The inaugural Blackboard (WebCT) Summit Middle East was held at Dubai Men`s College on 5th and 6th September 2007, it was the first dedicated Blackboard conference for the Middle East Region and it combined users from both the Blackboard and former WebCT product communities.

The Summit focused on e-learning trends such as the use of Web 2.0 technology in education. Several new Blackboard product innovations were introduced, including SafeAssign™, a new plagiarism prevention service and Blackboard Outcomes, a detailed reporting and didactic analysis tool. The Summit also hosted the official launch of the Arabic-enabled Blackboard solution.

The event was formally inaugurated by His Excellency, Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan,UAE Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, who called for opening dialogue with academic leaders and educational practitioners across the Middle East.

During his opening address, Sheikh Nahayan noted that technologies like the laptop and the Internet are useful to government, business, as well as education. Technology can put faculty in charge of their course material and classroom interaction, and their students' comprehension. At the same time, Sheikh Nahayan noted that the versatile ways of knowledge acquisition through technology mediation meant that students must be able to learn through blogs, wikkis, and find legitimate didactic uses for technology while ignoring fads. Blackboard President and CEO Michael Chasen delivered the conference keynote address on the use of Web 2.0 technology in education.

“In the next generation of Internet technologies being developed, experts are talking about developing web content with interfaces and functionality more advanced than individual desktop applications.

Chasen noted that Web 2.0 enabled sites allow rich content and interactive interfaces to be accessed from a standard web browser. “Users are being offered the ability to draw full-scale applications off a server onto the desktop through the browser,” he said. The emphasis, according to Chasen, is to deliver software as a service.

Carrying forward the analogy that web 2.0 paradigms are also being reflected in new ways of delivering learning, or e-learning 2.0'. In e-learning 2.0, as instructors accept and use Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) such as Blackboard or WebCT, the emphasis has shifted to getting the students involved in generating new content and using online VLEs to interact and generate new understanding.

“While e-learning 1.0 was about taking courses and putting them online for students to access, institutions are now looking at getting students to develop extensive interactive networks in the e-learning 2.0 paradigm. For instance, while a biology instructor might think it is good that his students can interact with one another, he or she might then want to supplement the traditional classroom by getting students to be able to interact with biology classes in other schools around the world,” said Chasen.

“The focus is shifting from inputs to outcomes. Rather than looking at putting courses online, schools are looking to generate discernable returns on their investment. Are students smarter as a result of the technology implemented, and are they learning better?” he asked.

To address the current focus on results-based system evaluation, Blackboard has come up with the Blackboard Outcomes system. The new application in the Blackboard suite offers detailed analysis and reporting on teaching and learning trends. It helps link teaching objectives to course delivery and gives instructors and educators the resources needed to constantly monitor and improve the didactical process.

As part of Blackboard's ongoing commitment to furthering education in the region, last month, new right-to-left language capabilities were unveiled as part of the Blackboard e-learning platform to support Arabic. Edutech Middle East, international will distribute the Arabic-enabled version of Blackboard Academic Suite across the Middle East.

With an Arabic user interface, students and teachers from the Middle East are expected to adopt the technology and utilise it effectively to produce better results. The new Arabic version allows users to view all features and tools in the Learning, Community and Content systems from right to left according to the orientation of the Arabic written language. The Arabic Language Pack can be selected at the system, course and user level, providing flexibility to all users to choose their preferred language. Edutech's implementation team is assuming responsibility for integrating the Arabicenabled Blackboard service into institutions' existing infrastructure.

“Higher education institutions across the region are making tremendous strides in utilising state-of-the-art technologies that enhance teaching, administrative and student experience. Our strong partnership with Blackboard enables us to bring the latest technologyenabled tools for education institutions in line with our commitment towards the progress of the education sector,” said ASF Karim, Managing Director, Edutech.

When queried by DIDACTICS WORLD on the relevance of Arabic for regional higher education institutions that mostly deliver English curricula, Venkat Raju, Head of Business Development at Edutech, set the record straight by noting,“ A lot of education in the region, from primary for higher education,contains Arabic content. Having an English VLE for an Arabic subject is at crosspurposes. Not just that, but for some learners, an Arabic interface can help smoothen the transition from conventional teaching environments to working with an online VLE. Further more, an Arabic-enabled product will allow learners and instructors to change languages as and when required, which will offer more flexibility.

“Lastly, countries such as Saudi Arabia are looking to introduce new learning technologies to their curricula, but do not deliver everything in English.The Arabic-enabled suite will help market penetration in these countries, and allow Edutech to tailor Blackboard installations as per client requirements,”he explained.

The Blackboard Middle East Summit brought together delegates spanning eight countries including Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, among others. “It is very exciting to work with academic institutions around the world, to learn about different cultures and education systems and help provide technology to continually expand educational opportunities,” said Chasen. “We look forward to continuing to build upon the relationships we have formed in the Middle East, and other parts of the world to enhance teaching and learning for people everywhere.”