85 Papers Discussed at The Sixth ECONF
85 Papers Discussed at The Sixth ECONF
President of UOB: Digital Transformation Has Become A Priority and A Necessity
The President of the University of Bahrain (UOB), Prof. Riyad Yousif Hamzah, confirmed that e-learning has become a priority for the survival of higher education institutions, according to many international reports, indicating that digital transformation is not an option in the era of the fourth industrial revolution, but rather a necessity.
This came during a speech he made yesterday (Sunday) during the opening of the Sixth International E-Learning Conference (ECONF) organized by UOB in cooperation with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) with the participation of experts and researchers from 40 countries.
Moreover, Prof. Riyad Hamzah stated that “We firmly believe that all higher education institutions and research centers must realize that a new era has just begun, an era characterized fundamentally by new capabilities for learning and communication due to modern technologies, as millions of people are connected by mobile devices with unprecedented processing, storage capacity, and access to knowledge,” noting that “ these capabilities will be doubled through technical development in areas such as artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of things, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials sciences, energy storage, cloud computing, and others. ”
Furthermore, he added, "We are confident that the University will continue to advance through e-learning, the intensive use of information and communication technology, the continuous production of knowledge and the embrace of twenty-first-century skills, especially innovation, creativity, problem-solving, flexibility and entrepreneurship."
Also, Prof. Hamzah said, "We will continue to support our students to become global competitors ready to achieve the highest levels of competitiveness in all economic sectors."
The conference was held through visual communication technology and lasted for two days, with the participation of 300 researchers, experts, and technicians in the fields of distance learning, teaching methods and learning technologies from about 40 countries in the world.
Also, it’s worth mentioning that the conference was organized by the Deanship of Postgraduate Studies and Scientific Research and it discussed 85 research papers on several topics, including sustainable higher education, learning at home and workplaces, distance education, co-education, return on investment on distance learning, e-learning models and theories, learning management systems, information literacy, and ethical issues in e-learning.
For his part, the Dean of Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, Dr. Mohammed Redha Qadir stressed that " After all that we have gone through, e-learning has currently confirmed its position as a vital strategic tool that has sufficient potential to achieve sustainability, whether in the educational, administrative or economic dimension."
Moreover, he said that the educational process continues as efficiently and effectively as we really want,” pointing out to the students’ wonderful efforts to learn at home. As nearly the whole world works from home these days, and in many cases, it is proving to be a very productive and effective method, especially in terms of cost.
The conference sessions were held on its second day, yesterday (Monday – 7 December 2020), within three periods of six simultaneous sessions, before the activities of the international event were concluded with discussion sessions for case studies from different countries.
Sustainable Development Goals:
(4) Quality education.
(11) Sustainable cities and communities.
(17) Partnerships for the goals.
Keywords
University of Bahrain, e-learning, the sixth international e-learning conference, digital transformation, the era of the fourth industrial revolution, global growth, COVID-19, students’ right to sustainable quality education
