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Al Rawi reflects the mission of the Higher Colleges of Technology which arededicated to the delivery of technical and professional programs of the highest quality to the students within the context of sincere respect for allbeliefs and values.
Graduates of the Colleges will have the linguistic ability to function effectively in an international environment, the technical skills to operate in an increasingly complex technological world, the intellectual capacity to adaptto constant change, and the leadership potential to make the fullest possiblecontribution to the development of the community for the good of all its people.
From the bright day back in 1990 that I first walked into my
new offices at the Higher Colleges of Technology, I have
greatly enjoyed my work here. But now it is time to say to my
colleagues and the readers of Al Rawi: a very fond farewell.
The honour of working for His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan
Mabarak Al Nahayan, embracing his dreams, projects and
sense of discipline, these have given me a deep respect for
higher education in this country. Sheikh Nahayan’s own
respect for other cultures and beliefs and his ability to listen to
people from many backgrounds and points of view, have
helped me to grow and develop over the years as a
communicator and educator.
At the time I decided to announce my retirement,
I appreciated Sheikh Nahayan’s kind understanding that, for
now, personal and family commitments have to take
precedence over my desire to serve the HCT longer in my
capacity as Director of Community Relations and Manpower
Development. I am very proud to have been a part of the
development of the HCT as one of the leading institutions in
the Gulf Region.
The HCT is and always will be a major part of my personal
and professional career. Forever fixed in my memory are the
many HCT successes, ceremonies, events, conferences,
seminars and media occasions, and the wonderful, talented
people associated with them. Even in my new business life,
I trust I will meet many HCT people at future events and
functions. HCT is “in my blood” and I’ll continue to be
accessible to students, faculty and others in the community
who wish to share my memories and experiences here.
Adieu, Farewell, Maa’ As-salamah, and so many thanks - to
His Excellency and to all the vice chancellors, college
directors, administrative staff, faculty and, above all, the
students across the UAE who have contributed to my
wonderful 15 years in this dynamic educational community.
Sulaiman Al Jassim
Welcome...and Goodbye!
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A globalthinker
brings hisworld view
to HCTAnnual
Conference
Kishore Mahbubani
By Mary Gillis
Focusing as this issue of Al Rawi doeson HCT’s global links and connections,we had the opportunity at the AnnualConference to interview a highlydistinguished world figure with a wideexperience as a philosopher, historian,diplomat, writer and academic: KishoreMahbubani, Dean, Lee Kuan YewSchool of Public Policy in Singapore. Inthe UAE to sign a four-party agreementbetween the Lee Kuan Yew School, PSBCorporation of Singapore, the HigherColleges of Technology and the UAEMinistry of Planning and the Economy,Mr Mahbubani was a keynote speakerat HCT’s Annual Conference. Hisexperience as an internationalist inpublic service and as a best-sellingauthor, permitted him to present to hisaudience of HCT faculty,administrators, senior governmentfigures and business supporters ofhigher education, a sweeping view ofthe place of higher education,economics and strategic thinking in thedevelopment of the UAE as a player onthe world stage and in a globaltechnology-driven environment.
We asked Mr Mahbubani to expand onsome of the ideas he expressed at theAnnual Conference and in two recent,widely-read and provocative books thathave much relevance to some of theissues currently facing educators,economists and social strategists inthe UAE: Can Asians Think?: thestruggle of Asian societies to thrive inthe modern world; and Beyond the Ageof Innocence: rebuilding trust betweenAmerica and the world.
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Al Rawi: In your book, Can Asians Think? you posit thatAsians’ efforts to “rediscover” their values involve acomplex set of motives and aspirations including what youdescribe as a desire to reconnect to their historical past, aneffort to raise their children both in a technological worldand in their ancestral cultures, and an effort to establishtheir own social, national and personal identities. Thisseems to describe some of the main issues facing leadersand strategists in the UAE today. Before we explore thatidea further, could you explain what you mean by thequestion, “can Asians think”?
K. Mahbubani: It’s important to know that I’m not asking this
question about individual Asians in terms of limited thinkingabilities! As a historian I look at societal change and pose thequestion in terms, not of days, weeks, months, even years ordecades, but often from a time scale of centuries. In the pastfew centuries, Europe and North America have carried thelarger share of the global burden in advancing humancivilisation. Yet by the year 2050, Europeans and North Asianforces in a global economy, societies like China, India, otherAsian cultures, are adopting some Western economics-driveneducational and societal values, but it seems many of thesenations want to hold on to their own traditional family andtribal mores and values.
Looking back to the year 998, Chinese and Arab civilisationsled the way in science and technology, medicine andastronomy, while Western Europe was in a state ofcomparative chaos, with classic Greco-Roman culture andknowledge mostly silent and hidden in a few monasteries and
families. In the “dark ages” of European civilisation, Asiancultures were thriving up through the 15th Century. No onecould have predicted then that it would be European thinkingthat would come to dominate the globe in terms of science,technology and economics.
So, apart from looking at the incredible rise in economicperformance of East Asian societies in the past two decades,I also look back to the knowledge and culture that flourishedand were maintained within Islamic and other Asian culturesand that are still stamped on what I call “Asian values” andthat may shape learning and economics in our global future.Whether and how Asian thinking will influence education andeconomics globally in the foreseeable future remains to be seen.
So how does this affect what may be happening in the UAEright now?
The first challenge in the development of any society iseconomic. The economic successes we’ve seen in East Asiahold hope for societies in the Islamic world. And it won’t be aone-way street where East Asian economic successtranslates into what is happening in Arab societies _ thespeed of modernisation within Arab cultures is beingundertaken with a strong sense that traditional Islamic valuescan be maintained. East Asian cultures can look to how thismay be achieved in Arab societies such as the UAE, wherechildren are free to be raised in a technological world, withpride in maintaining their own set of ancestral beliefs and values.
HE Sheikh Nahayan, HCT Chancellor, greets Kishore Mahbubani at the opening of the 2005 Annual Conference.
