The Information Technology Department, through the Staff Development Committee, conducted a workshop on “Android Mobile Application Development Using MIT App Inventor” on 6 November 2018 in Lab A-109.
The Entrepreneurship Committee of the Department of Business Studies, in collaboration with the Career Guidance Office – IbriCT, organised the Entrepreneur Experience Sharing Programme in the Lecture Theatre, on 23 October 2018 from 10.00am to 11.00am for students.
The objective of the session was to motivate and inspire students with real-world experiences which were reflected in the presentation given by Mr Mohammed Abdullah Al Madarsi, owner of Gym Café, Ibri that offers coffee with a variety of flavours to its customers.
In this lively session Mr Mohammed shared with the students his experiences how he ventured into the business world, the entrepreneurship process he went through with new ideas, the difficulties faced and how he overcame them. He also enlightened them on the various ways to find sources of new ideas and how to start a small business from them.
After the presentation, students were participated in an activity competition to select and present the best business idea and were suitably awarded with a gift. In addition, a stall was displayed by Gym Café from 10am. to 2pm in college reception area for all. Free samples of their products were distributed as a part of the marketing strategy of a business. The presentation ended with the interaction of students to present their views about entrepreneurship ideas.
Some 60 students attended and benefited from the session. As a token of appreciation, a certificate was issued to the presenter by the staff members along with the student counsel coordinator. The event was successfully conducted and for this, on behalf of the Entrepreneurship Committee, I am thankful to the college management, HoD and HoS of Business Studies Department, Gym Café and a special word of thanks to the Career Guidance Office Coordinator, Mr Zaid Al Badi, and faculty members of the Business Studies Department.
نظم مكتب التوجية الوظيفي بالتعاون مع صندوق الرفد برنامج زيارات للفرع المتنقل في ولايات محافظة الظاهرة حيث قام بزيارة الكلية يوم الأثنين الموافق 12/11/2018 وذلك في حديقة كلية التقنية بعبري لتعريف الطلبة بالخدمات التي يقدمها الصندوق حيث اشار المدير إلى تسعة برامج: ( مورد , تأسيس ,ريادة ,تعزيز البائعة المتجولون , المرأة الريفية, التوكيلات التجارية, المشاريع الصناعية , المشاريع السياحية ). و نطاق الفئة المستهدفئة هم: الباحثون عن العمل,الخاضعون لقانون الضمان الاجتماعي , الراغبون في تاسيس المشاريع الصغيرة والمتوسطة , روائد العمل الراغبون في تطوير مشاريعهم وتسويعها , المرأة الريفية الراغبة في تأسيس او دعم المشاريع الخاصة.
As part of ELC Research Consultancy with the collaboration of the Professional Development committee initiative, Mr Rufus Isiorho gave an informative presentation on “Neuroplasticity Concepts within ESL/EFL” on 23rd of November 2018 at IbriCT.
The three objectives of the presentation: Issues with high stakes testing, Neuroplasticity Concepts, and fostering grit in students, generated immense interest among the learned audience.
The introduction of high stakes tests prompted the audience to air their views, the audience's perceptions and opinions were thought-provoking. Mr Rufus put across the negative aspects of the high stakes testing that listed high-stress levels during the week leading up to the test(s) and feelings of powerlessness and defeat. It also underlined the inability of teachers to claim that they use the curriculum in the best interest of their students, and the teachers within the audience agreed with the adverse effects of curriculum narrowing. Mr Isiorho listed surface learning/ memorisation and bullying as damaging factors that affect students within a high stakes testing curriculum.
An interesting video on mandated standardised tests roused interest in the concept, it captured the fears, rejections and rebuttal of parents who were of the firm opinion that the standardised tests do not help children to achieve high standards of intelligence; The parents also disagreed that test scores evaluate a child's level of intelligence.
The presenter introduced the teachers to the Self-Determination Theory, which explains how people are centrally concerned with motivation. Another informative video on different concepts of Neuroplasticity showed that the brain is adaptable and not hardwired. A new thought establishes new connections in the brain, and when someone stops thinking in a certain way over a period, the neural pathways disconnect. An individual can rewire their brain purposely and activate their creative abilities by focusing on new concepts/ activities, diligently, until the process becomes an automatic response, thereby the individual knows the connections have been made.
ELC Teachers also benefitted from a TedTalk on education by Ms Angela Lee Duckworth. Ms Duckworth emphasised that educators need to have a better understanding of students' learning abilities from a motivational and psychological perspective. She stated that health, looks and IQ are not the significant predictors of success but that it is grit. Ms Duckworth defined grit as passion and perseverance, perseverance to stay focused on a goal until it has come into fruition. She came up with an interesting analogy that stated that girt was like a marathon and not a sprint to achieve a long-term goal. Ms Duckworth also observed that as educators and researchers, we know very little about how to build grit, but she prudently outlined grit as inversely related to measures of talent and intelligence.
