期刊名称：International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology
电子版ISSN：1814-0556
出版年度：2008
卷号：4
期号：1
页码：120-130
出版社：University of the West Indies
摘要：The Sultanate of Oman (Oman) is a Middle Eastern country that is eager to prepare its students to compete more effectively in global higher education and commerce markets. Roughly the size of Minnesota, Oman is encircled by the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. It has a population of approximately 2.3 million, 550,000 of whom are expatriates (many are temporary workers). Almost half of the population is under 18 years of age (Ministry of National Economy, 2003; p. 3). In order to prepare its young population for the future, Oman has undertaken efforts to provide continuing professional development opportunities for its teachers and to modernize both training methods and content. One such effort, the Oman Online Teacher Training (OOTT)project, involved a limited pilot test of the development and implementation of e-learning.The OOTT project was funded by the U.S. Department of State's Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) in partnership with the Omani Ministry of Education (MOE). It was implemented over a 17-month period, between February 20, 2006 and July 31, 2007. Under MEPI, the United States and Middle East countries, such as Oman, partner in funding programs to bring about structural and institutional reform in the Middle East so "democracy can spread, education can thrive, economies can grow, and women can be empowered" (http://mepi.state.gov/). OOTT was managed by Creative Associates International Incorporated (CREATIVE)1 and implemented by Seward Incorporated International (Seward) based in Minneapolis, Minnesota (http://international.sewardinc.com/), which sub-contracted with CAII to undertake this project. Seward works with clients in the United States and around the world and specializes in online learning design, development, implementation, and evaluation.This article describes the work completed through the partnership between the Omani MOE project staff and the Seward team. It describes the project goals and deliverables, the actions partners took to achieve the desired outcomes, the challenges partners faced, and the project outcomes attained
