O smart school! … A strategic choice for more than 62,000 ‘educational resources’

By: ghorob Al-Thunayan

* Dr. Salem Baqadeem, Vice President for Academic Affairs: Quality is one of the most important criteria for distance education.

* Ms Fatimah Al-Fuhaid, Assistant for Educational Affairs in the Eastern Province: Our students are able to challenge crises and create success.

* Ms Amal Al-Roqi, Assistant to Educational Affairs in Afif Governorate: About 97% of students registered on the My School platform.

* Ms Sarah Radaan, Head of School Leadership Department in Bisha: Distance education is a modern gateway to a promising future.

* Ms Jawaher Al-Ghamdi: Distance education is a test for female teachers.

* Requests to face digital challenges to reach all students and enable them to study remotely.

* Mothers: the Covid-19 Crisis Contributed to promoting the e-learning culture of students.

* Students: I support distance education for the psychological stability of expatriate students.

“It is better to train the young generation to be at the forefront of the future, and the Kingdom has surpassed Vision 2030 from the stage of imagination to the stage of implementation.” With this word, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman stressed the importance of empowering future generations to build the future in conjunction with the spread of the Coronavirus Covid-19 To face emergency crises.

Mr. Husein AlAbady

After the success of the Saudi experience, and the registration of about 97 percent of students in the Madrasati platform and the use of a strong infrastructure, an achievement counted for Saudi Arabia among countries, how did the unified educational system develop with educational platforms and channels, and what digital challenges faced them in all its stages to enable students to learn at a time when some countries were closed Schools around the world, and what did decision-makers, experts and specialists say about the educational process and the mechanism for developing it, and what do parents think? And how was the experience of the students and their demands in the following investigation:

Mr. Tacky Alusif

In this regard, Dr. Salem Baqadeem, Vice President for Academic Affairs at the Arab Open University, confirmed that the university relied on an integrated system of procedures, tools and infrastructure that enabled it to overcome the complications of the Corona crisis, which affected the performance of many institutions around the world, noting that the system Education at the university is based on the blended learning approach, which is based on technology.

* Blended Learning Curriculum!

Dr. Salem Baqadeem pointed out that the university has formed a team of university employees to follow up the progress of the teaching process and enter all virtual lectures on a daily basis, as this team submits a daily report on the extent of the commitment of faculty members in providing lectures, and the percentage of students’ participation in each lecture, and Measuring the level of interaction between students and the course teacher, and the University Agency for Academic Affairs reviews these reports and then sends them to the various deanships and makes recommendations.

Ms Fatimah AlFuhaydy

As for the tests? ….. Dr. Baqadeem stated that the university has adopted several methods to evaluate students’ performance through diversity, flexibility, and for the student, international accreditation, and the complete preservation of measuring all learning outcomes. , Detailed and among these approved methods: homework, electronic tests and home tests.

* From virtual education to creative reality!

For its part, the educational affairs assistant in Al-Sharqia, a. Fatima bint Abdullah Al-Fuhaid, on the need to address the educational loss of students and their mastery of basic skills and focus on extended skills, appreciating the role of teachers and the creativity they have provided in distance education.

Al-Fuhaid said that schools in the Eastern Province were able to achieve a high rate of speed of response to technology, pointing out that the technical challenges of students were met, and that tablets and Internet slides were provided through community partnerships.

For her part, Prof. Amal Al-Roqi, Assistant of Educational Affairs in Afif Governorate, stated that about 97% of students registered in the Madrasati platform in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as a strategic choice that gathered more than 62 thousand educational sources, and the Ministry of Education set up a strong infrastructure and created a unified educational system, and platforms And educational channels and satellites, and solving digital challenges to reach all students and enable them to learn, at a time when schools closed in most countries, and it was promised an achievement for the Kingdom.

Al-Roqi demanded: the need to pay attention to smart education through the education ministries ’preparation of advanced systems and to be responsible for designing and producing educational materials and curricula in the form of printed materials, educational bags and computer software to facilitate the task of this education and work to define regulations and laws related to it, and prepare Follow-up and supervision committees for the educational material that is given to the learner, which must be appropriate to the values, standards and ethics of the Saudi society, in response to the challenges and changes in light of the current conditions that education suffers from in all countries of the world.

For her part, Prof. Sarah Radaan, Head of the School Leadership Department in Bisha Governorate, stated that distance education is a modern gateway to a digital future and present, and it is a requirement of the era of artificial intelligence, and there is no objection to blended education between an urban environment and a virtual environment in future education, and she attributed that by saying: We suffer from The immersion of our sons and daughters in multiple applications and games. Madrasati platform provided the opportunity for the generation to immerse themselves in education in cooperation with the telecommunications company STC. The value of one chip for the Madrasati platform reached (43 riyals), which any family head can provide.

* A tough start!

Zahraa Al Shif, a student guardian, did not deny that she did not know how to deal with technology and did not know about the simplest alphabets in it, which forced her to self-education through a trip to search the Internet to obtain general information, and an attempt by her to apply YouTube explanations, and she also resorted to social sites.

In addition to participating in the training workshops for distance education, he described her experience as being difficult – as she put it – but she was able to learn and develop from herself, which made her feel confident.

* Readiness & desire!

