1. Background
By 2013, there were still no Arabic Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) platforms offering academic courses in the Middle East. This was a concern because e-learning is capable of revolutionizing education, and has many advantages.
2. Client Requirements
The client asked eSpace to design the first Arabic MOOC platform to serve the Middle East. That platform was to include free academic courses in Arabic in different areas and specialties, and it had to be easy to use.
3. The Challenges
The platform had to include features that made it easy to use for admins, instructors and students, and it was important to enable smooth communication between instructors and students. Because the scope of the project was not initially clearly defined, eSpace had to define the scope more specifically. We were also required to design an advanced report system and an updated certificate system. Another challenge was to make sure that one system served multiple entities effectively.
4. The Solutions
eSpace assigned a product owner to the client so as to put priorities in place and develop the first MOOC prototype for what would be known as ‘Rwaq’. We designed an interface that made it easy for instructors to apply their content, and we developed many other features that facilitated usage by students and made uploading lectures easy.
eSpace also designed a report system that enabled instructors to view lectures, assignments, course submission reports and graphs, and to view a detailed report for each student in the course. The instructor was able to update course certificate settings and to send certificates to students who had passed after the course was completed.
The system enabled messaging between instructors and students, and all features were designed to be responsive and were tested on major desktop browsers, tablets and smartphones. When implementing the system, we made sure it would serve any organization wishing to use it privately.
5. The Outcome
Rwaq.org is today a one-million-user platform in the MENA region. Daily active users stand at around 7000 people, and the system is currently used by four platforms. Aanaab.com, Badir, Nora and JTP.
