The Arabian Gulf University (AGU) was recently included in shortlisted candidates for the Times Higher Education MENA Awards 2023 in the Outstanding Contribution to Technical and Digital Innovation in Education category. The selection of AGU came after 300 higher education institutions from 17 countries and regions applied for the award in its various categories, while 75 universities qualified for the final round.
The selected universities will compete in 10 categories covering a wide range of university activities, namely strategic planning, leadership and governance, distinguished contribution to environmental leadership, distinguished contribution to regional development, distinguished contribution to supporting students, research projects, employing students and graduates in the labour market, and teaching and learning strategy, and technical and digital innovation in education.
On this occasion, Dr Abdelhalim Deifalla, Dean of the College of Medicine and Medical Sciences (CMMS), said the University has developed a group of electronic educational projects that have had a significant impact on developing the educational process. He further stressed that AGU has always kept pace with digital technology and modern technical innovations that have begun to inspire students and provide them with highly advanced technical applications and tools that help accurately and rapidly diagnose and treat diseases.
In this regard, Mr Arpan Stephen, E-Learning Expert at the CMMS, said that AGU has won more than three awards this year for developing innovative projects based on digital education platforms. He added that some of the most prominent digital education development projects include the “Lucina AR” project, which is a major breakthrough in medicine for teaching female anatomy and complex childbirth scenarios.
The University has developed an electronic student portfolio that contains a comprehensive analytical data dashboard of what clinical stage students are exposed to during their practical training. It also created an e-portal that serves of all students’ academic needs, including a learning management system, classroom system, attendance system, testing application, and educational goals measurement.
It should be noted that the CMMS has also introduced a system to broadcast lectures, seminars and surgical operations digitally and interactively between King Hamad University Hospital (KHUH) and the College. It also established the Clinical Simulation Centre at the CMMS to reinforce the educational curriculum with clinical skills through simulation training on electronic dummies that show multiple symptoms so that they appear to be real patients, making the practical training process easier and helping to develop clinical skills of students through the latest international medical methods.
Moreover, the University launched the leadership and professional skills development programme, and the “Simplified Pharmacology” educational channel on YouTube, which allows medical students and the general Arab public to learn about different medical topics related to drug uses, specifications, effects and side effects.
In addition, it adopted the use of the DXR clinical programme, which is a virtual hypothetical hospital that interactively displays patient cases for students to diagnose diseases and propose appropriate treatments. Also, it created electronic boards for broadcasting surgical operations and live lectures inside and outside the university, in addition to the 3D electronic table used in anatomy and radiology.
The winners will be announced during the Times Higher Education MENA Universities Summit, to be held on November 13-15, 2023, in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
