|
|
Tawhida El-Askary, Director, Arabic Language Program,
University of Houston
|
| I have been using the Arab Academy courses with my students
at the University of Houston since 2002, both to complement my 'live' classes
and to deliver 'online' Arabic language courses. My students and I have
been more than impressed. Activities are highly interactive and are fun
to work on. I am still amazed at how those courses are making use of advantages
of the medium (in terms of adapting program to meet learners' styles, drilling
students in an engaging way, providing immense reading and listening activities).
One of the oustanding features about Arab Academy is the writing requirements.
Students are required to write in Arabic from the very first day of studies.
The Arab Academy team sends back corrections to students, listing and categorizing
types of students' mistakes in a table. Teachers who wish to do the correction
for their own students, are provided with an online system (for the correction
of written mistakes) to follow.
To conclude, I highly recommend the Arab Academy program. Teachers and students taking full advantage of Arab Academys curriculum will find it a great addition to most traditional language classes. The online exercises may be repeated as often as needed, unlike an hours class, and the random generation of problems in many exercises provides seemingly infinite variation. On the other hand, students dont have to spend excessive amounts of time on concepts they grasp quickly, as they might in a traditional classroom. Required interaction on both Arabic and non-Arabic message boards provides more sense of a learning community than is often found in a classroom, where social pressures to conform, avoid looking foolish, and not talk too much may limit student participation. The Arab Academy extends our office hours to all times of day as teachers are actively and continuously involved on the message boards, and teacher feedback to individual questions is provided within 24 hours. Students can pursue their concerns and questions without feeling theyre wasting the time of the other students, and all students must complete the exercises for themselves, so theres no hiding behind stronger students as often occurs in class. Additionally, Arab Academys rigorous system of registration, scoring, and certification provides a sense that the work in progress is leading to a final grade and academic credit, so motivation is likely to remain high. Although the program is designed for individual learning, Arab Academy also packages its courses to meet the needs of institutions K-12 schools, Islamic schools, and universities - whether they wish to provide self-study for credit, implement the program fully in an instructor-led context, or use it to supplement classroom instruction, with involvement of Arab Academys teaching and technical staff at whatever level needed. |
| Copyrights © 1996 -
Arab Academy for Electronic & Information Technology Services, All Rights
Reserved
Address: Arab Academy: Learn Arabic Language Online (Arabic Language Courses) 3 Kamil El-Shinnawi Street (Formerly: Al-Nabataat Street), Garden City 11451, Cairo, Egypt Tel.: +2 012 218 0305, E-mail: info@arabacademy.com |
| The Arab Academy is the world's leading
provider of online Arabic language courses. Learn Arabic Online, Learn Arabic Language Online Online Courses in Modern Standard Arabic, Colloquial Arabic, Islamic Arabic, Business Arabic. Learn Arabic language online, and transfer credit hours to your institution! Arabic language courses for all age groups and all language levels! Online Arabic language proficiency tests! Online Arabic language placement tests! |