Queen Rania Launches Arab Innovative Teachers Forum

June 27, 2007

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department - Amman) In her continuous efforts to promote original opportunities for the Kingdom's teachers and access to innovation in all classrooms, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah launched the Arab Innovative Teachers Forum. Over 150 teachers from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Qatar, the UAE and Tunisia came together to exchange experiences and best practices to learn how to develop a lesson plan using multimedia.

The forum, sponsored by Microsoft and its partners, including the Queen Rania Al Abdullah Award for Excellence in Education, the Ministry of Education and the Jordan Education Initiative (JEI), is part of a bigger Microsoft program called 'the Innovative Teachers Program' where teachers get the opportunity to undergo training by using technology in education.

Teachers had the opportunity to interact with each other online and download information form the Jordan Innovative Teachers Network (ITN) website launched virtually by Queen Rania in December 2006. ITN brings together a comprehensive collection of resources created for teachers by the most highly regarded organizations in the field of education.

Jordan has the second fully Arabized Innovative Teachers’ Network on the web where members are free to express opinions; conduct research; search for key information; access media-rich content; seek accreditation; explore curriculum materials; and personalize their experience.

Also at the forum were a number of international experts who provided teachers with training on essential skills such as team building and effective teamwork, how to integrate multimedia in education and the professional use of information technology in education.

Teachers who have demonstrated exceptional and innovative use of technology in education will also be recognized and rewarded at the forum.

Microsoft organizes the event annually, in different countries, with the objective of creating communities of teachers to share experiences and best practices with their peers, and facilitate the creation of collective knowledge around the use of technology in education.

Queen Rania is a strong supporter of advancing educational opportunities for both students and teachers in Jordan. Queen Rania has been a big supporter of the Jordan Education Initiative, which has gone global. She also launched the Queen Rania Award for Distinguished Teacher last year. Several recipients of the award attended the forum.