JEDDAH, 4 January 2007 — Students of King Abdul Aziz University (KAAU) will be able to meet their professors online face to face while they are at their homes watching their computer screens beginning this spring semester.
Professors will assign office hours to have interactive online sessions with students who have any inquiries, while they are behind their desks at the university. Students will be able to access these sessions by logging in to the university’s website.
The computers will have cameras in order for the students to see their professors and have video conversations with them to discuss their courses in case they have any questions. The system has already been implemented at KAAU’s colleges of Arts & Human Sciences and Administration & Economics.
The online interaction will also include interactive quizzes where the computer detects the mistakes and corrects them.
Tarik Hamdi, dean of distance learning at KAAU, said the system is expected to benefit distance-learning students the most, because they will be able to interact with their professors in a real-time environment, receiving assignments and taking online quizzes.
Special Ed Program
The university will begin offering post-graduate diplomas in special education this semester. “There is a high demand for this major as the Education Ministry works to incorporate disabled students into the educational system,” said Aziza Al-Taib, deputy supervisor of KAAU’s post-graduate programs.
The coursework includes different areas of specialization: gifted and talented, learning disabilities, behavioral disorders and autism, mental retardation and hearing impaired learning. Interested students must hold at least bachelor’s degrees from an accredited college of education. There are six professors so far in the women’s department who will teach courses in special education.
The program requires three semesters of studying with a total tuition of SR19,200. The application deadline for the 2007 academic year is Jan. 12.
