The IT Department, through its IT Society organized a workshop for the students and community about the Basics of C++ programming in Arabic from 16th October to 20th October 2022. The workshop was conducted online through Google Meet and it was presented by Said Saud Al Qassabi, an IT student. The participants learned how to create variables, deal with different types of data, output and receive data, conditional statements, recursion statements, lists, functions and pointers. Similarly, the presenter introduced the use of online tools for compiling and running the code using CodeBlocks and other online compilers like online GDP and cpp.sh. At the end of the workshop, the presenter received a feedback of 4.9 from a rating scale of 1-5 where 5 is the highest. This means that the 18 participants who benefitted the workshop were very much delighted about the presentation.
The Entrepreneurship Committee of the Business Studies Department organized a presentation on “How to start a small Business “on Wednesday, 14th December 2022, from 10.00 to 11.00 am. The targeted audience was entrepreneurship students. The presentation began at 10.00 am with a welcoming address given by the Entrepreneurship Committee Coordinator, Dr Loganathan Chenniappan. Then, he invited the speaker, Mr. Ahamed Hamad Al Ghafri, to deliver his presentation. The speaker started the presentation by highlighting his success stories. He also shared his experience on managing a successful business as well as the key challenges he faced during his entrepreneurial journey. He concluded his presentation by sharing some important tips and skills for building a successful small business. At the end of the presentation, Mr. Syed Akram Basha, HR faculty, gave a vote of thanks to the speaker.
Statistics can be viewed as a language, a means of communicating with others. It is an essential aspect of statistical literacy. In other words it is the ability to communicate concepts and results in written and verbal form. Dr. Patrick Ethe Raj delivered a lecture on Statistics as a communication language- The need for a well-prepared methodology to ensure effective communication on 29.11.2022 at the English Language Centre – UTAS, Ibri.
Profile
Dr. Patrick Ethe Raj is a Malaysian citizen. He has a doctorate degree from University Malaysia Kelantan. Dr. Patrick’s experience spans across 3 decades in the industrial and academic world. Dr. Patrick is currently working as a professor at Putra Business School at University Putra Malaysia. His field of expertise also includes, Quantitative Data Analysis and Quantitative Research Methods. He presents his scholarly knowledge in lectures, webinars, symposiums, and conferences, at national and international levels.
Analyzing literary text is an intriguing and a complex activity as it calls for the modes of literary criticism relevant to the politics of the age. In the past, literary narratives were inclined more towards aesthetical and less of political. But with the introduction of Postcolonial and Postmodern literary narratives, it is being constructed more on political milieus.
Dr Zia Ahmed introduced the ELT professionsals to the literary world through an interesting lecture on Theoretical Underpinnings and Literary Analysis on December 6, 2022. The literary activity demonstrated the application of modern theoretical frameworks such as those of Bhabha on hybridity to postcolonial Pakistani Anglophone narratives. The canvas of his talk was vast and there were literary nuances that made the audience conversant not only with the methods but also the minutiae of the literary analysis. Dr Zia Ahmed in the first part of his presentation, introduced the ELT teachers to the theoretical assumptions and demonstrated how these could be in affirmation with the literary text and in the later half, he engaged the audience by asking them to conduct the literary analysis on their own, as a part of the feedback process.
Profile
Dr. Zia Ahmed is a Professor and chair of the English department, along with additional responsibility of the Registrar at Emerson University Multan, Pakistan. Besides academic and administrative duties, he is a regular columnist to the print media as a freelance writer and a YouTube blogger for the pre/post-class teaching of students. He visited the University of North Texas in 2015 for his postdoctoral research and has spoken nationally and internationally at IIU, Malaysia, La Rochelle, France, and Khadar, Azerbaijan conferences.
