Amman University at the beginning of his field visits to the rest of the Jordanian universities. He highlighted the role of private universities as national institutions in serving the Jordanian higher education sector. Moreover, he stressed the need to implement the noble royal visions regarding integrating the online learning to make it part of the educational process in higher education institutions, and to transform the challenge that Jordanian universities faced into opportunities for success and for a new start towards the future. Moreover, His Excellency reviewed the latest decisions of the Higher Education Council related to the development of study plans and programs in Jordanian universities and the specialized committee established by the Council. The mission of this committee is to reconsider the universities’ requirements and to set the general framework for their development in line with the requirements of the labor market and the required skills such as innovation, management skills, English language skills, leadership skills and social responsibility. He indicated that the Council discussed a number of proposals related to the new general principles of admission to Jordanian universities, and it was agreed to circulate these proposals to the relevant authorities to get acquainted with them and provide the Council with any proposals it deems appropriate. At the end of the visit, Prof. Sari Hamdan presented the AAU memorial shield to His Excellency Prof. Muhammad Khair Abu Qudis.