WE HAVE LIFTOFF: On May 19, Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan announced the launch of Edraak, the first nonprofit MOOC platform in Arabic. An initiative of the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development (QRF), the platform was developed through a partnership with Cambridge-based MOOC provider edX and will offer courses (in Arabic) taught at universities like Harvard, MIT, and UC Berkeley. Additionally, Edraak will develop its own courses taught by Arab professionals and university faculty members.
EdX CEO Anant Agarwal spoke on the launch, offering praise for the Edraak initiative: “Today we realize our shared vision to increase access to education for millions of Arabic-speaking students around the globe with Edraak, which will bring the transformational power of education to the Arab world and intellectually hungry youth.”