The true test of the viability and validity of values is shown inpractice - not in theory! The key question is will Asian mindsbe able to develop the right blend of values that will preservesome of the traditional strengths of Asian values, attachmentto the family as an institution, deference to society above theindividual, thrift, conservatism in social mores, respect forauthority _ while embracing some of the strengths of Westernvalues, such as individual achievement, political and economicfreedom, and respect for the rule of law?
So is a technology-based educational system the way tomaintain that balance, amidst the tension of what can beconflicting societal and religious values?
You need a strong technological base to develop in a globalenvironment. As you develop economically, you succeed.Education is always the key and the more education isstressed in a population, the stronger becomes the country inevery way.
Coming to the UAE, I see the enthusiasm for education as themost encouraging thing for the future of this country on theworld stage.
What else has impressed you about the UAE?
In terms of economic development, I see the UAE as forgingahead _ Dubai of course changes with dazzling speed! I havebeen impressed in Abu Dhabi by the maintenance of ahealthy, planned urban environment. In terms of education, ofcourse, the UAE and other Gulf countries could do more tobuild a stronger base of primary and secondary technologicaleducation to prepare students for colleges and universitiesboth here and abroad _ I’m contrasting this to our experiencein Singapore.
Do you think it important that graduates andundergraduates receive training abroad?
Educational excellence is an essential prerequisite for culturalconfidence. Students need to know that they cannot getgood grades in an exam by luck _ it requires intelligence andhard work. We have numerous studies showing that EastAsians have an impressive academic performance in leadingWestern universities as well as at their home universities.
Educational excellence is the challenge for all countrieshoping to succeed in a global, technology-driven environment_ this country is no exception and the more UAE leaders inbusiness, government and academe press this point, thebrighter the prospects for its citizens.
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Kishore Mahbubani is widely known for his publicationsin all corners of the globe, from the Economist andTime Magazine, to his best selling books that explorethe relationships between the West and Asia.
Building upon his studies in philosophy and history, hefollowed a distinguished career as a diplomat, andserved as President of the United Nations SecurityCouncil in 2001 and 2002, during postings asSingapore Ambassador to the UN.
In 2004 he was appointed as first Dean of the LeeKuan Yew School of Public Policy at the NationalUnversity of Singapore. He continues to serve inadvisory capacities to a variety of institutions inSingapore and North America.
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It seems that whenever there is a story about hospitals,the article mainly refers to doctors and nurses, and oftenthe army of other workers and professionals who beaveraway in the background are left out. As a result the publicseems not to hear about other medical professionals andthe work they do.
Laboratory Medicine is one such speciality, perhapscloaked in mystery or glorified in television programs suchas C.S.I. (Crime Scene Investigation). The truth is thatLaboratory Medicine has completely revolutionised the wayin which physicians diagnose illness and disease.
Laboratory methodologies have changed from laboriousmanual bench techniques to state-of-the-art technologicalmasterpieces. Devices such as multi-channel auto-analysers have enabled urgent and complex results to beavailable within minutes of their arrival in the lab. The so-called “lab technician” is a thing of the past and theprofessionals employed in modern laboratories need to bebiomedical engineers and scientists.
Medical Laboratory Technologists investigate tissue andbody fluid samples to diagnose disease and monitor thetreatment of patients. From screening cancer todiagnosing HIV, from blood transfusion to food poisoningand infection control, biomedical scientists are a vital partof modern healthcare, working in partnership with doctors,nurses and other healthcare professionals.
HCT and UAEU
Meeting thechallenges ofcareers inlaboratory medicine By Evelyn Kaplan
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Doctors treat their patients based onresults obtained from diagnosticinvestigation by biomedical scientists, whiledepartments such as Accident &Emergency and operating theatres rely onbiomedical science for such things asemergency blood transfusions and bloodgrouping, testing for suspected overdosesand conditions such as leukaemia, ordiagnosing suspected heart attackpatients.
The work of biomedical scientists must beaccurate and efficient as patients’ livesmay depend on their skills. They mustcontinue to update their knowledge as newtechniques and instruments are developedand research transforms the cutting edgeof science and medicine. The emphasis ison producing an evaluative and enquiringprofessional who can take on thechallenges presented in LaboratoryMedicine today.
New BSc in MLT at Al AinUntil recently, the highest academic award available to students in the UAEwas the Higher Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology (MLT) awardedby the Higher Colleges of Technology. Last year, under the patronage of HESheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, a joint program was launchedbetween the HCT and UAE University. The new Bachelor of Science inMedical Laboratory Technology builds on the MLT skills students acquirefrom Higher Diploma programs at HCT and adds new skills to equip themfor important work in a modern hospital laboratory.
The BSc in MLT program includes new molecular pathology techniques,laboratory management, and research methodologies. Taken over twosemesters the BSc program is based at the Faculty of Medicine & HealthSciences in Al Ain. The students receive a mixture of theory, practicalclasses and field work in Tawam Hospital, a cancer referral centre for theUAE. In their second semester, students are required to complete aresearch project and go out into various other hospitals around the UAE.
High salaries andcareer prospectsfor IT GraduatesInformation Technology still proves to be a lucrative careeroption for graduating IT students at Dubai Men’s College. Ofthe 59 IT graduates from DMC last year, many have foundhigh paying jobs with excellent career prospects in the privateand public sector.
Our IT students have joined many different companies inDubai. These include, Etisalat, Emirates Airlines, DubaiFinancial Market, Emirates Post, DEWA, Dubai Municipality,HSBC, and many more.
As an IT teacher who has been closely involved with industryplacements and projects for our students, I have found thatHCT’s industry-centred projects provided excellent exposureto the workings of IT industry in Dubai and on an internationalfront. Opportunities to work on real life projects start early forthe final year Higher Diploma Business InformationTechnology (BITE) students. The IT department hasestablished a close relationship with many IT companies whoallow our students to integrate their work placement and final
year project in their offices. It is win-win relationship betweenacademia and industry. Students get first hand experiences ofworking on real projects and IT employers have thesatisfaction of utilising the talents of young UAE nationals inthe IT workforce.
