Lebanon/Closing of the "Accelerating the digital transition of higher education in the Middle East" project

The Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) has closed the project "Accelerating the digital transition of higher education in the Middle East", financed by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) and implemented by the AUF in Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine. The aim of the project was to prepare the beneficiary universities to undertake a digital transition on a rational and proven basis.

This 2-year project, carried out in conjunction with French diplomatic posts, has enabled 99 digital referents and 16 techno-pedagogues to be trained, 12 universities to be supported in the development of innovative teaching scenarios, 10 digital learning environments to be strengthened and 3142 teachers to be trained in the flipped classroom method.s to develop innovative teaching scenarios, strengthen 10 digital learning environments and train 3142 teachers in the flipped classroom method. The integration of digital pedagogical tools and methods in partner universities has led to large-scale improvements in the quality of online teaching. Teachers have diversified their teaching approaches, making learning more interactive and stimulating.

The advances attributable to the project are varied and significant. On a systemic level, it has triggered a movement of digital transformation within the beneficiary establishments, fostered by a dynamic community of practice, skills development and a spirit of emulation instilled by the AUF. The project encouraged participants to adopt a metacognitive approach, leading them to re-evaluate their current teaching methods both individually and at departmental level.

A large number of teachers were actively involved, constituting a critical mass essential to the project's success. In addition, a high level of teacher involvement was observed in the training and digital deployment processes. The project also enabled the creation of a large database of innovative teaching scenarios in Arabic, French and English, covering a range of disciplines.

At beneficiary school level, the scenarios developed and validated by AUF experts have been implemented and contextualized. Teachers' techno-pedagogical skills have been strengthened, and certain digital tools have been integrated into their teaching and assessment. A network of techno-pedagogical trainer referents has been created within the universities benefiting from the project. The project has also raised awareness of the importance of opening up teaching resources and scenarios for sharing and reuse, and of the importance of hybridization and pedagogical innovation through digital technology.

Collaboration between several departments and faculties has been initiated, helping to establish a culture of digital technology and pedagogical innovation. This has enabled students to strengthen their skills and autonomy in learning. Finally, the project has strengthened the technical infrastructure of some partner universities, supporting digital transformation within these establishments.

Finally, a key aspect of the project has been the large-scale deployment of the flipped classroom model in the 12 partner universities.

It has also strengthened the international openness of the participating universities.

The project resulted in large-scale transformations: 3302 open-source teaching scenarios developed; 178 training workshops organized; 3142 teachers trained in educational technologies at the project's 12 partner universities in Lebanon (Lebanese University, Université Wisdom, Islamic University of Lebanon), in Palestine (Al Aqsa University, An Najah National University, Birzeit University), and in Iraq (University of Baghdad of Baghdad, University of Anbar, University of Thi-Qar, University of Tikrit, University of Basra and University of Koufa).

The lessons learnt at the end of the project and the planned improvements are also significant. The project addressed open education, pedagogical innovation and hybridization in teaching. A number of lessons can be drawn from it, including the importance of mass training for trainers, the relevance of setting up an innovative process for scripting and deploying hybrid scenarios based on classrooms, and the need for a new approach.narios based on flipped classrooms, as well as some good practices for sharing open scenarios that can be deployed in different contexts across the region.

More specifically, the project demonstrated the importance of supporting teachers in the various phases of adopting the hybridization process.hybridization process, including the identification of training needs, the training of trainers, the production of pedagogical scenarios and the validation and deployment of the scenarios. The multilingual nature of the resources used (Arabic, French and English) was also a major asset. Double validation of the scenarios by the referents and by AUF experts guaranteed the quality of the scenarios to be shared.

The sustainability of the project's deliverables was ensured by the production of SPOCs on the flipped classroom in French and Arabic, as well as the design and sharing of open scenarios.

Source: www.auf.org/