At the invitation of the College of Da`wah and Fundamentals of Religion, a team from the Deanship of E-Learning and Distance Education led by His Excellency Dr. Khalid Al-Mutairi, the Dean of E-Learning and Distance Education and Director of the UQU General Department for Educational Services, visited the college on Sunday, 26 Jumada Al-Thani, 1440 A.H., corresponding to 3 March, 2019 A.C., to hold a joint working session and explore the prospects for joint cooperation between them.

The session was attended by His Excellency Dr. Faisal Ghazzawi, the Dean of the College of Da`wah and Fundamentals of Religion, His Excellency Dr. Hamdi bin Hameed Al-Qarqiqri, the Vice Dean of the College for Educational Affairs and Development, His Excellency Dr. Nawwaf bin Ma`id Al-Harthi, Vice-Dean of the College of Da`wah and Fundamentals of Religion for Postgraduate Studies, His Excellency Dr. Yasin bin Hafizh Qari, the Vice Dean for Development and Entrepreneurship, Dr. Fahd bin Muhammad Al-Qurashi, the Vice Dean for Development and Community Service, His Excellency Dr. Ahmad Al-Firaih, the Head of Quranic Recitations Department, His Excellency Dr. Hisham ibn Abdul-Aziz Al-Hallaf, the Head of the Qur'an and Sunnah Department, and His Excellency Dr. Abdullah bin Ahmad Al-Ghamdi, the Head of the Aqidah (Islamic Creed) Department.

The team from the Deanship of E-Learning and Distance Education included His Excellency Dr. Yasser Al-Hazmi, the Vice Dean for Academic Development and Community Service, His Excellency Dr. Ahmad Muhammad Hameed, the Vice Dean for Technical Affairs, His Excellency Mr. Ra'id Nabil Al-Ghazzawi, the Head of the Information Systems Department, Dr. Hasan Al-Sabbagh, the Head of Digital Production Department, His Excellency Dr. Mundhir Abdul-Qadir Al-Hamzawi, the Head of the Training Department, and His Excellency Dr. Lassaad Smirani, the Head of the Public Relations and Media Department.

At the beginning of the session, the Dean of E-Learning and Distance Education highlighted the importance of these field visits and joint meetings to further strengthen partnerships and support collaborations in order to enhance the services provided to students and improve educational outcomes. He also stressed that the UQU General Department for Educational Services is examining the proposals of colleges, deanships, and educational institutes to seek the best solutions and provide advanced educational aids.

Then, Dr. Yasser Al-Hazmi gave a brief presentation on e-learning styles and explained the policies, rules, and regulations applied in developing academic curricula at the deanship. He stressed that the provision of e-curricula has become an important requirement to achieve the overall quality in university education. The UQU Deanship of Students Affairs, represented by the Deanship of E-Learning and Distance Education, seeks to promote a culture of e-learning and produce the largest number of academic courses possible in electronic format.

He stressed that the Deanship of E-Learning and Distance Education builds partnerships with lecturers and departments to review and transform traditional curricula into e-curricula, which is one of the modern learning styles, and make these e-curricula available on the e-learning portal with continuous follow-up, enrichment, and modernization services.

Dr. Ahmed Hameed also highlighted the benefit yielded by the support e-learning tool currently adopted by the UQU. He pointed out that traditional classes cannot be replaced with virtual ones and that e-learning supports face-to-face learning in classrooms. E-learning employs cutting-edge technology to facilitate the explanation of curricula using modern information technologies. His Excellency Dr. Khalid Al-Mutairi, the Dean of E-Learning and Distance Education, pointed out that the e-learning system provides students with a safe and reliable learning environment that avoids them having to navigate the internet, which abounds with both good and bad sources. Students can find the required knowledge and information on the e-learning portal provided by the UQU faculty members.

Dr. Hasan Al-Sabbagh presented an outline for the e-courses that were modeled on the curricula of the Biography of the Prophet and Islamic Inheritance e-courses.

Mr. Ra'id Al-Ghazzawi also explained the tools offered by the e-learning portal, and the most important tools available, such as content, delivery folder tool, e-tests, virtual classes, and forums.

The session included healthy discussions among participants about the prospects for future cooperation between the College of Da`wah and the Fundamentals of Religion and the Deanship of E-Learning and Distance Education to develop e-courses, the Certified Trainer Program, and the Saudi Resources Network for Open Educational Resources (Shams).

The dean of the college commended the important topics discussed in this meeting and the rich and diverse themes. He stressed the need for holding such meetings periodically within the framework of consolidating the partnerships between the two institutions.

At the end of the meeting, His Excellency Dr. Khalid Al-Mutairi, the Dean of E-Learning and Distance Education, extended his thanks and appreciation to His Excellency Prof. Abdullah bin Omar Bafail, the UQU President, and His Excellency Dr. Abdul-Aziz bin Rashad Suruji, the Vice President for Educational Affairs for their endless support for the deanship's programs and activities.