Hassan Khabbazeh, Supervisor of the IT department at DMCsees clear signs of Dubai’s growing need for IT graduates. Hecomments, “Our Higher Diploma BITE students are in highdemand as they have the business acumen and IT skills toallow them to leverage technology for the competitivebusiness world”.
Some students have chosen to join the Bachelor degreeprogram, offered full time over one-year. This has proved tobe very successful in teaching our students some of the mostadvanced technologies in software development, databasesand networking that can be applied to the business world.And leads, of course, to better career prospects and salaries!
By Sinan Ghulam
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Employed64%
Highest SalaryAED. 15,000
Average SalaryAED. 10,487
ConsideringOffers15%
BachelorProgram21%
Chart shows the career situation for new DMC graduates at the end of the 2004-5 academic year.
“Dubai Summer Surprises” happens inAugust, when HCT students are on theirlong break from their studies _ yet it drew243 dedicated students to be involved in acollaboration with main partners, Etisalat andDubai Police and other companies whoassisted in some of the logistics of thispopular event.
Dubai Summer Surprises has become thetrend-setting event of the region attractingmillions of visitors with the theme “Big fun forlittle ones”. The event is divided into tenthemed weeks during which hundreds ofactivities are organized, and governmentdepartments and major players in the privatesector are the key presenters for each week.
“Knowledge surprises” are also great fun for bothHCT students and young members of the public.
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The theme of “Knowledge Surprises” was a ground-breaking week, 18-24 August,during which the HCT students partnered Etisalat in the exciting challenge of linkingseven venues across Dubai with a broadcast video network. The video networkprovided live feeds for the variety of students’ activities in six venues linked to theirmain TV studio in Deira City Centre.
Students and broadcast industry professionals provided a live productionenvironment for TV shows incorporating real-time 3D graphics, interactive TVaudience participation and live animation. The live program schedule ran on EmiratesCable TV and Multimedia (E-Vision) from 10 am to 10 pm each day. The studentsbelieve they made history by providing the largest video network across Dubai to date- previously the largest network had been for Dubai 2003, the World Bank and IMFConference, with five feeds broadcast over just two hours each day.
Although the HCT Channel was the focal point of the project, many of the studentswere involved in producing Summer Surprises projects within the different venues.Women students participated too _ at the Oasis Centre, 48 students from DubaiWoman’s College produced an exciting set of educational activities for children aged5-10 years.
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Snacks are always popular - even in a “Knowledge Surprises” event.
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“We did it! We proved to everyonewho doubted that students coulddo it. We did run a channel for oneweek. The fact is that most of thestudents held cameras for the firsttime in their lives and we didsucceed!”
Samer Al Marzoqui, Level 3 Media Production student, Dubai Men’s College
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“It was a massive undertakingthat communicated what ourstudents are capable of. It had todo with teamwork, planning,organising, and implementing amassive program. Theseexperiences compriseadministrative leadership skills.What is significant is the learningopportunity for all our students.”
Dr Bill Vega, Director, Dubai Men’s College
“You know, I look at College differently now. Before I couldn't wait toleave the College the minute I finished classes _ that's it, I'm out! Butnow it is part of my life.”
Fahad Al Qahtani, Dubai Men’s College Business Information Technology student and Media Team Leader
“We did it!”With generous support from Dubai Police and otherpartners, students benefited from a unique opportunity totake full ownership of a large, real-world project withclear objectives. Apart from the enormous detail oflaunching and operating a TV channel broadcasting livefor 12 hours daily, other organisational logistics involved:
Volunteer registration and plastic ID card production Packaging and supply chain for container loads of gifts Equipment logistics Planning and implementing activities in seven venues Receiving overseas professionals Sourcing suppliers External meetings with partners, suppliers, mall
management, PR agencies, media, and others Internal meetings Research and development for the application of
motion capture technology Research and planning of a sophisticated broadcast
video network linking seven locations Supporting Etisalat communications engineers to
deploy the broadcast video network Meal distribution Financial controls and management Protocol
Running the broadcast network along included:
Simulation and training for presenters and production crew
Producing promos Program scheduling Broadcast graphics design Deploying interactive formats Producing and directing shows Live presenting Studio operation including three cameras, six live news
feeds, real time graphics, interactive content, livemotion capture, news editing, and commercials
Close liaison with E-Vision Master Control Room
“...from this event I knew how tobe an effective leader within agroup through identifying mystrengths and weaknesses.”
Kalthoom Al Balooshi, Dubai Women’s College Group Leader
“It was absolutely amazing to seethe incredible achievements ofthe students putting togethersuch a complex project. Beingfrom a broadcast backgroundmyself as a presenter andproducer I have handled manyoutside broadcasts in my timeand I can assure you what wewitnessed was the futurebroadcast industry professionalsof Dubai.”
Peter Martin, Director of Solutions LLC
“I see that there were newactivities and new heights thatwere reached. It's a first in theArab World for students toundertake such a massive task.”
Dr Mahmoud Taha,Head of Engineering at Dubai Men’s College
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Science, Technology, Business, Communications,Education _ the major areas of activity for the HigherColleges are also the major drivers in a globalisedsystem.
In this issue of Al Rawi, we focus on just a few of theevents, projects and learning experiences that bring theworld to the UAE and HCT and take our students,graduates and faculty out into what is truly a world ofexperience and education at points as divergent as Sri Lanka, Australia, Afghanistan and the United States,to name just a few countries.
We have tried to be representative in the followingstories in this section of different HCT faculties,locations throughout the Emirates, and levels ofstudent and graduate academic achievement. Whatthese stories have in common is success in helpingUAE young people look both into themselves andoutward to other societies and cultures in learning theirskills, professional ethics, and approaches to theircareers.
