All Answers: Re: [pakgrid] Masters in Innovative Technologies in Education (MsITE)

Wednesday, 12 June 2013

Re: [pakgrid] Masters in Innovative Technologies in Education (MsITE)

Dear Asif,

Indeed its a fabulous idea and anything that works in the area of bridging the gap between different discipline clearly has lot of scope in future.

But its very important to see/know who will run this project? A group of Educationists? or a group of Computer Scientists or someone else? Clearly all these people have important role in the program but I think they cannot run this program.

Just think about what we have done with the programs of Bioinformatics in our universities... May be I am wrong but I think students doing bioinformatics are the most confused ones in Pakistan. The reason behind that is they have some courses in Computer Science and few from Biology ... And nobody knows how to connect them ... A Bioinformatician (especially students) in Pakistan, reminds me the phrase "Jack of all ....". I know its not an easy task, many world class universities are still struggling with the interdisciplinary areas of studies. But the way we are handling this discipline is way not good !!

NUST is undoubtedly one of the leading institutions of Pakistan, have lot of respect with quality education. Only institutions like NUST can take such unconventional steps. I am sure if someone has designed such an innovative program, defiantly have proper vision for that. I would like to know the capacity to run this program? And this can easily be measured by looking at the faculty available for this program.

With the first mail we can clearly see the vision but it misses the capacity part!

I am sure all these point have already been discussed and honorable Profs. like Dr. Arshad already have solutions to all these points. My request is to make all these information public so that other institutions can also follow the same guideline.

Regards..

Salman.

On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 12:32 PM, Asif Jan <asif.jan@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Salman,

Information technology has been a key aspect glueing disparate subject areas together and also in bringing innovations to various other fields. So atleast, to me it seems very fitting that a technology school offers such a course. Offcourse, there are people available, both locally and internationally, who would be willing to be part of such an exciting endeavour.

And in the end, I am happy that someone is doing it, so all credit to Dr. Arshad and his faculty.

Regards

On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 11:51 AM, Salman Toor <salman.toor@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Dr. Arshad Ali,

This looks quite promissing! But I am wondering who will teach this and why "School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science within NUST" will offer this program?

Regards..
Salman.

On Sun, Jun 9, 2013 at 9:24 AM, Dr. Arshad Ali <arshad.ali@seecs.edu.pk> wrote:

Dear All,
NUST is launching a new program "Masters in Innovative Technologies in Education (MsITE)" whic will be a two year long (30 credit hours) semester based program starting this fall at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science within NUST . A background is technology and/or education is recommended but not required. Most courses require lab work and group projects and you will be spending your final semester working on your Master's Thesis. The details are available at the following link http://ite.seecs.nust.edu.pk/root/

This newly started graduate program will provide a design space for mixing and matching of diverse disciplines and research areas thus creating disruptive technologies at the innovative edge of psychology, information technology, graphic design, story telling and drama. It will provide a practical forum to look beyond the obvious, to ask questions not yet asked and to provide innovative solutions that could dramatically improve the way people learn - not only for those who go to a school but also those who can not attend a conventional school.
Educational innovation, driven by a need for continuing education in the labor force, is transforming the global industrial landscape. Moreover, this need has also put a lot of stress on producing dynamic and diverse educational entrepreneurs as well as researchers who can steer the next revolution in education. We are the first program in Pakistan that will address the deficiency of such individuals and aim to create graduates with the ability to "Learn, Think, Apply, Innovate and Educate".

Educational Objectives:

To develop entrepreneurial innovations in educational practice
To evaluate technology's impact on learning and developmetnt

To excel in designing interactive media content and learning applications

Target Industry:

Graduates of this program shall be sought after in the following capactities

Interactive text book design
Schools
Games and Interactive media

Online education companies
Instructional designer, online training
Animation development, children's and adults educational television network

Educational start-ups
War games design and development

May I request feedback on the need and enhancing quality for this program.

Best regards

--
Dr Arshad Ali, Prof & Principal
NUST School of EE&CS
Islamabad, Pakistan

--
Salman Toor, PhD
Uppsala University, Sweden.