Educational Technology in the Middle East

Abstract

The countries of the Middle East are undergoing rapid change in many areas, and the field of education is illustrative. This is particularly the case for the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC): Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The governments of the GCC are actively striving to lessen their dependence on both their petroleum-based economies as well as the large expatriate populations that make up the majority of human resources in the workplace. One of the solutions to greater independence is through upgrading the national educational systems. Educational technology plays a key role, both as a tool used in education as well as being a conduit toward embedding technological facility into every aspect of their economic development, and thus is an end in itself.