TVET and E-Learning Conference in Amman

On 12-13 October 2009, a conference entitled "Challenges of TVET in Arab Countries – Innovation through E-Learning" was held in Amman, Jordan.

Around 135 experts from 13 Arab and European countries participated in the conference, which was organized by InWEnt – Capacity Building International, together with the European Training Foundation (ETF), UNESCO-UNEVOC, and partner organisations from Egypt (Productivity and Vocational Training Department) and Jordan (Vocational Training Corporation).

In his opening speech, His Excellency Mr. Ghazi Shbeikat, Minister of Labour of Jordan, emphasized the need for labour market orientation of vocational training to fight the high rate of unemployment in Jordan. He pointed out the important role of information and communication technologies (ICT) and e-learning play in this regard.

Dr. Luiz Ramalho, Director of the Department of Sustainable Development of InWEnt, highlighted the successful cooperation between InWEnt and the private sector and stressed the importance of integrating issues of sustainability into TVET systems.

During the conference, the Internet-based “TVET-Portal – The Arab Gate to TVET” was launched. This portal was developed and implemented by participants of a long-term InWEnt training programme that took place in Germany. The portal is in Arabic and English and aims to support TVET professionals (managers, teachers, instructors, etc.) in all Arab countries. It offers a variety of relevant information as well as possibilities for discussion and communication amongst its users.

In plenary and working group sessions during the conference, multiple issues concerning the implementation of e-learning in TVET were discussed, including e-didactics, open source software, teacher training and many others.

During the session on "Enhancing Regional and International Cooperation through Learning Communities/Communities of Practice", a representative of UNESCO-UNEVOC introduced the UNEVOC e-Forum and the TVETipedia portal.

Links

Conference Website (http://www.tvet-portal.net/conference/)
Arab TVET Portal (http://www.tvet-portal.net)

Photo: (c) InWEnt Germany