KIC President, Dr. Assem Al-Hajj, participated in a symposium on “The Online Teaching, Learning, and Assessment of Interdisciplinary, Practical Project-Based and Design Studio Courses,” where he presented an evaluation of the factors impacting the transition to Online Education of higher education institutions in the Gulf region.
The evaluation was based on KIC’s swift digital transformation. Dr. Al-Hajj showcased factors that impacted the transition to Online Education and highlighted the learned lessons in addition to the future state of thinking.
The President noted several factors that stimulated digital transformation. Regulatory authorities, technology & infrastructure, policies, resources availability, stakeholders’ response, leadership and clarity of goals, and of course the pandemic, were the major catalysts of change.
Khawarizmi International College addressed and capitalized upon these factors to introduce alternative learning platforms that would keep its students on their academic track.
Dr. Al-Hajj highlighted the college’s investments in learning management systems, enterprise resource planning systems, and other critical IT infrastructure that enabled the digitalization of the related processes.
Evidently, the success of these investments was pointed out by the positive results of the reports pertaining to student satisfaction, face-to-face hours, and attendance, in addition to other supportive figures.
Based on the findings and their analysis, Dr. Al-Hajj highlighted the most important lessons that would enable HEIs’ optimal response to a volatile environment. Teamwork is a key to success, as is the acceptance of new realities.
Higher education institutions must be quick in accepting the change and adapt to the new normal. According to the KIC President, automating processes, faculty development for E-Learning, designing and developing online courses, are critical.