A research report on
social media trends in Arab area in 2013 was released in an effort to
understand the growing role of social media in various aspects of the lives of
Arab citizens in 2014, including education, to coincide with the Arab Media
Forum at its thirteenth session under the theme- The future of media starts today -, which
focused on the reality of social media in the Arab world until the end of 2013
and using it as a source of news in the Arab world, and its impact on Arab education.
The report launched
by the Governance and Innovation Program at the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of
Government’s in collaboration with Dubai Press Club titled-a look at social media in the Arab
world 2014, and provided basic information about social networking platforms in
the region in order to contribute to the formulation of better policies,
the studies are aimed at corporate
governance and innovation program to analyze the role that can be played by
social networking platforms, in sharing knowledge and innovation through supporting
participation between governments and citizens, this partnership reflects the importance of the
contribution of scientific research in formulating public policies based on
stable foundations, and linking science to practice in a world of rapid change
and spread of information, the report also addressed the impact of social media
on lifelong learning in the region.
The Governance and
Innovation Program at the School has conducted a regional survey of some 4,000
participants, which monitored public perceptions about the quality of education
in the region, and the use of technology and social media in the classrooms
throughout the various levels of education, and dropping out of education because of conflicts and political
tensions, as well as views on education reform.
According to the
study, education is one of the areas that have seen dependence on social media
in the presence of a large number of Arab users, social media has become a
major tool for innovation and collaboration in education, which led to the emergence of new
concepts such as social learning, and open online courses, to enable students,
teachers and educational institutions to rely on social media tools to create
innovative methods in education and capacity building, and knowledge transfer
in the Arab region.
Respondents agreed
on the need to integrate social media into educational reform on two levels, as
a tool in education and in educational initiatives, and as a tool of
participatory engagement in policy making of educational issues, the study found that the overall access
to the Internet and technology provided by the Government and the private
sector is one of the key issues of educational reform.
22/05/2014