All stories carry a degree of optimism that bodes wellfor the future of this country and the young nationalswho are taking steps towards becoming UAE leaders oftomorrow.
The lights dim. A hush fallsover the audience. A HigherColleges of Technologystudent and master ofceremonies goes up on stageand introduces the firstspeaker. Who has wonderedhow the conferenceorganisers go about recruitingthe high profile internationalspeakers you see at everyevent? This article gives you apeek behind the scenes at thefourth annual eMergingeLearning conference at AbuDhabi Men’s College.
At the Higher Colleges of Technology we are proud of thequality of the distinguished speakers who participate in ourmany international conferences. Their backgrounds are varied;from leaders and politicians, to CEOs of Fortune 500companies, to Nobel Laureates, to our very own facultypresenting papers on recent initiatives within the HCT; wehave it all!
One avenue for recruiting speakers is from previousconferences. It may be noticed that a select number ofspeakers at one conference return for another. That isbecause often times, a speaker for one event will be relevantfor another event. For example, Jay Cross, the Chair of theconference’s Steering Committee, is a regular speaker at theeMerging eLearning conference, and he also spoke at theeDucation Without Borders International Student Conferencein February. The audience is different but the themes of theseconferences overlap.
Another avenue for speakers is through corporatesponsorship. This year, IBM sponsored a track of speakers tocome to the conference: Sean Rush, General Manager of theGlobal Education Industry (also a keynote speaker ateDucation Without Borders), Dr Richard Straub, Director ofLearning Solutions for IBM Europe Middle East and Africa(EMEA), Milko Van Duijl of Lenovo Group Limited, and twoother distinguished speakers from the IBM group. Toshiba, aplatinum sponsor, was represented by Oscar Koenders, theirGeneral Manager for EMEA marketing. All these people werehigh powered speakers to say the least.
Jay Cross brought some excellent speakers to theconference, including Dr Michelle Selinger of Cisco Systems,Dr Ellen Wagner of Macromedia Inc. (now a subsidiary ofAdobe Systems), Dave Gray with his amazing XPLANEvisualization sessions, Dr Clark Quinn of Quinnovation and the eloquent Jerry Michalski of Sociate. These speakersadded many new ideas and a wonderful vibrancy to the proceedings.
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Sean Rush discusses “technology for transformation” at the eMerging eLearning conference.
ÊÉãdG Ωƒ«dG ‘ Qƒ°†◊G á∏Ä°SCG ≈∏Y Ö«éj »µ°ùdÉ°û«e …ÒL .∑ôëàŸG ôJƒ«ÑªµdG Ihóf øeAs moderator of the Day 2 session on “Mobile Computing”, JerryMichalski fields questions from the audience.
A student introduces the major speakers to the eMerging eLearning conference on the Opening Day.
Global Connx. 1/24/06 5:14 PM Page 7
Global Connections
We were most fortunate to have with us as the gala dinnerkeynote speaker the Rt. Honorable Mike Moore, formerDirector General of the World Trade Organisation (1999-2002)and former Prime Minister of New Zealand (1990), who is oneof the leading advocates of a globalised world.
Finally we had an excellent offering of paper presentations,many by our very own Higher Colleges of Technology faculty;but papers were also delivered from institutions farther afield,including Australia, Canada, Egypt, Norway, Saudi Arabia,India, Italy and Rome.
As can be seen, there are many routes a speaker can take to
join us for one of our international conferences. Ourinternational network of experts brings ideas and support tothis growing and vibrant part of the Higher Colleges ofTechnology activities. Beyond this, HCT has over 50 countriesrepresented on staff and our conferences reflect this excitingdiversity.
The next time the lights dim at one of the Higher Colleges ofTechnology’s conferences and a speaker begins to address adivergent audience of students and others interested inlearning, it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on how thatdistinguished speaker got there and what he or she brings tothe learning experience of all of us here in the UAE.
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UAE traditional dancing enlivened the Gala Dinner ofthe Conference.
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From Sharjah to Afghanistan-
Photos tellthe story
To tell a story through a picture, it’s not only the job of a photojournalist, it’s her art. Learning this lesson has been the task ofeleven Communications Technology students from the Sharjah Higher Colleges of Technology, through a photo swap project withAina; a photojournalism training program in Kabul, Afghanistan.
The special project was developed with the objective of helping HCT students and professional photojournalists from Afghanistanlearn about life in another Muslim country while exploring the technical challenge required to tell that story through photography.Conceived by SWC Faculty member, Ian Pollock, and Aina Photo Editor-in-Chief, Dimitri Beck, the theme of the project is “womenand their experience in everyday life”.
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The eleven students participating from the Sharjah Women’sCollege Communications Technology program are studentsspecialising in Graphic Arts as part of their Photography IIclass: Fatma Ahmed, Osha Nasir, Kalthoum Al Tunaiji,Jawahiri Al Suwaidi, Hamdah Mohammed, Asma Al Maraziq,Iman Mohamed, Asma Al Maraziq, Shaima Hassan, KhawlaMugrin, and Shurooq Al Qassimi.
The SWC project themes have taken a variety of approaches.Fatma’s project examines the experience of women workingat Etisalat. Shurooq looks at the life of UAE women at work ineducation. Jawahir takes images of women working increative industries. Osha’s work focuses on women and art.Shaima studies the tradition of the hijab in the UAE. BothAsma and Iman explore the experience of women andchildren. Hamdah focuses on the role of teachers in the UAE,past and present. Finally, Khawla examines her own career inphotography.
The Afghan participants are professional photojournalistsFarzana Wahidy, Freshta Kohistani, Massoud Wasiq, FardinWaezi, Gulbulddin Elham, Wakil Kohsar and Ali Omaid. Theirexperience includes work with the UN and Agence France. Under the Taliban’s reign, all project participants facedremarkable challenges in pursing education and becoming
photojournalists. Some attended school secretly while othershad their studies interrupted. Some have been arrested fortheir work as photojournalists; some have fought against theTaliban. One member survived an attack that took the lives ofthousands of people.
