The ‘Be an Online Tutor in 24 Hours’ programme has been made available in English, Russian, French, Spanish and Arabic.

Imran Mojib, Special Correspondent

The Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (HBMSU), in strategic cooperation with the Unesco Institute for Information Technologies in Education (Unesco IITE), has launched the electronic crash course ‘Be an Online Tutor in 24 Hours’ and made it available in five international languages, English, Russian, French, Spanish and Arabic.

The cooperation looks towards enabling the teaching and training of academic professionals in the language of their own countries to efficiently help make a seamless shift in the distance learning model of teaching with full efficiency. The HBMSU online course was launched recently in a response to the urgent need to employ mechanisms using smart technology to provide education for all, especially in lieu of the current global crisis caused by the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

The course, in Russian, French and Spanish, was prepared following the productive partnership between HBMSU and Unesco IITE. The free course, which lasts for four hours, provides the necessary training needed for the teaching staff and academics from various educational levels based on several modules, including ‘Online Learning Technology Landscape,’ ‘E-learning management tools,’ ‘Communication tools’ and ‘Creation Tools.’ Anyone interested can register for the course by visiting the link https://futureskills.hbmsu.ac.ae/ where they can create an account after providing the essential information needed. Registrants will receive an automatic email to confirm registration and begin the training online.

The ‘Be an Online Tutor in 24 Hours’ course, available for free to all, is widely recognised as part of the proactive efforts of the UAE to promote distance learning as one of the most ideal platforms to ensure continuity in the learning process in light of rapid global changes.