Workshops and Training
The E-Learning Center offers a set of educational and training workshops for the University’s professors on how to use the blackboard system, as the Center periodically offers these workshops to keep up with the latest updates and developments in the system and to ensure professors’ and students’ greatest benefit. In addition to these training workshops, the E-Learning Center constantly produces educational videos that are necessary to explain the basics of using the Blackboard system to students and professors, as well as explaining the latest features that enter the system with its continuous updates. Also, the Center provides the necessary explanatory tools to provide a greater understanding of the system and solve any problems related to its use, and these methods include FAQ and written explanations, so that such information will always be at the reach of students and professors. Due to the circumstances related to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Center recently provided training workshops for remote professors on Blackboard and Blackboard Ultra system, which was specially installed to keep pace with the high demand for using the distance learning system during the pandemic.
Digitization Of Courses
Digitizing courses represents an important part of the center’s work. The Center started implementing its plan to digitize operating courses that university students are enrolled in, so students can directly benefit from content converted to a digital format, without the need of an instructor’s assistant. The instructor’s role revolves around following up on and managing the educational process, receiving and answering students’ questions, and evaluating students through online assignments and tests. This represents a major change in the traditional educational process, as well as students’ increasing dependence on modern technologies in receiving information, and instructors’ transition from a direct role in simply delivering information to bigger and more crucial roles.
The Center has recently succeeded in digitizing a bundle of main courses and university shared requirement courses that a large number of students enroll in every semester. The course lectures were videoed using advanced technologies available at the Center, and uploaded online, while the course instructors check in with the students and follow up on their work regularly through the system.
The e-Learning Center has digitized the four shared and university required courses, and produced around 150 video lectures, in addition to the digitization of six English (introductory) courses and production of 48 lectures.
Scientific experiments from both Colleges of Science and Engineering were digitized and 101 digital scientific experiments were produced.
Technical Support
The e-Learning Center provides students and instructors with online technical support, regarding all issues related to the use of the Blackboard system and distant learning, through several online tools, where many instructors benefited from these services provided by the Center, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Center launched a platform providing technical support to academic staff , to facilitate requesting technical support from the center’s specialists, to follow up on requests, and to provide a quick and quality service.
Launching programs to monitor electronic exams
Due to the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is crucial to study all solutions and programs used in monitoring online exams. To promote digital empowerment in the educational process, and to contribute to solving the problem of students being unable to attend examinations on university campus, in order to enable the continues of the educational process at the university and provide accurate and credible gradings and prevent cases of cheating.
The Center has launched 4 types of examination proctoring tools:
- Respondus LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor
- Respondus LockDown Browser and Microsoft Teams Live Proctoring
- Respondus LockDown Browser and Blackboard Collaborate Live Proctoring
- Respondus LockDown Browser with Live Proctoring
Blackboard Ally tool launched to improve accessibility of content on Blackboard
In order to enhance the learning management system’s capabilities, the Center launched a new e-learning tool to improve the level of access to content on the Blackboard and to make browsing content easier.
Blackboard Ally helps create a more inclusive learning environment, improves students’ experience by helping them have clear control over course content considering ease of use, accessibility, and quality.
It improves all students experience in general, and especially students of determination, by providing alternative formats that offer additional choices, flexibility, and assistance.
Inauguration of VR laboratories
The Center has prepared virtual reality laboratories equipped with the latest educational technologies and includes all that can contribute to creating a modern integrated digital learning environment that represents the model we aspire to be.