Obviously, then, the project has been a remarkable learningexperience for the students and photographers in Afghanistanalike. “I feel happy to participate in this photo swap because I think it means progress for my work. My country is beingshown through my photos: I feel proud. I am interested insharing my pictures and work with women in UAE becausethey can learn more about Afghan women”, said Wasiq. “I want people to see that UAE women can work in the sameorganisations and do the same jobs as men. I hope to showthat through my images”, said Fatma Ahmed.
Ian Pollock has said that it is hoped the project will concludewith an exhibition held simultaneously at Aina in Kabul and ata venue here in Sharjah. More details will be available on theSharjah Higher Colleges website at: http://sjw.hct.ac.ae/
Aina relies on donations in order to continue its importantwork. For more information about Aina and its programs inAfghanistan and around the world, visit www.ainaworld.org.
Sharjah Women’s College teacher Ian Pollock and a colleague are shown in a working session with the young women involved in the photojournalism project with Afghanistan.
Q: Thanks for agreeing to be interviewed. Our first question iswhere and when did you each go to Australia?
N: Last year I went to Bond University in Australia for three monthsfor a general English language course. This year I went for aholiday with my friend, Hamed.
H: I went this year on holiday for 45 days with Nasser.
Q: Can you tell us why you wanted to do an English course abroad,Nasser?
N: I wanted to improve my English. I didn’t know anyone who hadbeen before but my brother, who also studied at Al Ain Men’sCollege, thought it was a good idea.
Q: So what made you choose Australia?
N: I got the information about Bond University from Dr Abdulaziz whoworked in Student Services at the college.
H: I had never been there but Nasser told me that the weather wouldbe freezing and that’s different to the UAE in the summer! I alsohoped that my English would improve because I had to useEnglish all the time. We don’t use English much outside thecollege so this was a good chance.
Life “down under”for Al Ainstudents
Life “down under”for Al Ainstudents
Roving reporters from Al Ain Men’s College,Alison Snookes andDeborah Murphy, Businessand English teachers,interviewed two Semester 5Business Diploma students, Nasser Twuliy Al Ameriand Hamed Obaid Al Kaabi,who visited Australia forstudy and travel.
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Q: How did you arrange your trips?
N: Dr Abdulaziz helped to arrange a lot of it. Of course, I hadto get my visa and sort out money for fees and forspending. The first time I went, I stayed with a family andDr Abdulaziz helped to arrange this also.
H: I sorted the trip out myself. Nasser and I stayed in anapartment this summer, not with a family.
Q: Nasser, can you describe what you did on yourlanguage course?
N: The course was 7 hours a day, 5 days a week. We wenton lots of trips such as zoos, beaches, castles, parks,museums. We had a placement test then we were putwith groups of the same ability. I was in a group withJapanese, Brazilian, Russian, and Korean students so Ihad to speak English all the time.
Q: Would you recommend a language course to otherstudents?
N: It’s better to study abroad in an English speaking countryduring the summer if you want to learn really quickly. I hadto speak English because I had no choice, especially withthe home stay. The family I stayed with was really helpfuland they respected our Muslim traditions and beliefs.
H: It was valuable going just for a holiday because I was alsoforced to use English every day. It wouldn’t be so useful ifI went with a big group of Arabic-speaking friends or myfamily.
Q: Did your English improve?
N: Yes, of course. I found a big difference in my English. I feelmore confident too. On the first day I thought I wouldn’tbe able to speak English but I learned fast. You really doneed to learn English _ you need it for everything!
H: Yes, sure. It was also good to see other countries and tofind out about other people and how they live. You learnhow to survive in a different environment. I learned how toask people to repeat things and say them more slowly. I also learned how to speak more like a native speaker.
Q: What advice would you give other students?
N: You have to be ready to learn and make the most of it.You have to really make an effort not to stay aroundpeople who speak your own language. Buy clothes beforeyou go as it’s more expensive abroad in some countries.Make sure you know which season it is before you go.You should stay with a family _ it’s much better when yougo abroad for the first time.
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Aysha goes to Washington _and more ...
Aysha Al Bufalah, Vice President of the Abu Dhabi Women’sCollege Student Council, is a well travelled and capableEmirati woman. This September, she visited five US citiesincluding New York and Washington DC, as part of aneducational leadership program and as a guest of the USEmbassy in the UAE. Representing ADWC, Aysha also metwith student organisations and members of the USDepartment of State.
Now a seasoned world traveller, Aysha admits she was oncea reserved individual who spent time with her small group offriends and didn’t participate much in class. She says herinvolvement with the Student Council since her first year incollege brought her out of her shell.
Although she has already visited many countries around theworld, she was particularly excited about this trip to theUnited States because it was an opportunity to increase herlearning, self-confidence and independence. She knowsthese are skills she will need if (and probably when) she fulfillsher career ambitions which include the possibility of overseasgraduate study and work placement.
Aysha is currently considering completing her work placementthis February in France or Germany. We at ADWC have nodoubt that Aysha, the embodiment of HCT graduateoutcomes, will continue globe trekking. And she will leave hermark wherever she chooses to go.
...And Dana learns leadership in Germany
An important graduate outcome at the Higher Colleges ofTechnology is global awareness. This summer, ADWC webdevelopment student, Dana Al Rahabi, had the uniqueopportunity to visit Germany as part of the Lions ClubInternational Leadership Program.
Dana’s trip lasted for 20 days, and each day Dana says shelearned more about herself and the culture and experiencesof the eight other participants from Italy, China, Portugal, USand Slovenia. “The daily opportunities to exchange viewpointswith others and develop leadership skills exceeded myexpectations,” she says.
When it came time for each participant to give apresentation about their home country, Dana put intoaction the skills she had learned at ADWC. She waspleased that her audience commented that herpresentation was particularly academic and wellpresented. She adds that she felt confident inanswering nearly 45 minutes of questions about theUAE and ADWC.
