Several classrooms the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) are launching educational YouTube channels in accordance with the KSA's "Smart Education" program requirements. These YouTube courses require licensing or an official statement, especially if recording occurs in girls' school. Similar to the regular classroom experience, the broadcast material will not contradict any Islamic or moral principles.
Some teachers have expressed concern that due to the emphasis on official control of educational materials, they will not upload or post videos because of the fear that they unintentionally are disseminating "irregular" content.
This move comes part of the KSA's recent push into alternative and more modern methods of learning.
Last year, KSA's Ministry of Education closed a deal with Smart Technologies to distribute 9,000 Smart interactive whiteboards as well as licenses for Smart Notebook collaborative learning software. Called "Smart boards", these technologies allow teachers to implement interactive learning methods.
The purchase deal stands to date as the largest single sale of interactive white boards in the Middle East region. The deployment is planned to include 6,500 public school classrooms and 2,500 computer laboratories. To ensure that students are provided the full Smart experience, educational upgrade plans for teachers will also be implemented.
Within the next three years, the Saudi Ministry of education plans to turn 50,000 classrooms into Smart interactive ones.
Despite the promising steps taken in the educational field in KSA, a few skeptical voices continue to rise. Earlier this month, Abid Khazandar wrote to the Saudi Gazette questioning if Smart technologies can actually be introduced to public schools, as up to 40 students are in a single class. He points out that although the government allocated over $10.6 billion to the construction of school buildings, in big cities there are no empty plots available to build new schools.