Source: Times of Oman

Oman Technology Fund announced investment in the Distance Learning Centre smart educational platform called "Sana Electronic Platform".

This initiative harnesses scientific and technical capabilities in information technology in the field of e-learning and distance education and adapts it to serve higher education institutions inside and outside the Sultanate by providing the necessary and specialised expertise and skills.

This platform comes within the initiative of OMR1,000,000 from the Oman Technology Fund to overcome the challenges of the spread of coronavirus.

In light of the current conditions and the existing need of higher education institutions in the Sultanate to activate modern education systems that can keep pace with modern technologies using e-learning and distance education systems, so that they are scientifically and technically compatible with global standards recognised in these areas.

From this standpoint, the Sana platform came as a specialised electronic platform containing an integrated system for managing e-learning and distance education and producing digital courses. This platform aims to help various educational institutions, towards achieving an integrated interactive education from recorded lectures, virtual meetings, class activities and electronic tests compatible with academic quality standards.

Zeyad bin Talib Almawaly, the general supervisor of the “Sana electronic platform” said: “Sana electronic platform” came to be specialised to contain an integrated system for managing e-learning and distance education and producing digital courses, as it aims to help various educational institutions to achieve an integrated interactive education from registered lectures, live virtual encounters, class activities and electronic tests with the most appropriate smart solutions in line with international academic quality standards.

Almawaly indicated that the platform is the result of a partnership between the Endowment Fund for Distance Education of the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs and the Omani Fund for Technology.  As this partnership sought to use education systems live in the distance education center of the Endowment Fund for Education. It is worth noting that the center started its activity since 2013 as the first educational institution in the Sultanate to operate the e-learning system.