Wafaa Al-Amer, the mother of a student studying in the second elementary school in Al-Khobar governorate, said that the distance education decision is a good thing for many things, foremost of which is protecting our daughters from any negatives that they may face as a result of the Coronavirus Covid-19, pointing out that the health status of her daughter, who suffers from A chronic disease that does not allow her to attend school, in addition to the positive aspect related to promoting and spreading the culture of e-learning among female students.

Fatima Al Dahim, the guardian of two students (twins) studying in fourth secondary courses in the Qatif governorate, agrees that she interacted positively with the decision of distance education, and in parallel with that, she began preparing to learn everything new on the platform, to ensure that her daughters were able to raise assignments, tests and explanations. And enrichments.

Mr. Ahmed AbdulHay

Regarding the obstacles she faced? …. The Dahnim family answered that the obstacles they faced, the lack of sufficient tablets for their children, to start their educational lessons, in addition to her daughters sitting on one device, is not useful, even if they are in one educational stage, in addition to their lack of sitting. In one place while receiving their academic lessons, a matter that she was keen to prepare and prepare for, then she returned and said distance education contributed to refining the student’s personality and taught her self-reliance, in addition to making the parents more aware of what the student learns and measuring her level.

While the second intermediate grade student in the first middle school in Al-Jaroudia, the gentlemen, expressed her dissatisfaction as a result of her inability to raise the test for my immortal language due to the weakness of the Internet, which prompted her to resort to the neighbors’ house to finally be able to raise the test after several solutions and attempts, describing what she was exposed to as an enjoyable adventure. From raising the test I felt a great achievement.

While Osama Al-Omair, an engineering student at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran, stated that he is a supporter of distance education because of its positive effects that he personally has benefited from, explaining that distance education has made it easier to attend the university campus daily, which requires effort and time in addition The student’s stay with his family helps him with psychological stability, especially students who live far from the university, not to mention the material costs, including housing, food and transportation expenses… and other expenses that constitute a heavy burden on some students with limited income.

* Recycling computers from well-to-do families to the poor … community initiatives!

And prof. Taqi Al-Youssef, Supervisor of the Social Development Forum in Saihat Governorate, for the community initiative “Takatof”, targeting a thousand students, and due to the Corona pandemic (Covid-19), which requires every student to have a computer to follow his lessons or lectures remotely, and some do not He is able to secure this, pointing out that the idea of ​​recycling computers from the able families to the needy families, especially those who are not covered by social security.

And about the response of the Saudi society from the initiative? Al-Youssef said that the really wonderful thing is the community interaction by donating the old computers on the one hand, and the fact that many families register to request that service and accept them with the computer used after its open maintenance.

* Love brings creativity!

While Prof. Dalal Al-Dossary, a teacher in elementary and middle school, with memorizing the Noble Qur’an with you, that the students ’love to use technology was the main motivation for them to use technology skillfully. This came through their competition to present every new technology related, indicating that the emptying of their talents and energies in the right place is very important for strengthening And containment.

* A journey with intellectual students!

For his part, Muhammad Abd al-Hayy, owner of the “Al-Ghadirfoun” store for electronic devices in Mayyas Market in Al-Qatif Governorate, said that after the ministry announced that education would be remote, in solidarity with this announcement, his initiative came to reduce the price of computer devices by 50%, explaining that 450 computers were sold until all of them were implemented. The schools that initiated volunteer campaigns for students benefited from this offer, revealing the urgent desire in him as a teacher studying six students with special needs (the intellectual category) in the first secondary school in Rahima district, where he touched the need of this group for the passion of learning by integrating it with technology and their inability to The acquisition of these electronic devices and used the annual ceremony of his school to honor students with some electronic devices.

* School … a reference of solutions!

Hussein Al-Abadi, the guardian of the student Narges, is studying in the second intermediate grade in the first intermediate school in Al-Jaroudia, as an agent in the elementary school in Hilat Mahesh, and separated from his wife, this is something that makes him not be able to be with his daughter to receive her lessons through the platform, explaining that she is at the beginning The issue faced two problems, the first problem, the platform account was not opened to it, so communication was made with the school administration that cooperated with it, and the other problem was due to its inability to access the test link, so she also resorted to the school, which in turn solved the problem.

Mr. Lotfy Dahname

*.. confusion!

For her part, the Student Affairs Undersecretary, a. Hoda Al-Farhan, first agent of the middle school in Al-Jaroudia, that the mathematics teacher A. Makiya Abu Qurain, her father passed away, which left the school administration confused, so how would the weekly classes be met if the teacher enjoys the first-degree death leave? .. But soon the human sense in Abu Qurain answered, so that she initiated this initiative from meeting herself where she saw That her absence from the performance of the lessons, may cause obstruction of the educational process for the students, which will result in the correct inability to measure the level of educational loss they have at a sensitive and important stage.

* Interesting and attractive!

Lutfi Al Dahnim, a physical education teacher at King Saud Primary School in Dhahran, stressed the importance of using interesting and attractive educational methods, especially for the primary stage, including those with special needs, and employing learning by playing, noting the importance of knowing the methods that can be followed in their education to attract them to an exciting educational environment, especially since Especially this age group, students’ families cannot force them to study on their own.

It is worth noting: The number of schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is (four thousand two hundred and seventy-eight schools) for males and females. The number of female schools is (two thousand six hundred sixty nine teachers), while the number of male schools is (one thousand six hundred and eighteen schools). Of 500 thousand students in the Eastern Province, studying from a distance.