IELTS preparation classes were held for students taking the IELTS test through the British Council each month from September to December 2022. Most of the students were nurses from the Ibri Hospital, teachers from the Vocational Training College, administration staff from the College of Applied Sciences, and students from various educational institutions in and around Ibri. Through the needs analysis, we got to know that their main purpose for taking the IELTS test was to go abroad for higher studies, get a higher GPA, and get a promotion in their jobs. Mazahar Valioh Engameh and Sharon Ruth Devaneson of the English Language Centre were the IELTS tutors. Important tips and strategies in all four skills were identified, discussed, solved, and practiced in the class. Best practices were elicited from the students. and sample tests and answers were also shared with them.
Dr Mobina, who received a score of 9 in the IELTS speaking test, was invited to share her key strategies for answering the questions in the speaking test. All the classes were highly interactive, and there were eager and energetic students who participated in most of the activities.
The feedback was highly encouraging from all those who attended the course. 100% of the students said that they would strongly recommend the course to others. On the last day, Dr Abdulsalem Al Manthari (HoD ELC) of UTAS-Ibri distributed certificates to the students for their active participation and to the IELTS tutors for their dedication in sharing their expertise in IELTS.
Ms. Saoussen Jilani presented on Exchange Programs and its Role in Fostering Omani Student's Career at Global ELT seminar hosted by the ELC, UTAS, Ibri on 13 December, 2022. Exchange programs have always been considered as an essential constituent of students' learning journey. It is a liminal zone where there is a dialogic interchange of languages, cultures, speech communities, ethnicities, races, linguistic repertoires, and conversational competences. Even more, its importance lies in its de facto ability to transgress geographical boundaries in order to reach a solid unification of human entities. In this sense, an information session on exchange programs to the United States will be held at the University of Technology and Applied Sciences- Ibri
Profile
Ms. Saoussen Jilani is a lecturer of English, Fulbright Alumna with US Embassy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming practitioner, researcher in Trauma Theories, and former researcher in Sorbonne University-Paris 3. She is interested in promoting the educational curriculum tailored to teach students with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Miss Saoussen Jilani strongly believes in the importance of psychic behavior, existential wellbeing in the educational realm.
Fatima Fattoumi presented on the need of educators’ digital competence to enhance students’ future and employability at Global ELT seminar hosted by the ELC, UTAS, Ibri on 13 December, 2022. She was of the profound opinion that digital competence has become a pre-requisite for educators. She stated that many scales and tools that were initially designed to assess such competency throughout all educational levels have been applied only in primary and secondary education. This paper applies the DIGIGLO that draws on the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators to assess the digital competence of educators in Higher Education.
Profile
Fatma Fattoumi is a Distinguished Emeritus Professor in ELT at the University of Carthage, Tunisia. She is a PhD candidate. She is a verified reviewer on Pablons and a UCL course Mentor on Future Learn.
Dr Yosra Sellami-Sellami, from Tunisia, shared her views at Global ELT seminar hosted by the ELC, UTAS, Ibri on 13 December, 2022. Her presentation was on Phases and Limitations of Online Education in the 21st Century. She gave an interesting account of post covid-19 Pandemic changes all over the world with special reference to the education sector. According to Dr Yosra governments all over the world resorted to cut off with the face-to-face instruction and adopted online alternatives. Consequently, there was a reshuffle of teachers’ and learners’ functions and also in the use of technological devices, such as iPads and computers, which became the new medium of communication between teacher and students and between students themselves. She further added that Success in an online framework depends primarily on the teacher’ ability to enhance students’ motivation and keep them highly engaged during the teaching-learning process because some learners may prefer the traditional setting of education to the online engagement.
Profile
Dr Yosra Sellami-Sellami, Tunisia, Faculty of Letters and Humanities of Sfax, Tunisia. She is a Doctor of Applied Linguistics. She received her doctorate from the Faculty of Letters and Humanities of Sfax, Tunisia. She is a reviewer at the Anatolian Journal of Education (AJE); International Journal of Language and Linguistics; International Journal of English Teaching and Learning; and a member in the editorial board of the International Education Studies and Sustainability Journal.
