The E-Learning Competence Center (ELCC) was established in 2004 within the framework of an agreement of cooperation between the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and Cisco Systems. ELCC is Egypt’s leading organization in e-learning, with a track record of developing and delivering a wide array of world-class e-learning courses, web communications, and e-content. It sets quality standards for e-learning, develops best practice research and expert consultancy in e-learning, and shapes the first wave of facilitators and e-learning trainers for the market.
The Center serves as a hub for the integration, development, and promotion of e-learning content of relevance to the Egyptian market. Its web-based curricula are a unique synergy of subject experts and e-learning expertise spanning instructional design‚ creative visual design, and software design techniques.
ELCC employs cutting-edge ICTs in educational reform, being the driving force for human, economic, and social development in Egypt. The aim is to enhance workforce performance, help the country gain a competitive edge, and meet the labor market’s needs at national and global levels. This is achieved by carrying out national programs and projects aimed at attaining development goals and improving the work environment.
Through its activities, ELCC strategically aims to lead and develop Egypt’s e-learning industry and leverage its resources and develop an exemplary model of e-learning that integrates global quality in a local context.
With the main focus on human resource development through e-learning, ELCC serves professionals and entrepreneurs through different programs. Throughout its portfolio, the Center demonstrates its innovation capacity by translating learners’ needs into meaningful programs and e-learning applications that help develop a future generation armed with knowledge and skills in business, management, and ICTs.
ELCC implements a number of projects, most notably:
e-ProfEng Data, a project by the European Union (EU), aimed at supporting education. The project is a response to the pressing need for the engineering community to contribute to understanding Lifelong Learning (LLL) issues, challenges, and opportunities facing engineering. The issues that this project addresses include defining the qualification gap between engineering and the labor market in Egypt, and developing an innovative LLL framework for partner universities, among others. The project is co-implemented by nine Egyptian and European universities.
International Diploma for School Teachers in STEM Education (eSTEM), another EU project for supporting education development. The aim is to create a dual (university-school) integrated diploma for developing a new generation of STEM teachers in Egypt, able to provide adequate and innovative teaching in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, embrace the STEM philosophy, and bridge the gap between school education and the methodologies needed for future pre-university education evolution.
IT-based International Diploma and Professional Certificate in Clinical Toxicology (ITCT), a project that helps raise awareness of the hazards of chemicals and the threatening increased rate of chemical use and abuse in various industrial, domestic, and home applications.
Online Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine (OPPM) postgraduate program, implemented by 13 academic and non-academic bodies from different countries. The project contributes to improving pharmacy education and scientific research and achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Egypt and the world. It involves a diploma and master’s degree in pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine, the first of their kind in the Middle East.
ELCC role in the project is to train faculty members in producing interactive e-content and maintain a high quality by ensuring that the content meets international standards. The Center also oversees content production and development. OPPM reflects the Egyptian government’s commitment to advancing education and scientific research in the medical industry, and providing scientific e-content to pharmacists and doctors inside and outside Egypt in line with SDGs.
Nubia Integrated Development Project, targeting teachers in Nubian schools to develop their IT skills and introduce a modern teaching strategy based on e-learning solutions and techniques. So far, 28 teachers from Abu Simbel, 10 from the Red Crescent Society, 54 from Kalabsha, and 20 from Toshka have been trained.
Draw your Future, an initiative implemented in collaboration with the Egyptian ICT Trust Fund and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. ELCC trained 200 persons with disabilities (PwDs) in web development and the effective use of social media. The content development team at ELCC developed online material to facilitate access to training.
e-Laboratories for Physics and Engineering Education, which aims to create an online engineering campus for lab tutorials in physics and engineering. Students can access lab tutorials, conduct experiments, and complete lab sheets and assignments from home. In addition, they can communicate and interact with instructors online while receiving the full benefit of regular classrooms. Partners in the project include Egyptian and European universities and non-academic organizations.
Building on its immense efforts, ELCC received international recognition from renowned organizations. The Center is certified as both Cisco Academy Training Center (CATC) and Cisco Networking Associate (CCNA) regional academy to train and support instructors and students and establish academies. It is also an official training center for Cisco Entrepreneur Institute and a local partner to the Global Entrepreneurship Program (GEP).
Moreover, ELCC established alliances with a number of partners, including Siemens, Microsoft, IBM, Middlesex University, Asdaa NGO, and Knowledge Horizon, an international knowledge organization.
The Center accredited hundreds of academies in different governorates, with a special focus on disadvantaged and remote areas. It also accredited several e-learning centers to deliver Cisco Networking Academy programs.
Cisco Networking Academy is a global IT and cybersecurity education program that provides best-in-class courses, tools, and resources to help people from all backgrounds participate in the digital economy. The program helps trainees acquire the skills needed for today’s jobs and empowers students to network with their peers and instructors and land decent jobs.
ELCC offers a wide variety of services that facilitate learning and communication with students and help optimize educational programs and access to information through multimedia. The Center created the National Delivery Network (NDN), a nationwide network of e-learning outlets for instructor training, support, and delivery of e-learning technology and web-based content.
The Center also developed the Lifelong Learning Portal, which acts as the hub of lifelong e-learning in Egypt. The Portal provides learners, e-learning practitioners, and scholars with open access to an extensive pool of knowledge resources and e-learning material in an easy-to-use, consistent, and highly interactive manner.
ELCC serves as the central vehicle for bridging the gap among Egyptian SMEs, knowledge workers, and the global economy. The center equips young Egyptian professionals with the cutting-edge business and technology skills they need to help their businesses become efficient, productive, and competitive. It disseminates e-learning quality standards in Egypt and reinforces adherence to them by local players, and promotes and cultivates an e-learning culture that ensures equal access to learning opportunities and efficient use of ICTs. Additionally, the Center works to shape the first wave of e-learning leaders by developing their entrepreneurial skills, builds the country’s human resource capacities, and helps create job opportunities.
