E-learning emerges as fastest growing learning tool

According to recent research conducted by the Dubai based Madar Research Group, the market is expected to grow at a compound average growth rate (CAGR) of 32 per cent. The growth in the e-learning market will cover content providers, technology providers and service providers to e-learning initiatives of the country's public and education sectors, as well as the corporate learning programmes of large corporations.

With the objective of tapping into this vibrant market, global and regional e-learning providers will present their solutions at the 16th Gulf Education and Training Exhibition (GETX) to be held from April 20 to 23, 2004 at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre.

"The UAE academic sector represents a substantial market for e-learning, from secondary to Higher education levels. While most people equate eLearning with a way of accessing courses online, the fact is that e-learning started to make inroads into the academic world with the increasing use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) at the classroom level," said Anselm Godinho, Managing Director, IC&E, organisers of GETX. "In the early days, computer laboratories were mostly used for practical work in IT courses. However, the easier accessibility of the internet, coupled with an internet savvy generation of students, brought with it the use of ICT in student activities centred on every conceivable study course."

"Today, networked classrooms, online learning content, virtual classrooms and asynchronous learning are revolutionising both the way learning is delivered and the process of continual education that keeps corporate executives, as well as busy home makers within the learning loop, late into their lives," added Godinho. "The merits of eLearning are clearly visible in the corporate world, where the ability to save precious financial resources by not having to fly in expert trainers from distant locations, or inversely send out employees to external training locations, has encouraged many corporations to invest time and resources into employee training via e-learning channels."

In the field of higher education, the majority of centres of higher education in the UAE are offering some degree of eLearning in their course content. The Learning Management Systems course of the American University of Dubai (AUD) contains course modules that can be accessed by students remotely, at the same time providing them with a virtual work experience. Another exhibitor at GETX, the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management was the first hospitality business school in the region to offer its students eLearning courses to supplement their classroom instruction. All students at the academy are provided with laptop computers, connected through a wireless broadband network, which provides them with access to complete online courses and modules, as well as access to library resources and the Internet.

Moving into the next phase of complete e-learning solutions, the first completely virtual university in the Middle East region opened its doors in Syria on September 2, 2002. Initiating Virtual Education in the Middle-East, the Syrian Virtual University (SVU) was founded by the Syrian Ministry of Higher Education, to provide students with World-Class University Studies at home, in all the professional sectors. The University offers a wide range of virtual associate, undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes, the content for which is provided by leading global centres of academic excellence including University of Cambridge, the UK Open University, the University of Manchester in the UK and the Washington State University amongst others from the USA. SVU also offers a set of undergraduate and post-graduate Certificate programs, as well as Professional Short Courses made available through some of the finest universities worldwide.

With ambitious expansion plans to recruit students from across the entire Middle East, SVU will showcase its courses at the 16th GETX. It will be a homecoming of sorts, as SVU was established by Dubai based Universal Knowledge Solutions, the company hired by the Syrian Ministry of Higher Education to provide technical know-how and the technical management of the virtual university.

"Delivering e-learning content effectively and efficiently to schools is essential to ensure that advantages of online learning can be realised. Online publishers, for example, now understand that having the right technology for rich media delivery is a fundamental element of their offering and unless it is very high performance and trouble-free, it will fail," said Godinho. "This is perhaps the single most important reason that at 45 per cent of the market share, e-learning delivery solutions have captured the largest share of the e-learning market in the UAE. This is almost three times the world average of 16 per cent of the global e-learning market. This is also comparatively a much higher share of the UAE e-learning market, as compared to the 26 per cent share taken by content providers and 29 per cent taken by e-learning services."

On the technology end of the e-learning spectrum, a Swiss company, Riga Consulting Technologies, through its Middle East representatives Linx Trading, will be presenting the eSchooldesk for the networked classroom. The solution incorporates ICT hardware, software such as Microsoft and Junglebyte, as well as structural aspects of networking the classroom. With a view to tapping the potential of the market in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent, Riga Consulting Technologies have already appointed three partners in the region. Of these, the Hassani Group covers the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Yemen, Iran, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Al Zamil Group covers Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait. The Maani Group covers Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon. Iraq is the common market for all the partners.