The IT department, through its Quality Assurance committee conducted an “Awareness Session on UTAS-Policies” for the newly joined staff held in the IT meeting room on 29th Nov, 2022 at 12 pm . The presenter was Dr Pugalarasu Rajan, HoS-Math Section and he started talking about the teaching and learning policies (moderation policy and examination policy). He explained the purpose of moderation policy which is to facilitate the academic staff to ensure the appropriateness of the teaching standards, assessment and maintain the uniformity in evaluation. Furthermore, Dr Pugal reiterated that the purpose of the examination policy is to ensure an equitable process of conducting examinations and maintaining security in a manner that supports the commitment of the University towards academic integrity.
Moreover, Dr Pugalarasu explained about the staff and staff support services which includes the handover policy, staff severance policy, staff grievance policy and exit interview policy. The purpose of the handover policy to update a staff member’s successor, with latest information regarding the position so that a smooth transition is ensured. He also presented the purpose of staff severance policy which is to provide a clear guidance regarding the actions to be taken when a staff resigns or being terminated from his/her job at the University. Likewise, for the staff grievance policy, Dr Pugal mentioned about the purpose which is devoted to find prompt, fair, impartial, and efficient solutions to staff grievances in order to ensure a harmonious and productive work environment. The policy encompasses grievances relating to issues such as term and conditions of employment, organizational climate, discrimination, denial of statutory employment rights, intimidation, result of staff appraisal, leave, and others. Finally, the presenter explained the purpose of exit interview policy which is to identify the reasons why staff permanently leaving the University; reduce staff turnover; identify areas to be improved; identify training/development required by the staff and develop and maintain a healthy working environment at the University.
مَثَلَ طلبة جامعة التقنية والعلوم التطبيقية بعبري سعيد القصابي، نزار الشكيلي، وسيف البلوشي سلطنة عُمان والجامعة في المسابقة العربية والأفريقية للبرمجة الجامعية في نسختها الخامسة والعشرون في جمهورية مصر العربية تحت رعاية رئيس الوزراء المصري الدكتور مصطفى مدبولي وبتشريف معالي الدكتور عمرو طلعت وزير الاتصالات وتكنولوجيا المعلومات. عُقدت المسابقة الفعلية بتاريخ 4 ديسمبر 2022، حيث كان عدد الفرق المشاركة في المسابقة 121 فريق من 25 دولة عربية وافريقية. جاءت مشاركة فريق الجامعة بعد التأهل والفوز بالمركز الأول في المسابقة المحلية على مستوى الجامعات والكليات بالسلطنة. هذه المسابقة هي حدث سنوي يتم فيه اختيار نخبة من الفرق المتأهلة على المستويات المحلية في الدول العربية والإفريقية وتتم المنافسة فيما بينهم من اجل التأهل للمشاركة في النسخة الدولية لهذه المسابقة. يندرج هذا النوع من المسابقات تحت فئة البرمجة التنافسية حيث تقوم الفرق المتنافسة بكتابة خوارزميات باستخدام لغات البرمجة كالــ ++C وPython و Java لحل مجموعة من الأسئلة في مجالات متعددة كالهندسة، والصحة، والاتصالات، وعلم البيانات وغيرها خلال 5 ساعات متواصلة. يتم تقييم الفرق حسب أكبر عدد من الأسئلة المحلولة في أقصر مدة ممكنة وأقل عدد من المحاولات الخاطئة. المسابقة تعتبر من أعرق المسابقات في مجال المعلوماتية حيث إنها تكمن في تمكين المتنافسين من العمل تحت الضغط وإدارة الوقت والعمل الجماعي وإخراج شباب وشابات ذوي قدرات عالية على التحليل المنطقي. علاوة على ذلك فإن هذه المسابقة تفتح فرص ذهبية للمتنافسين حيث تستهدف الشركات والمؤسسات الكبرى كمايكرسوفت، وجوجل هذه الفئة من الشباب ذوي المهارات والكفاءات العالية وتتبناها، اضافة إلى ذلك حصولهم على شهادات معتمدة دوليا في مجال تقنية المعلومات.