She believes she impressed people with herexperience, knowledge and command of the Englishlanguage. Often she was asked by others aboutEnglish vocabulary and pronunciation. This increasedher confidence in dealing with people from differentcultures and backgrounds.
Lions Club sponsors recognised Dana’s capabilitiesas well and have approached her to assist in bringingthe Lions Club to the UAE. She continues her studiesin web development _ another way of staying in touchwith the outside world. She regularly communicateswith the friends she made on her trip, as shecontemplates her next international travel experience!
Dana Al Rahabi, a student of web development, enjoys a quiet moment during her busy visit to Germany.
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DMC’sCaliforniaConnectionLevel 5 students at Dubai Men’s College have set up a partnership withstudents at California State University-Chico, where students are takinga web business localisation program.
To support the importance of cultural understanding and sensitivity, theDMC students will partner the California students on a project to developjoint English and Arabic websites. A longer term plan is for the Dubaistudents to attend an eBusiness conference in the US, which will permitthem to meet their American coutnerparts in person.
eBusinessgraduatesuccessHCT's Saeed Al Mulla, a Bachelor of Applied Science eBusinessgraduate, has been awarded a scholarship by the JapaneseGovernment to study for a Master in Business Administration.
One good deed leads to another, and one teacher’s trip to Sri Lanka last summer to help victims of the massive Asiantsunami has led to a chain of events that sees Abu DhabiMen’s College working to help people in a devastated villagerebuild their community. In this article, the teacher, FrancesSutton, and a colleague, D’Arcy Drury, describe how AbuDhabi _ in the form of students, faculty and their supporters_ came to the village of Galle to start what they hope will bean ongoing aid project for Sri Lanka.
Volunteering, videotaping and sky-diving
Benefit for Sri LankaTsunamivictims
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Inspired by a presentation made by teacher Frances Suttonearly in the academic year, three media students fromADMC’s ComTech department, left in October on anassignment to record on videotape the effects of the tsunamiand how people were rebuilding their lives in Sri Lanka.
Abdulla Bastaki, Nayef Al Mansouri and Ibrahim Al Ali spentseven days in the southern town of Galle reporting on theactivities of an organisation building temporary housing forvictims of last year’s Asian tsunami, called Project Galle 2005.This independent organisation of volunteers are constructingtemporary housing to get tsunami victims out of tents andinto more comfortable accommodation.
“It was a fantastic experience,” said Abdulla. “We didn’t waste a minute. We were shooting video from sun up until sun down. We spent the evenings reviewing and logging our footage.”
“My interest in taking on this assignment was to learn aboutvolunteerism,” said Nayef. “I wanted to know what inspiresvolunteers to devote their time and energy to work on aproject that they aren’t being paid for.”
“The idea just sort of snowballed,” said Paul Rawcliffe of theApplied Media Studies department. “What was initially going to be a straightforward interview with Frances Sutton quicklybecame an international assignment.”
Funded by the Higher Colleges of Technology, the trip gavethe students a chance to test their reporting and technicalskills in an unfamiliar setting.
“I’ve learned how hard it is for a reporter to put together twominutes of video for the nightly news,” said Nayef. “There are always going to be problems but you’ve got to overcome them.”
Videotaping Project Galle
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This picture shows the extent of the devastation to many homes in Galle, Sri Lanka
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The students shot fourteen hours of video and about 400digital images, which they have used to produce a 30-minute documentary, which was in the final editing stagesas Al Rawi went to print.
“We saw this as a marvellous opportunity and wegrabbed it,” said Abdulla. “What really inspired me aboutthe people in Sri Lanka is the way they’ve responded tothe disaster. They’ve picked themselves up and started torebuild.”
The video produced by these three hard-workingstudents and their colleagues will be used to show peopleinterested in supporting this project what is needed andwhat they can do to further the cause of the courageouspeople of Galle.
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This signboard raised in the town of Galle says it all about the UAE’sinvolvement in the relief effort.
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How does skydiving in Abu Dhabi relate to rebuilding a village on the southern coast of Sri Lanka? It’s all part of an effortby ADMC students and faculty to provide long-term assistance to volunteers helping the people of Galle rebuild their livesand their community.
In December, three students and four teachers will jump from 10,000 feet at Umm Al Quain Aero Club to raise fundsand awareness of the ongoing plight of tsunami victims in Sri Lanka. This is a first event in what is hoped will be a seriesof fund-raising initiatives for Galle.
In the months leading up to December, the group, mainly from ADMC’s ComTech department have been working toraise sponsorships across the college community and elsewhere for their jumps. The money raised will go directly toprojects in Galle as it is collected, and Irshaad Desai from ADMC Business department, who is in charge of the accounts,plans to visit Galle as a volunteer in January to report back on the impact the fund-raising has had on the community.
Organisers estimate that if every student at ADMC pledges just Dh10, the skydiving event will raise a minimum ofDh18,000 _ but they’d like to raise much more. Project Galle gives around Dh600 to people in Galle who want to restarttheir businesses there. Dh5000 buys enough concrete bricks to repair a damaged house.
The Project Galle group in Abu Dhabi welcome volunteer support in many forms, including ideas for more fund-raisingevents. More information on Project Galle can be seen at www.projectgalle2005.com and by [email protected].
From Ras Al Khaimah to five US cities in three weeks
While we were researching a separate article on Student Councils, the experienceof a member of the RAK Student Council was put forward as a good subject forour focus on Global Connections in this issue of Al Rawi. Sameera Yousef AlMansoori, a third-year Higher Diploma Student in Business Administration atRKWC, wrote the following story of how she visited top universities in fiveAmerican cities and her impressions of the trip. With the support andencouragement of her family, she is already saving and planning towards hereventual goal of completing an MBA in the USA.
I want to share a wonderful experience in my life that hasreally changed me in many ways. In early September, I wasnominated as a student council member to attend a studentleadership program in the USA along with five other girls fromfive different emirates. In course of a three-week program, wevisited five US cities.
