The ELC Professional Development Committee, Ibri College of Technology, organised a TES Talk programme on Tuesday, 19 February 2020 at 1 pm in the Lecture Theatre (Engineering Building). The talk was given by Mr Rashid Al Hinai (ADFA) and was about using TED in the English Language Teaching for Foundation Programme students. He emphasised that such platforms will give ELT practitioners and students a real opportunity for self-learning.
Mr Faisal Al Shamali presented the closing remarks. He congratulated and thanked Mr Rashid Al Hinai for his powerful, enthusiastic, and impactful speech. He added that the TES Talk programme would allow ELC staff to share their teaching experience in micro and macro cosmic teaching, learning, and atmosphere.
Mr Ahmed Al Mamari handed a certificate and plaque of appreciation to the guest speaker.
The Quality Department (QD) from the Ministry of Manpower (MoM) paid a three-day visit to Ibri College of Technology from 11 to 13 February 2020. The purpose of the visit was to discuss theQD feedback on Institutional Standards Assessment Application (ISAA) version 4.0,observe if the Operational Teams have incorporated their feedback and answer queries, if any, for clarification.The QD team who visited the college included:
- Mr Younis Ali Al Balushi
- Dr Nida Mallare
- Dr Bennet Ebenzer
- Mr Waseem Hashim
The three-day schedule was arranged as per the respective standards.
On Day 1, 11 February 2020, the first session was conducted in the Dean’s meeting room to welcome the visitors and update them about the progress of each standard. The Chairs of the standards attended this meeting and presented the ongoing progress of their respective standards to the QD team. Then they were escorted to the VIP room. Every standard had a session of two and a half hours with the QD team.
Day-1: Standards 1, 5 and 9
Day-2: Standards 8, 6 and 4
Day-3: Standards 7 and 2
At the beginning of every session, the Dean introduced the QD team to the Operational Team members. In general, he briefed about the objective of the session and emphasizedon the session’svalue for improving the upcoming version of ISAAv5.0. He requested the members of Operational Teams to seek any clarification if required.
The Operational Team members and the QD team discussed general comments on ISAA version 4 and the specific comments on each criterion. The use of ADRI and the write-up flow was examined during discussions. The QD team entertained all queries of the Operational Team members comprehensively.
The QD team appreciated the considerable college progress in enriching the ISAA and discussed the next steps that could be taken.
On Day-3 at 3:00PM all sessions were completed successfully. The Dean extended his thanks to the QD team for their valuable and continuous guidance. The QD team members appreciated the cooperative and active participation of the Operational Teams and the hospitality of IbriCT management. They added that they would be glad to provide additional assistance such as providing supporting materials or further clarification.
The Dean concluded the sessions by thanking the unlimited support, guidance and cooperation of the Directorate General of Technical Education (DGTE), Dr Abdulhakim Al Ismaili, Asssistant DGTE,Dr Ali AlMugheri, Experts and Performance Enhancement Team (PET) on Quality Assurance in particular and other processes in general.This support has resulted in a positive impact and added value to the ongoing progress of the college performance.
The Research and Consultancy Committee, Engineering Department, conducted a guest lecture on “Research Opportunities in Oman in the Field of Renewable Energy” on 13 February 2020, 11 am to 12 pm, n the Free Access Lab to all Engineering Department faculty members.
Dr Sharmila Deve Venkatachalam, Lecturer, was the resource speaker, and explained importance of renewable energy usage in Oman; initiatives taken by Oman’s energy sector so far; energy resources available in Oman; plans for renewable energy mix in Oman’s energy sector; and the current scenario of Oman’s energy sector. These detailed scenario discussions help to find active research areas in the renewable energy sector.
Furthermore, the speaker discussed the optimal allocation of renewable energy resources; different optimisation techniques available; MPPT for solar and wind power; power quality improvement based on Oman’s grid structure; hybrid renewable energy sources; restructuring of Oman’s power system; deregulation of Oman’s energy market; waste management of renewable energy; potential resources available in Oman and unnoticed issues in the renewable energy sector. These topics cover the research scope in Electrical, Electronics, Mechanical, Information Technology and Business studies.
The speaker concluded the wide research opportunities in implementation of renewable energy resources in Oman’s energy sector.
Ibri College of technology regularly organises blood donation camps in association with the Regional Hospital, Ministry of Health, Ibri. A blood donation camp was held on 4 February 2020. Hospitals keep stock of different groups of blood in their blood bank to meet emergency needs during surgery conditions. As a part of community support, students and staff donated 30 units of blood during the camp.
Benefits of blood donation:
- Reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes by reducing the viscosity of the blood.
