SunGard Higher Education supports initiative for teachers' education in the UAE

ECAE will deploy SunGard Higher Education's PowerCAMPUS Unified Digital Campus solution, built on Microsoft .Net and Sharepoint technologies, to help connect the ECAE learning community.

The Emirate of Abu Dhabi established ECAE to be a world-class institution and regional leader in teacher preparation, educational research and school development.

The first phase of the initiative established critical support functions for prospective and current teachers to start the bachelor of education program. The second phase, already underway, will help the college to manage the steady growth in enrolments through the scheduling of resources, rooms and teacher groups. Connecting the ECAE learning community is of vital importance to enable the sharing of knowledge and experience.

To achieve a digital college environment, self-service access to college administration and a portal are all being launched in summer 2009. A third phase of the project is anticipated to provide human resources, payroll and finance capabilities.

Paul Corcoran, director of corporate services, ECAE, commented:

"To prepare a new generation of high quality teachers and education leaders for the region we must leverage our current campus, prepare for the move to our new facilities, attract and retain the best faculty and deliver to our student teachers. PowerCAMPUS plays a key role in helping us to manage these important transitions while maintaining a high standard of service to our constituents. As we grow and develop, we are seeking to continually improve the way we work and provide the best possible learning environment for our students and staff."

ECAE partnered with the sole teacher training institute in Singapore, National Institute of Education, and Institute of Nanyang Technological University to pave the way for further exchanges of intellectual knowledge between its students and overseas counterparts. Faculty has been recruited globally to provide the latest best practices in teacher education.

The collaboration with SunGard Higher Education emphasizes the institution's commitment to providing state-of-the-art training and facilities that help set it apart as a teacher training institution. ECAE will play a key role in the modernization of school education in the UAE and throughout the Middle East by preparing a new generation of graduate teachers and educational leaders.

"SunGard Higher Education and Microsoft worked closely with ECAE executives to validate a vision they had for not only meeting their operational needs but also being able to integrate their systems to benefit students and faculty. The use of Microsoft technologies, such as SharePoint, within PowerCAMPUS will help ECAE integrate desktop environments, Web resources, the administrative and library systems, as well as future e-learning initiatives," said Mathew Boice, general manager, EMEA, SunGard Higher Education.

"We are pleased to see ECAE taking an active role within our growing regional PowerCAMPUS community, and sharing experiences with other PowerCAMPUS users from Europe and the U.S. The user group conference met recently at the Atlantis Hotel in Dubai. It is rewarding to see ECAE taking shape as the institution quickly establishes itself to deliver on the mission to prepare a new generation of Emirati teachers," Mr. Boice added.