My life has changed in ways that I never could haveanticipated. When I left for the USA I had in my mind negativestereotypes of the USA and its citizens. I am very glad to saythat I have come back from the USA feeling differently; and I feel I am a more self-confident and practical person.
I was up at 5 am every day packing my bag and going on anairplane to a different destination city within the USA. Manynights, I only had three or four hours of sleep. I wasscheduled to meet students from universities across the timezones of the USA and sometimes we had a time difference ofalmost eight hours. We visited Georgetown University inWashington DC; Trinity College in Madison, Wisconsin;University of California Los Angeles; Georgia University inAtlanta; and Columbia University in New York city. All this travelling in such a short time was hard, but it was amonth I would not give back for anything.
What really surprised me was how stereotypes play a majorrole in our life, especially for women like us who usually get
few chances to get exposed to living in another culture. I waspretty shocked when I learned that a number of Americanstudents learn Arabic as their second language and that thereare 20,000 mosques in the USA.
It was one of the most surreal moments in my life when I gotto see how Muslims are respected there and had their ownclubs and events on the University campuses. In addition, I met many American citizens speaking Arabic fluently andreciting the Holy Quran just to learn more about Islam. One ofthe Georgetown university students, Eric M. Firkel, wasactually aware of UAE history and had some knowledgeabout the UAE _ even though he had never visited the UAE.This just impressed me so much, I was absolutely in shock.
Everything I learned from my visit is that you cannot growwise if you limit your source of knowledge to stereotypes andthe media. You grow wise if you are able to understandanother’s life and also understand that there are other waysto learn when you are willing.
I found Americans really friendly and very hard workingpeople. For this, I am glad and thank all those people involvedin making my trip successful _ especially my father who was agreat support. I pray that all of you out there reading this willget a chance to experience what I have experienced in thisshort period of time.
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At the National Bank of Abu Dhabi we understand that this isthe first such project of its kind in the UAE and are proud totake the lead in bridging the gap between industry andacademia. With a firm belief that people are our most important assets,we are careful of our obligations to the UAE society and haveover the years launched innovative and sustainable initiativesin Abu Dhabi.
Typically, the scope of this project would warrant out-sourcing it to a specialised company. But we opted to workwith HCT and primarily young UAE Nationals with thefollowing objectives:
To engage UAE National students To give UAE National students an insight into the
banking field To encourage UAE National students to consider
a career with NBAD To highlight the importance of customer service
To get customer feedback on our products/services To understand NBAD perception in the wider society.
NBAD is committed to Emiritisation. We strongly believe insupplementing classroom-style education with a practicalhands-on approach and are very pleased with the results ofthis project.
I am pleased to share some of the survey findings with you:
86% of the customers sampled were satisfied with NBAD customer service, staff responsiveness, ATMs and branches
83% of the customers sampled were satisfied with cross-selling
93% of the customers would refer NBAD to theircolleagues. We are very impressed with the remarkablework done by HCT students and hope that this project willenhance their understanding of our business and theimportance of customer service.
Earlier this year, the National Bank of AbuDhabi (NBAD) and 30 students from the HCT’sAbu Dhabi Men’s College BusinessDepartment embarked on a unique project, astructured survey to capture feedback from325 NBAD customers.
Al Rawi reproduces here the substance of thespeech given by Michael Tomalin, ChiefExecutive of NBAD, at the conclusion of theproject.
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Over the past decade globalisation has had an outstanding effect on our lives, as the world takes anew form and businesses are part of this new era to meet rapidly changing demand and supplyneeds globally.
For example, free zones are a bold example of global empowerment, where activities are sharedamongst different countries in mutually rewarding ways. E-commerce has grown much bigger tobecome a reliable source of business transactions.
The Information Technology (IT) Age has created an easy access gate toglobalisation. Banking and other social issues can be carried out from behindour computers. Trust has become a more reliable global issue for all sorts oftransactions. Information that was hard to access twenty years ago is nowavailable in a matter of minutes or seconds.
Governments, especially in the UAE, are transforming their services viaelectronic devices and configuring all sorts of transaction throughout IT, whichthey call “E-Government”. In the UAE the financial market is growing.Businesses and investments are getting larger and government reliance onmarket resources is increasing.
Modern technology has created an atmosphere where facts and time-savingpractices are in demand. Every institution seeks to find new ways of achievingtheir goals on a global platform. Educational institutions like the HigherColleges also seek new global market clues that will help us to design coursesand educational theories to match this demand. A large part of my currentvisits and discussions with employers is to find out what they need in theirmarkets. Which specialisations should be taught in our colleges?
A growing number of UAE nationals are operating in global financial markets bybuying and selling shares and securing their futures. Using this businessapproach is a very positive issue for “growing the nation’s younger generation”.As a Work Placement Coordinator and Career Advisor, I try to motivatestudents to understand and follow this business approach.
I’d also like to see us working through Continuing Education to increase theglobal business approach within the Fujairah community, by designing andrunning courses in such areas as share market characteristics, basic marketingrules, and small business planning and formation. UAE nationals with even amiddle-range financial status can be merchants of their own initiatives throughdonors or loaning agencies.
HCT thus manages a double achievement: by educating and motivating localpeople to set up their own firms and enter into the private business sector,HCT achieves a pool of employers and businesses that serves the communityaround our colleges. And the labour force of the country will increase with astrong and healthy private sector.
Another issue is a real approach to career awareness in the UAE. For ourstudents, selecting a useful study major is a serious matter. In the current UAEbusiness market, TANMIA helps us to educate students about the real pictureof the market, by adding the globalisation market as a subject in grades 10-12of our secondary schools. This can make students aware of the market, whichjobs will be most wanted and what professions are available to them as studydirections of their choice.
For those of us working in career advising and student work placement,emiratisation is not an easy task, but with the help of the Ministry of Educationand Labour and TANMIA, we can produce skilled and well trained localmanpower to serve this “global host country” the UAE.
