Edraak outreach spreads regionally as online course subscriptions reach 1m mark

AMMAN — One million students from the Arab world have subscribed to the massive open online course platform Edraak, Queen Rania Foundation (QRF) CEO Haifa Atia said on Sunday.

Atia explained that the platform has so far provided 58 free online courses in Arabic, in the fields of science technology, engineering, mathematics, labour market skills, entrepreneurship and education, among others, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Edraak was established in 2014 as an initiative of Her Majesty Queen Rania to ensure that the Arab world is at the forefront of educational innovation, according to www.edraak.org. 

Edraak developed these courses through partnerships with local and regional universities, in addition to cooperation with Arab experts in several fields, Atia added.

She highlighted the importance of enhancing the role of Arab experts and intellectuals in producing high-quality products that enrich Arabic content on the Internet, which does not exceed 3 per cent of total online content.

Edraak CEO Shirin Yaqoub said Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Jordan are at the forefront of using the platform, noting that Edraak managed to reach refugees through partnerships with organisations that work at camps, Petra added. 

QRF has capitalised on regional Arab talent to leverage technology developed by the Harvard-MIT consortium, edX, to create the first non-profit Arabic massive open online course platform.

Arab university professors and regional experts can use the platform to give courses in English about the region and its history. This will serve to inform a global audience that is interested in the region’s development, according to the website.