- Risk of cancer is minimised by the reduction of excess iron in the blood.
- Fitness is ensured by burning excess calories.
“Donate blood to save lives”
Mr Mohammed Al-Sakiti, an HRM lecturer and the head of IEU, participated in the 1st International Conference on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education from 10 to 12 February 2020 at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU). Different themes have been discussed in the conference, including active learning, learning space design, critical thinking and professional development. Mr Mohammed presented a research paper in the professional development theme titled “The Impact of Informal Learning on the Professional Development of Academics”.
On Tuesday, 28 January 2020 students from Ibri College of Technology (IbriCT) visited the Military Technological College (MTC), Muscat. The objectives of the visit were primarily to establish a joint collaboration and exchange experiences between the two colleges.
The college visited the Military Technological College in coordination with the liaison officer, First Lieutenant Jamal bin Nasser bin Ali Al Sudairy. The students arrived at 11 am, and a reception was provided by the MTC. This was followed by a presentation explaining the brilliance of the scientific college of the MTC.
The following facilities were explored:
- Network Room of the Information Technology and Systems Department
- Workshop of the Information Technology and Systems Department
- Server room in the Information Technology Department
- Aviation Engineering Workshop
- Systems engineering workshop
At the end of this programme, a memorial gift was presented by the head of Information Technology and Systems Department to IbriCT, which was received on behalf of the college by the visiting supervisor Mr Qasim Al Yaqoubi, Student Affairs Specialist - IbriCT.
Overall, ten students visited MTC along with the supervisor.
The general feedback score for the visit was 4.65.
Fatma Al Mandhari conducted an awareness session for Information Technology Department staff on 30 January 2020 at 02:30 pm. At the beginning of the session, an introduction was given about the Human Resource Committee (HRC). The main role of this committee was discussed along with its responsibilities, such as assisting the HRD in identifying the training programs for each department and centre. The role is mainly to assist and follow up with all activities conducted by the Human Resource Department (HRD). The chair of this committee is Mr Rashid Al-Hinai, the Assisting Dean of Financial and Administrative Affairs (ADFA).
Later in the session, four policies were discussed which are Handover, Staff Grievances, Staff Severance and Benchmarking policies. The statement, scope and reasons for each policy were discussed in detail.
Dr Laly Antoney, QAD ambassador to the Information Technology Department, conducted an awareness session on the College Document System (CDS) on 28 January 2020 at 2 pm in Lab A109.
The purpose of the session was to orientate staff on the intended purpose of the CDS, naming norms of filing, methodology, and types of personal portfolio folders for staff to be created, including the roles and duties of Information Technology staff in the maintenance of CDS.
Thirty-three staff members attended the session. The session concluded at 2.20 pm.
Registration Committee of the Business Studies Department organized the Student Induction Programme in coordination with the Business Society, LRC (Learning Resource Committee) and CRC (Curriculum Review Committee) for the students joined in Diploma 1st Year in the AY 2019-2020, Semester 2, starting from 4th February 2020 to 6th February 2020.
The registration committee members highlighted the vision and mission of the college, organization structure, different courses offered in Business Studies Department, passing grades, assessment methods, probation status, course withdrawal, dismissal cases, and other details. Explained the role of advisors and how it helps the students in pursuing their studies especially while choosing a specialization and choosing the right combination of courses to optimize their learning. The registration committee members further advised the students to get in touch with their respective advisors constantly for further details.
The business society committee members gave the details of student clubs in the business department and motivated the students to participate in those activities for their overall personality development.
In addition, the LRC committee members also created awareness about the E- tools available in the college for an effective teaching-learning process in this programme. More than 60 students were benefits from these induction sessions.
As a Series of Business Society Activities in coordination with Entrepreneurship Committee, organized a “Workshop on Viestintä” for first-year diploma students on 4th Feb 2020 (Tuesday) at 11:00 am in Multipurpose Hall. Dr. Manjula Veerabhadrappa started the workshop with a presentation stating the importance of communication, elaborating several ways of communication, detailing the barriers of communication with a small video. After the video presentation, a group activity was conducted for 100 students dividing them into 10 students a team with a unique name. Each team was assigned an activity to explore their communication skills and personal talents. During the event, the team’s performance was closely monitored and assessed by two judges. Later, prizes were distributed to the winning team and concluded the session at 1 pm. In their conclusion ceremony, Business Society thanked Dr. Abdulrahman (HOD), Mr. Mohammed Sakiti, Mr. Manikandan, Dr. Loganathan, and Business Society Staffs & Student Members for support and cooperation towards the workshop.