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Fujairah Men’s Work Placement Coordinator and Career Advisor, Mohammad Payeb, is pictured in discussion with some of the youngmen who hope to make a difference in a global marketplace.
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Bridging the gapbetween the academicand the business worldsA key speaker at the HCT eMerging eLearning Conference in November thisyear was DDrr EElllleenn DD.. WWaaggnneerr, Senior Director, Worldwide Learning Solutions,Adobe Systems. Dr Wagner, an in-demand international speaker and writer, hasworked in the international business world for some years. She has had anequally distinguished academic career as a tenured professor with a Ph.D ineducational psychology. In the course of her presentation to the eMergingeLearning Conference she remarked on “the wide gap” that still exists betweenthe business and educational communities with respect to learning and“educational stakeholders” from business and academia.
Al Rawi asked Dr Wagner to expand on this point for our readers who representbusiness, education and government decision-makers. She graciously sent usa research paper* she has had published, with permission to print the followingextracts as they relate to some of the expectations and perspectives of thesetwo distinct communities, and the importance and value to learning ofnarrowing the gap between them.
*Research paper: Will Learning Survive Our Good Intentions by Ellen D. Wagner
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The Business view
While psychologists, teachers and trainers continueto view learning as a change in human capability,businesspeople recognize that learning representscommercial opportunity.
It seems self-evident that coalitions of learningstakeholders can leverage theories and principlesof learning to create new value. However, thereality of such collaborations is usually far lesssatisfying. Learning professionals andbusinesspeople often discover that they holdcompletely divergent views on the role, purposeand value of learning.
Clearly those interested in encouragingcollaborations among the full range of learningstakeholders face a daunting challenge. We needto get much better at realising the broad array ofcommercial opportunities that learning offers.
It is education’s role to create and compile newknowledge; it must ensure that the integrity andquality of our cultural knowledge is relevant androbust enough to be worth preserving. It is the roleof business to explore and promote new ways ofcreating and realising value from that knowledgeand to provide the vision, strategies and tactics formaking that value real. The mind reels at theopportunities that could emerge if these twogroups collaborated _ if only we can work through
what feels increasingly like a battle for turf.Several steps can help bridge the gaps betweenand among stakeholders and establish a newculture of learning:
Encourage multidisciplinary conversations _ themore we talk to one another within and acrossour many disciplines, the more familiar and lessthreatening our issues become.
Having some familiarity with the constructs thatsupport education and business perspectiveson learning will help define the space withinwhich collaborations are most likely to succeed.
Identify and foster our common interests, andwork toward achieving mutual benefits.
Seek out the intersections of interest, purposeand intent between and among stakeholders.
Be willing to learn from one another. [View] change as a process not an event.
We need to get much better at realizing the broadarray of commercial opportunities that learningoffers without getting so carried away that we losetrack of our original intent.
By sharing our perspectives we can betterdetermine ways in which all learning stakeholderscan work together to achieve the learning culturewe deserve.
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The late Sheikh Zayed once said “There is nothing that cannotbe achieved in the service of the people if determination isfirm and intentions are sincere”.
We, as the young people of the UAE nation believe thateverything is possible, just everything. One of our wildest
dreams was to create the first Students Council to gather thetwelve HCT colleges under one umbrella. The goal: toprovide leadership and direction for student affairs through achosen executive council that will further the best interests ofthe students and the colleges through student representationin matters affecting student life.
HCT-wide Student Council
Dreams DoCome True!By Fatema Saleh*
* Fatema Saleh is a founding officer of the new HCT Student Council and a student at Ras Al Khaimah Women's College
The experiment officially started on the 2nd of March 2005,“Tomorrow’s Leaders Conference” in Dusit Hotel, Dubai.During that event, a number of representatives of HCTstudent councils from the twelve HCT colleges got together tofulfill their dreams by discussing the importance of having anHCT-wide council. There was widespread agreement, sharedby student council advisers and guests of honour such as DrSulaiman Al Jassim, Director of Community and ManpowerDevelopment. We all agreed at that time, “we can and we aregoing to do it”.
After that meeting, each college chose one representativestudent council member who started to get together andworked towards shaping the dream. By July, a “ConstitutionalCommittee” was able to announce the formation of anExecutive Committee of twelve representatives, one fromeach college, who had the confidence necessary to take onlarger responsibilities and build upon the dream for thecurrent academic year 2005-2006 by developing theCouncil’s vision and mission, goals and objectives, andthrough sharing ideas and thoughts on ways to help HCTstudents to perform well in all aspects.
Although the executive members include both genders, thisdoes not present any kind of difficulty in terms ofcommunication. Representing both genders plays a crucialrole in the council, facilitating the flow of information andthoughts of each college among the council.
These executive members were chosen because they had
been in their individual college’s student council for a fewyears. They are exceptional students who are known in theircolleges for being active, hard working, ambitious, creativeand outgoing professionals who share the common aim toplay a significant role in developing their country. They alsocome from a wide range of educational backgroundsincluding Education, CNET, Aviation, Information Technologyand Business Administration.
We attribute our success to those who have dedicated theirlives to success, first to HE Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak AlNahayan, HCT Chancellor, for his continued support andencouragement. His faith and trust has enlightened us to giveour best. And to Dr Sulaiman Al Jassim, who is passionateand caring of the HCT students and student councils.
We have had several meetings since the new academic yearstarted, the most recent being the November meeting atDubai Men’s College where we invited guests from otheracademic institutions such as Al Ittihad University, ZayedUniversity in Dubai, Sharjah University, Sharjah AmericanUniversity and the UAE National Union Executive Committee.We included a workshop given by Dr Abdullatif Al Seraikhfrom Kuwait, entitled “Student Activity between Leaders andFollowers _ an introduction to planning skills”.
Finally and most importantly, the new Committee believes thatstudents are there to serve the UAE. “The building of mankindis the hardest job, but the real wealth” said the late SheikhZayed, the Teacher and Father of our people.
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