Abu Dhabi: The Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi (EAD) has unveiled e-Green, a platform for online environmental education, with a goal of developing the first and most collaborative e-learning portal in the Middle East that is solely dedicated to the environmental sector.
A free-to-use too, the e-Green application aims to raise environmental consciousness while placing a particular emphasis on Abu Dhabi’s environment and preservation. e-Green’s was initially introduced for educational institutions and house to provide information that will be useful to teachers, students and environmental professionals.
Everyone will be able to use the platform when it is ready for public use in 2023, at which point local, regional, and international organizations will be able to upload their educational materials.
“e-Green is a cutting-edge e-learning platform, launched with the goal of becoming the preeminent global reference for environmental e-learning. At this phase we are targeting schools, and, in the future, leading environmental institutions, universities, and international corporate organizations will be able to develop their own content as per EAD guidelines and upload it to the platform.”
Dr. Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri, Secretary General of EAD, revealed about the e-learning platform.
The EAD Secretary General further added that, “Recent developments have contributed to the emergence of e-learning platforms, especially with the acceleration in the field of advanced and innovative technologies. It has become necessary for everyone to adhere to a new lifestyle, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, which contributed to reliance on electronic curricula and educational programs globally. In 2021, 92 million people studied online, and we at EAD would like to ride this wave in a bid to facilitate environmental knowledge in a format that is easy, efficient and user-friendly.”
Speaking on the benefits of e-Green tool, Dr. Al Dhaheri observed that, “The environment is a leading global topic and upcoming generations have become well-versed in it, and through a tool such as e-Green, they will be able to access scientific and well researched information to enhance their knowledge. The courses are in video format with supporting graphics, making them more appealing to young people, who prefer visuals to written or spoken content. This means we can attract the largest possible number of students to e-Green to help enhance their access to information about the environment so they can become future leaders advocating for positive change to save our planet.”
LEARNING PATHS
As of now, there are 8 learning paths available for schools.
First of those is the Sustainable Schools Initiative (SSI), sponsored by BP, an EAD-led program which inspires schools to become more environmentally friendly.
The program which was launched in 2009, has 153 participating schools in Abu Dhabi.
The Sustainable Schools Initiative has 6 learning paths which include;
- Eco-clubs
- Green Audit
- Outdoor Education
- Primary
- Intermediate and
- Advanced
The second topic, Biodiversity, which is backed by ADNOC has 2 learning pathways; Geography of Abu Dhabi and Marine Vertebrates.
There are 53 courses in total, 42 of which are SSI focused. Since they will be well-trained, the SSI courses will aid in encouraging schools to join the initiative. The biodiversity path has 11 courses.
The courses were created using the top international standards for developing e-learning content, and they were optimized to provide the greatest possible user experience. Experts from EAD, the Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK), Emirates Nature – WWF, AZRAQ, and other significant figures in the field are teaching the courses.
A certificate will be provided for participants after the completion of full path which can be shared on social media or printed out from the profile section on the web portal.
In order to achieve this goal, e-Green was built using a specially designed video player that can determine whether a video has fully viewed. It will only give the certificate automatically once all courses of a learning path have finished. Additionally, e-Green has modern “special needs” capabilities and features for color-blind students.