Experiential learning objects to be implemented in 300 new schools

The Center for Continuing Education at Birzeit University and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education are preparing to launch the experiential learning objects (xLOBs) in more than 300 schools, starting at the beginning of the academic year 2019/20. The project will target 500,000 students in primary and upper schools.

This news was announced during a three-day “Training of Trainers” workshop the center held in Jericho in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and UNICEF. Thirty-three supervisors from all governorates participated in the training sessions.

Osama Mimi, director of the Unit for Learning Innovation at the Center for Continuing Education, commented on the project’s plans to expand by assuring that the upcoming implementation constitutes merely the start of an institutionalizing process in which a modern educational system will be created. The novel method combines learning resources, learning activities, and instructional strategies to enable and encourage teachers and students to produce knowledge. Mimi announced that the university and the ministry are forming a joint national team to plan and organize the implementation of the project in all old and new schools.

Ayoub Alyan, the ministry’s head of public education, emphasized the important roles of the ministry and of the supervisors who will follow up on the implementation methods and knowledge-creation processes at schools. He assured that this project is giving Palestinian students and teachers the chance to excel by using technology and applying innovative methods that stimulate critical thinking and creativity.

Speaking about her own experience, Sahar Zamaareh, a supervisor, assured that the learning-objects project “creates a learning experience that encourages both students and teachers to be creative and innovative. It accomplishes its aim through the use of modern teaching methods that connect theoretical knowledge with real-life contexts.”