Mr Rufus used the video to demonstrate that although we as educators may not know how to build grit within our students, by teaching students about how powerful their brains are and simplified neuroplasticity concepts; it could be a step forward in getting students to develop a grittier mind set regarding their English language education.
The presentation was judiciously used by the teachers in the audience, to share their opinions robustly and were well received by the presenter.
The event ended with a gentle reminder to ELC Staff from Mr Jabez Syam . He requested teachers to take initiative to join the research groups and contribute to the growth of ELC.
Dr Sultan handed over the certificate of appreciation to Mr Rufus Isiorho for his informative presentation and contribution.
The ELC Staff Professional Development Committee organised a training workshop on ways and techniques of giving feedback on Tuesday, 6 November 2018 at 12:05pm in the VIP Room. Ms Ola Bakri, an instructor at University of Buraimi, presented the training in an effective and interactive way. Ms Ola stated that feedback is an integral part of teaching and it takes place in every class but in different ways. She shared different ways of giving successful feedback to students. Dr Sultan Al Ghafri, head of the ELC, stressed the idea of cooperation between the ELC and The Centre of Foundation Studies at UoB in all sectors in the future. Mr Thomas Saxby, Acting Head of CFS, Head of Department, Foundation Programme, focused on the mutual visits and conducting training workshops in the near future. At the end of the event, Mr Younus Al Za’abi, the assistant dean for academic affairs (ADAA), handed over certificates, shields, and gifts to Ms Ola and Mr Thomas, thanking them for their valuable contribution.
The English Language Centre's Staff Professional Development Committee organised a paper presentation on WTC in the EFL Classroom: Beyond the Barriers of Monolingualism. It was conducted on Tuesday, 30 October 2018, by Mr Mokhtar Lafi. Mr Lafi emphasised the importance of L1 in helping in learning and acquiring of L2. After the talk, Mr Younus Al Za’abi, the assistant dean for academic affairs (ADAA), opened the discussion on the role of L1 in language learning and acquiring of L2. Mr Za’abi showed his preference that the Arabic speaking teachers should encourage students to use L2 effectively inside and outside the classroom. Mr Al Za'abi handed over a certificate of appreciation to the presenter.
The ELC E-Learing and Staff Professional Development Committees organised a Turnitin in Moodle workshop on Tuesday, 30 October 2018, in Lab 5B. Mr Abdullah Al Shukeili, head of the ETC, provided training for ELC staff which will help them and their students to use Turnitin to avoid plagiarism.
The ELC Staff Professional Development Committee orginzed a training workshop on academic advising on Tuesday 30.10.2018. Mr. Abdullah Al Balushi( Head of Academic Counciling, ELC) conducted the training and showed the importance of academic advising in helping students develop their study and life skills.
As a part of our staff development programmes, the Research and Consultancy Committee, in coordination with the Staff Development Committee, organised a seminar on “Responsible authorship and publication practices: figuring out genuine and predatory journals”. The date and venue of the presentation were 11 October 2018, in room B111, Engineering Building. The research speaker was Dr Rehna Veerankutty Jameela, Lecturer, Engineering Department, Ibri College of Technology.
In the presentation, in the form of class room seminar, topics of the research work which were presented are as follows: Rise of Predatory Publishing, Scholarly Publishing Models, problems that predatory publishing causes for science and society, criteria for determining predatory publishers, how to identify a bogus journal and find the right journal to publish our valuable work. The staff of the Engineering Department were the participants. The seminar, followed by fruitful discussions, motivated the participant staff to carry out research work and publish high quality articles in high impact factor genuine journals. The programme ended with appraisals on the presented seminar, along with requests for similar types, i.e. interdisciplinary programmes, in future.
Report by Research and Consultancy Committee, Engineering Department, Ibri College of Technology
The Risk Management Committee of the Engineering Department organised a workshop on Risk Identification Techniques on 5 November 2018 from 2pm to 3pm.
Mr J. Stephen Leon, coordinator of the Risk Management Committee for the Engineering Department, conducted the workshop.
The presentation started with a detailed explanation about different types of risks and how to categorise the identified areas in which risks occur. In the view of categorising risks, different risk identification techniques such as the Structured What If Technique (SWIFT), Scenario Analysis (SA) and Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA) were discussed in detail.
At the end of the workshop session, an activity was conducted with participants to familiarise risk identification techniques, in which the participants were grouped according to their departmental committees, to analyse risks related to their committees.
All the participants actively participated in the workshop and activities.
