Culture & Education | Sunday 29 March, 2020 9:56 am |

Pearson Middle East, the world’s leading learning company has introduced a range of e-learning tools to support the education ecosystem and help academic institutions counter the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. With the government’s directive to close schools and universities forcing classroom training to come at a grinding halt, parents, educators and students are now looking at innovative online tools, which can help them keep up with their studies.

 

For the above reason, Pearson Middle East is offering free access to its online learning platforms such as bilArabi and ActiveLearn for the K-12 segment and two-week free access to MyLab and Mastering platforms solution for Higher-Ed educators and learners with an aim to support their prompt transition to e-learning and provide rational, cost-effective means to widen educational opportunities.

 

Allowing students to learn remotely and at their own pace, Pearson’s bilArabi and ActiveLearn offer a holistic learning experience for students with a combination of advanced technology and world class engaging content. The good thing about ActiveLearn is that the nature of home learning is very much designed for the age of the child: whether it is a Grade 12 student studying independently from their International A level e-book, or a Grade 1 learner playing an interactive maths game on ActiveLearn Primary: the aim here isn’t just to provide access to content at home, but to ensure it captures their attention and cements the learning. 

 

Additionally, since Arabic language learning in schools hasn’t always been best served by the latest pedagogies or technologies, a platform like bilArabil gives learners at home a fun and engaging way to keep their Arabic language learning going, alongside the inevitable focus on the core of English, mathematics and science.

 

For the Middle East Higher Education segment, Pearson Middle East launched the #InItTogether campaign that keeps adding new content and resources every week in response to the evolving situation to support continuing teaching, learning and assessment away from campus. Launched four weeks ago, it started promptly offering two weeks' free access to MyLab and Mastering platforms for any professor and his/her students in addition to a series of live webinars to fast track virtual classrooms, share other professors' best practices in assessment and teaching online and more. 

 

This week, for example, will be dedicated to the HE students on how to manage their life at home, studying and investing in themselves and also to educators inspiring them to continue to manage their classes remotely and keep students engaged. The intention is to share different experiences across the education ecosystem and hopefully help all stakeholders enhance and optimize their approaches and continue to be curious, focusing on what matters: learning.

 

This is obviously an unprecedented situation for all schools, universities, academic institutions, educators, parents and above all, learners. Therefore, it is essential to embrace e-learning tools & digital platforms that can support and facilitate increased engagement, personalized learning and can also combat the ripple effects of the pandemic on students’ learning and progress.