Al-Diwan brings you the latest news and analysis from the publishing and academic worlds that relate to pedagogy and knowledge production.

News and stories with a focus on the publishing industry, education, and technology from across the Arab world. 

EdX and the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development recently announced the creation of the Arabic-language online education portal Edraak. Anant Agarwal, edX’s president, answers a few of Tadween’s questions about the collaboration that will bring MOOCs (massive open online courses) to the Arab world. 

The growing phenomenon of MOOCs (massive open online courses) is no longer contained to the English language. After announcing partnerships that will create MOOCs in Chinese and in French, EdX recently announced that it will be partnering with the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development to offer Arabic-language MOOCs.

With a series of articles that range in focus from universities in the Gulf to Hezbollah’s private schooling, the Financial Times released a special report on 20 October 2013 highlighting education in the Arab world. Unfortunately, the Financial Times is under a paywall, where users can only access up to eight articles a month unless they pay a subscription fee. As there are ten articles in the special report, above the restricted limit for free users, Tadween has created a roundup of the articles with links to the original pieces.

Tadween Publishing interviewed Sarah Kendzior, a researcher and op-ed columnist for Al Jazeera English, about the growth of the open access movement in academia and the rise of MOOCs (massive open online courses). 

The 2013 Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA)will be held 10-13 October 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The gathering represents a crossing point for scholarship in the field of Middle East studies and will feature over 200 panelists on a variety of topics as well as a four-day film festival and book exhibit.

As part of Tadween Publishing’s Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative (MESPI) we are pleased to introduce a new initiative, the building of Tadween Educators Network (TEN).