In New Agreement with Arab Open University, McGraw-Hill Will Make Powerful Digital Learning Materials Available to Students in Nine Countries

Kuwait City (November 5th, 2018) – A new agreement that expands the collaboration among Arab Open University (AOU), McGraw-Hill and Growmore will make McGraw-Hill’s high quality digital content available to students at AOU’s nine branches in the Middle East and Africa. Students in all major first- and second-year course areas will have access to McGraw-Hill Connect® digital course materials, which research has shown help improve grades, pass rates and retention.

Learning science company McGraw-Hill and Arab Open University have a longstanding relationship, having worked together in recent years towards the digital transition of the university. The two organizations have now decided to take a step further with a three-year agreement. McGraw-Hill will not only supply customized McGraw-Hill Connect materials specially designed to meet the needs of AOU’s instructors and students, but will also act as a strategic partner in AOU’s marketing and social responsibility initiatives.

McGraw-Hill Connect uses adaptive technology to personalize the learning experience for students and help instructors become even more effective. It is used by millions of students globally, and gives educators the flexibility to teach their course their way, while providing students with affordable, engaging products that help them achieve learning outcomes

Growmore, which is McGraw-Hill’s exclusive distributor in Kuwait, is amongst the largest learning solutions providers in the region with 14 campus bookstores serving federal and private higher education institutions.

“Guided by the strategic vision of HRH Prince Talal Bin Abdulaziz, Head of the Board of Trustees, and the other Board members, the AOU has been committed to providing quality higher education for students in all Arab countries since its establishment in 2001,” said Prof. Mohammed Al-Zakari, President, AOU. “To accomplish this, the University adopts the notion of Open Learning involving high academic standards, employing state-of-the-art educational and information technologies and establishing strategic partnerships with highly reputable organizations. This partnership with McGraw-Hill is a consequence of such a strategy. The University hopes that this relationship with McGraw-Hill will be conducive to strengthening the quality and value of the educational services the AOU provides to its students.” 

“One of the AOU strategic objectives is not only to figure out how to make the electronic educational material scalable and more widely affordable at the AOU level, but also to adopt new technologies such as Adaptive Learning to enhance the students’ engagement and retention rates,” said Prof. Ashraf Hussein, Vice President for Education and Information Technology, AOU. “Meanwhile, we are aiming to provide our tutors with a wide variety of interactive, digital learning tools to improve the performance of the academic delivery. This partnership will streamline the relationship between AOU and McGraw-Hill, moving further to achieve the aforementioned objective.”

“We’re proud to extend our relationship with Arab Open University, which has become a symbol for innovation and quality education in this part of the world,” said Murray St Leger, Managing Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa at McGraw-Hill International. “We work hard to create digital content and build course materials in line with what we know about learning science, tailored to the needs of institutions and students whom we support. We’re excited that thousands more students will benefit from adaptive technology because of the leadership of AOU.”

“Growmore believes in creating a better future by delivering effective and affordable learning solutions to enhance teaching and learning experiences,” said Shailendra Srivastava, CEO of Growmore. “We are ecstatic that our efforts have resulted in bringing together our strategic partners Arab Open University and McGraw-Hill into a long-term partnership for digital transformation. Our collaboration will transform the way learning resources disseminate and the region will experience a tectonic shift in the way education is getting delivered.”

About Arab Open University

The Arab Open University (AOU) is a sustainable development and educational non-profit organization. It was founded by HRH Prince Talal Bin Abdul-Aziz, Chairman of the AOU Board of Trustees. In September 2000, AOU was officially declared in the meeting of Arab ministers of higher education where five Arab countries offered to host the headquarters of AOU. Among them was Kuwait that was chosen to be the headquarters of AOU in December 2000. Today AOU has nine branches in Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Oman, Sudan and Palestine. The AOU headquarter is located in Kuwait.