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Is it Time for the UAE to Expand Online Learning?

Over the past week I have been reading articles and studies on e-learning in the United States and the Middle East. This includes online student enrollment, Learning Management Systems (LMS) and the expansion of online corporate training in the Middle East.

This will be part one of a two-part series on e-learning. The first part will look at learning management systems and student enrollment.

Learning Management Systems

Based on my knowledge of the higher education market in the UAE, Blackboard continues to be the clear market leader for larger schools with Desire2Learn making gains and Moodle a favorite among smaller schools. In a few cases UAE universities have built their own Learning Management System. The majority of UAE approved schools have installed a LMS but are used only for supplemental or blended learning.

The United States is a much different story.  The chart below shows you the number of schools who have a LMS with a student enrollment of 800 and above.

Detailed 2014 LMS usage data for higher education institutions with > 800 enrollments (United States)
Detailed 2014 LMS usage data for higher education institutions with > 800 enrollments (United States)

Other platforms not currently used in the UAE include Canvas, and Sakai. Also the LMS market has been revitalized over the past few years and appropriately 40 additional platforms are installed at various higher education institutions. Blackboard is still the LMS leader but its market share is slowly eroding.

Of the 3296 higher education institutions in the US with enrollment of 800 and above, only 7% of the schools (2% of the total student enrollment) do not have a LMS and online programs.

Online Enrollment in the UAE and United States

In the United Arab Emirates exclusive online learning is less than 1% of the overall higher education enrollment. Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University with an enrollment of 731 is the only UAE university approved by the CAA to enrolled students exclusively in distance education courses.

According to the United States Department of Education 12.5% (2,642,000) of the 21 million higher education students enrolled in the fall of 2012 are students enrolled exclusively in distance education courses. This breaks down to 11% of the undergraduates (2,003,000) and 22% of the graduate students (639,000).

For-profit higher education institutions in the United States have a significant online population.  The report states 58% (675,000) of their undergraduate students are enrolled exclusively in distance education courses and 76.5% (226,000) of their graduate students. In other words 61% of the students attending four-year and above for-profit higher education institutions attend online. It is important to note the vast majority of these undergraduate students are above the age of 25 and second chance students. Many work full-time and are taking online classes part-time.

When you analyze non-profit state and private colleges and universities you see only 7% of the undergraduate students and 15% of the graduate students are enrolled exclusively in distance education courses.

Should the UAE expand its offerings of online degrees?

Most US schools whether proprietary or non-profit have 10 – 15 years of practical online teaching experience. Numerous surveys of senior higher education officials state the overall quality of online courses are equal to the face to face classes.

My view is the UAE should expand its online degree offerings but start with a limited number of institutions. The UAE Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA) needs to make sure online programs are of equal quality of face to face classes. The CAA should consider encouraging a group of well established private and federal institutions to offer Bachelors and Masters degree programs in subject areas such as Business, and Informational Technology. For undergraduates, focus online programs to encourage non-traditional students to return as part-time students by offering degrees using a combination of courses online and face to face. The programs would be conditionally sanctioned by the CAA as they now do with all new programs and after one or two graduation cycles determine if the programs are meeting the academic standards.

That is what I think and now I would like your opinion.  Should UAE higher education institutions be encouraged to offer online degree programs. If yes tell me why and what programs, if no give your thoughts why the UAE should avoid this practice.

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Starting a New Company: Trials, Tribulations, and Initial Success

Season’s greetings and a Happy New Year.

As we come to the end of 2014 and our first ninety days of operational existence as Edu Alliance Ltd., it seems like a good time to update our friends and supporters on our new venture.

On October 1st, Dr. Senthil Nathan, who recently retired after 21 years at Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) where he served as Deputy Vice Chancellor, and I formally incorporated Edu Alliance and established an office in the Masdar Free Zone on the campus of Masdar Institute.  We both completed our employment at our respective organizations; Senthil at HCT and myself at The United Arab Emirates Advanced National Research & Education Network (Ankabut).

In the month of September we spent a great deal of time wrapping up our current employment and finishing the business / legal and residency processes to establish our business entity.

Starting your own company in the Middle East is not like starting a LLC in the US, which seems to take about 10 minutes and not much money. In the UAE, which is more business friendly than many other countries in the region setting up in a Free Zone is the easiest route and lets you have direct 100% ownership of your company. Still, it’s a mountain of paperwork to fill out that must be approved by the Free Zone plus getting clearances from the government and establishing the bank you will use. Senthil and I did it in breakneck speed for out here, but the waiting time for final approval and getting your license can make your hair go gray, unless you are like me and already have white hair.

The next hurdle is getting your residency visa. This cannot start until your license and company has been approved. You must fill out more forms, clear security, take a physical, get your ID cards, and then wait. During this period if you are a personality like me you will conjure up all kinds of things that might go wrong ranging from filling out forms wrong or reconsidering why starting a business such a bright idea. However within thirty days of getting the business incorporated everything is approved and you quite worrying they are going to put you on a plane to Louisville, Kentucky.     

During October we didn’t spend all of our time getting visa’s and legal documents We also began setting up initial meetings with a selected group of supporters and a targeted group of potential clients beginning in early November.

We held our first of introductory meetings with presidents of three universities in the UAE to introduce, Edu Alliance.  We were pleased to get an immediate request to submit a proposal in our very first meeting with a university in the UAE. Within a few days the proposal was accepted, and a formal contract awarded. The project commenced in mid-November and was completed in early December.

ECT web shotThe first client was Emirates College of Technology, based in the UAE with well over 2,000 students enrolled in its programs. They commissioned Edu Alliance to help develop in-house capacity for market research. This objective was accomplished through two customized, evidence driven and locally relevant workshops in close coordination with the university’s institutional research division. We helped create relevant templates and processes for new program proposals based on market research.

Our second client was KPMG in the GCC. We were appointed as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) – in work related to universities, colleges and schools.   As you know, KPMG is one of the largest professional services companies in the world (one of the Big Four consulting / audit firms), which has offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. In November, we provided for KPMG advisory service / organizational review for a major chain of K-12 schools and in December an internal audit and academic review of a leading UAE research university.  

During the run up and the past 90 days, we also established an Advisory Board, which currently is composed of 10 renowned international experts in areas related to higher education, research and human capital development. They bring their breadth of knowledge and experience gained through years of professional involvement of knowledge of the United Arab Emirates, Gulf Regions and as well as in the international settings. You can visit our website at http://www.edu-alliance.net/our-team/advisors/ to see who they are. We are fortunate to have such people who believe in us and the work we are doing.

We believe the initial success of the first ninety days confirms Edu Alliance is offering quality services the education community believes are important for their planning and future success.

We are arranging meetings to introduce ourselves to a number educational institutions throughout the UAE and GCC over the next few months. If you would like us to come and visit with you to discuss how we may be of service to your organization please email or call me.

Senthil and I thank you for your support and belief in us. We ask that you continue to be our advocates and make introductions on potential clients. Also we welcome any thoughts on how we can expand business and branding.  Feel free to write or call either one of us. 

Once again, Season’s Greetings and a very Happy New Year.