Cooperation between Ain Shams University and Coursera to provide online training courses and professional certificates

Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Metini, President of Ain Shams University, signed a cooperation protocol with the official of the Coursera platform for partnership with universities, Mike Domeno

The signing of the protocol was attended by Prof. Dr. Abdel-Fattah Saoud, Vice President for Education and Student Affairs, Prof. Dr. Omar Al-Husseini, Dean of the College of Engineering, Prof. Dr. Mona Abdel-Aal, Executive Director of the Education Development Department at the university, Prof. Dr. Tamer Al-Nadi, Director of the Grants Office, and Prof. Dr. Mustafa Refaat, Director of Relations Dr. Sherwat Al-Ahmadi, Director of Expatriates Department, Dr. Dalia Youssef, Director of the Central Unit for E-Learning at Ain Shams University, and Professor Sam Legron from the Coursera Foundation.

The collaboration with the Coursera platform came through the Coursera for campus program. Coursera works with over 200 of the world's top universities and industry partners to streamline job-relevant course content and industry alignment by implementing quality and support standards.

Coursera offers more than 5,000 online courses, 1,500 mentorship projects, and 32 professional certifications from leading universities such as ESADE, Imperial College London and Yale University, as well as leading industry partners such as Facebook, Google and IBM.

Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Metini, President of Ain Shams University, expressed his happiness in cooperating with Coursera and stressed that through this cooperation Coursera will provide the opportunity for Ain Shams University students, graduates, faculty and staff to obtain a certificate from the partner university producing the content and Coursera, and this will be under the auspices and review of the university.

Prof. Dr. Abdel Fattah Saoud added that this cooperation came considering the support of Ain Shams University in its journey towards digital transformation and working to consolidate the strong progress that has already been made to include a long-term sustainable educational model in the university and to put Ain Shams University at the forefront of innovation in teaching and learning.

Prof. Dr. Mona Abdel Aal also indicated that one of the most important objectives of the project is to support students to move to an educational model based on competency and competencies and provide a comprehensive experience for all learners at Ain Shams University to access multidisciplinary learning to develop skills in the most sought-after areas and obtain certificates that prove mastery of their skills.

Prof. Dr. Tamer El-Nadi added on the importance of the project in supporting the professional development of faculty members through courses that will help them adapt to new teaching methods and help them use online content.

He emphasized that faculty members will be provided with Coursera course building tools and practical project programs so that they can build their own training courses and projects using Coursera pedagogy tools and models used.

The administrative staff at Ain Shams University will also be supported through sustainable, measurable training to produce administrators who are more able to perform their role skillfully.

It is worth noting that this partnership will allow Ain Shams University affiliates to obtain many certificates at a cost that is much less than the actual cost and value.