Wednesday 18 / September / 2024
Muscat: The Ministry of Education, represented by the Directorate-General of Curricular Development, launched the second phase of the Educational Tools Convoy Initiative ‘Innovation and Communication.’
The initiative is for innovating educational tools that aim to encourage creativity and innovation amongst the cadre in the educational field through developing low-cost programmes that enable teachers to improve their educational means specifications and technical quality to achieve ideal learning in all its aspects.
The main committee supervising the initiative has prepared a timeline to implement the plan.
The initiative has been announced and target schools have been informed to submit their initial works during the period from 20 to 24 of October.
The final evaluation will conclude in November 7. The implementation of exhibitions and accompanying events will be during the month of November and December in three stops that include five governorates. The first stop will be in North Al Sharqiyah Governorate with the participation of schools from the North And South Al Sharqiyah Governorates. The second stop will be in Dhofar Governorate with the participation of Al Wusta and Dhofar Governorates.
The third and final stop will be in Musandam Governorate with the participation of the Governorate’s schools. The first phase of the initiative was held last year in the Governorates of: Muscat, North and South Al Batinah, Al Buraimi, Al Dakhiliyah, and Al Dhahirah.
Dr. Sultan Al Kindi, Assistant Director-General for Educational Resources at the Directorate-General of Curricular Development and Head of the Main Committee, clarified that the idea of the initiative stems from the importance of educational tools and their profound impact on the elements of the educational process (teacher, learner and educational material); to highlight the innovations of schools in educational tools, to achieve the principle of communication and cooperation between educational tools specialists, teachers and students, and to exchange experiences and review observations and suggestions in addition to finding innovative ways to develop educational tools between the various educational directorates in the governorates.
The initiative includes organising a mobile exhibition of educational tools in the governorates that includes a display of the most important productions of the ministry in educational tools and highlighting the innovation of the educational field in the various subjects, along with implementing many accompanying activities.
The Assistant Director-General stressed that the initiative focuses on developing educational tools to enhance teachers’ abilities to employ technology in educational situations in innovative and effective ways. It seeks to develop teachers’ innovation and creativity skills through specialised workshops accompanying each station, where teachers’ creativity in the field of educational tools is displayed.
This effort comes within the framework of achieving the educational goals included in Oman Vision 2040, by building an advanced and comprehensive educational environment that responds to future challenges and supports the development of future skills among both teachers and students.
The main committee has set incentives for the winners, including cash prizes. The most prominent works submitted by the schools will be selected for development, production, and distribution to the governorates of the Sultanate. The committee set conditions for the initiative, including Participation is limited to teachers only, with only one work per participant, and the work being submitted must be related to the Omani educational curricula at its various stages.
Criteria have also been set for preparing the participating means, including technical specifications so that they are easy to use in the educational situation and have an element of suspense and motivation for learners, as well as an element of modernity, security, and safety. As for the scientific specifications, works must be related to the methodological objectives of the educational materials and have an element of innovation in implementation and be suitable for the age group they serve.
The initiative enjoys the support of a number of companies and institutions within the framework of community partnership to support educational projects, namely: Be’ah, Oman International Development and Investment Company (Ominvest), Oman LNG, Rukn Al Khaleej, Nizwa Office Supplies and Stationery and Tilal Al Wariyah Company.
