Participants during an academic forum organised by CCQ.
Doha: The Community College of Qatar (CCQ) has launched a new vision in education under the slogan “Toward a Learning Ecosystem for Educational Excellence.”
The initiative aims at building and developing students’ social and intellectual skills practically to employ in the daily life and learning experience, thus raising the level of academic achievement of students and encouraging them to be creative and effective in the community.
This came during an academic forum, which concluded its activities at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel yesterday, including a workshop. It was moderated by Dr. Mahmoud AlMadhoun, Head of Teaching & Learning Centre and Assistant Professor at the Management Department at the CCQ and Dr. Brad Johnson, Academic Manager, Department of Applied and Experiential Learning at the University of Doha for Science and Technology, with a wide participation from both parties.
Dr. Mariam Al Hammadi, Vice-President for Academic and Student Affairs & Dean of Liberal Art Division, in her opening speech, said: “The Learning Ecosystem for Educational Excellence is based on building a comprehensive relationship between the learner, curricula and the learning culture, faculty members and the community in an environment where digital technology plays an essential role, to achieve effective communication and integration between all parties in a more efficient and effective manner to empower learners and leads them to success, while establishing the concept of lifelong learning.”
She said that this new vision “toward a Learning Ecosystem for Educational Excellence” comes at a time when Qatar has topped the list of Arab countries in the World Education Quality Index issued by the World Economic Forum in Davos 2021, as the digital developments in the world today help us provide opportunities for learning anytime anywhere to meet 21st century learners’ needs and demands of individuals.
Dr. Mariam Al Hammadi
Al Hammadi said, “The Community College of Qatar, through professional development planning, does not focus only on digital technology as a tool.
However, those in charge of preparing and implementing these plans play the role of a strategic partners in cooperation with all academic divisions and relevant departments as well as all stakeholders to make a qualitative leap in the application of factors for excellence in education, namely learner-centred education, technology-enhanced learning, pioneering education, experiential education, and education based on scientific research which constitute the basis for the academic professional development.”
She announced that the Community College of Qatar will adopt two factors for excellence in education in the current academic year, namely: learner-centred education, and technology-enhanced learning to achieve an added value for students, society, and institutions in the Qatari labour market. The Vice-President also extended thanks to the administration of Doha University of Science and Technology for their cooperation and participation in the launch of this new vision.
The accompanying workshop witnessed a wide range of extensive discussions on the concept of learner-centred learning, learning strategies and pedagogies, and strategies for teaching and learning technologies.
Other topics included planning for a roadmap to educational excellence and exploring ways to shift the focus of the teaching process from the teacher to the learner, whether by teaching skills and basics to learn a particular subject or a specific course, or by focusing on skills and practices that encourage a lifelong learning. This is in addition to helping the learner develop the skill of solving problems independently and think soundly to contribute to building the community, in a team environment.
