CAIRO: Students in Egypt can now enjoy digital online learning with the launch of the award-winning skoool.com.eg, a multimedia website with multi-device learning solutions. The launch of skoool.com in Egypt is part of the Egyptian Education Initiative and will be rolled out in schools across Egypt. The digital education platform is developed and produced by the Intel Innovation Center, and has been localized and translated into Arabic by Edu Systems International (ESI). This week, Intel and ESI together celebrated the launch of skoool.com.eg in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, along with Dana Gas, Mansour and Mobinil, who sponsor the initiative. "Skoool sets a great example of partnership between the private sector and the public sector, which is represented in the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, said Khaled Elamrawi, Intel's general manager in Egypt, Levant and North Africa. Hassan El Kalla, chairman of ESI, explained that the launch of skoool in Egypt is part of an ongoing cooperation between ESI and the Ministry of Education, in which several factors have been considered, mainly students' ability to download the available content, "as we know many people in Egypt cannot afford to stay online for a long period. Approximately 3 million students worldwide annually use the learning and teaching technology of skoool. The Intel initiative brings students and teachers innovative, interactive and exciting learning resource; and is available in 25 countries in seven different languages. Skoool is built on a library of multi-media resources for mathematics and science teaching and learning. Its content is instructional, interactive and collaborative and includes multimedia, text, audio and visual content. In addition, it uses open-ended tools to encourage students to explore beyond the educational content, according to Gerard Smyth, from Intel Ireland, Skoool World-Wide Implementation. "Providing local e-content to students at a young age underpins the need for students to have access to the right tools at their fingertips at an early age. The skoool.com.eg platform offers math and science modules tailored to the Egyptian curriculum, and can greatly benefit all students and schools in the country by providing excellent teaching standards, said Salah Elewa, director of technology development center at the Ministry of Education. Skoool currently includes the content of grades six through eight but it will add three other grades within months. By the end of two years, it aims to be the largest online education forum in Egypt. The content was translated into Arabic and localized. "We have to localize the content in order to preserve our culture and heritage, said Hoda Baraka, director of the Egyptian Education Initiative (EEI), deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technology. "Education alone is not enough, it has to come hand-in-hand with technology [.] with what is happening [now], the global economic crisis, the educational system has to be adaptive; flexibility and adaptability is the future [of education] and skoool is a platform for that, she said. Baraka also said that educational content is needed for high school and for children from ages zero to six years old. Baraka was awarded the UNESCO 2008 award for the use of ICT in education this week. The UNESCO King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Prize for the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Education, said Baraka, is a result of collective efforts on the part of the Ministries of Education, Communication and Information Technology as well as a number of private contributors. Baraka said the award "is a recognition of Egypt's efforts in the field of information and communication technologies and education among international countries. Two recipients were chosen by an international jury, which met in Bahrain, out of 67 projects from 47 UNESCO member states and observers. Baraka was also chosen "for her leadership in the implementation of several national information and communication technology projects in education, according to UNESCO's website. The prize will be presented at a ceremony in UNESCO's headquarters in Paris on Jan. 14, 2009.
