Mehdi Benchaabane
A senior education expert at the Qatar Foundation (QF) has said that eventually blended learning would become an integral component of the education system and added that it was a ‘necessary’ decision taken by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE) regarding continuing blended learning for the 2021/2022 academic year.
Executive Director for Learning and Innovation for Pre-University Education at QF, Mehdi Benchaabane said, “I think the MoEHE’s decision was necessary given the volatility of the number of COVID-19 cases while residents return from their summer break and the recent spread of the delta variant.”
“At QF we welcome this decision as it also allowed our schools to continue with a similar operational plan as the one in place last year. Moving on, I look forward to a flexible and responsive approach to policy around the return of students to schools. I expect that most schools will want to go back to ‘normal’, but the reality is that blended learning should be more than a contingency plan if we want to sustain learning in a world of uncertainty,” he told The Peninsula.
At Qatar Foundation, the idea about blended learning was considered several years prior to the pandemic.
“We have worked on developing the infrastructure and acquiring the tools that allow students to have online and asynchronous learning experiences and provided access to the relevant training for teachers along the way. Two years ago, we started exploring possible solutions to offering access to quality education beyond the limitation of physical access to the classroom,” said Benchaabane.
“As for blended learning, as soon as the pandemic started, we ran an interdepartmental study and gathered data through a mapping exercise that allowed us to recommend approaches to teaching and learning and design the adequate professional learning for teachers and leaders in order to be ready for the gradual and intermittent return of students,” he added.
Answering a question about the future of blended learning in QF and across Qatar, Benchaabane said that with the tools and connectivity currently available, there is a wider and more spontaneous deployment of blended learning environments across K-12 and Higher Education.
“Giving the option to educators and learners for joining the learning experience either online or physically, regardless of the pandemic, should become the norm,” he said.
“My vision and dream is to see Education City become the middle east capital of education, and blended learning is the key to this becoming reality. Imagine an array of programs and courses in which students from different parts of the region have access through online platforms, portable portals, delocalized learning spaces, from the field (experiential) learning and more importantly, to each other in a seamless and organic way,” he added.
According to Benchaabane, blended learning comes in more than just one model. It is about increasing access to education by leveraging the adequate technology and deploying the fit for purpose pedagogy.
“If schools in Qatar invest in their teachers’ professional learning along both of these dimensions, engage parents as collaborators and focus on the development of their students’ learning kills and agency, there is no reason why this wouldn’t become the new norm,” he said.
Benchaabane also emphasized that, parents are a critical collaborator in the mission of any school.
He said that, with blended learning, this becomes even more crucial as they are the ones who take the lead in setting up the learning environment at home during the online component. “We have seen some students thrive during the pandemic thanks to their parents’ involvement and to the school’s engagement with them,” Benchaabane said.
