King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudia Arabia - September 2011

I was very fortunate to have a second opportunity to visit the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Saudi Arabia in early September and again I took lots of pictures!!

This truly is an amazing institution and I learned a lot from my visit. First, I learned that the current Rector of KFUPM, Dr. Khalid S. Al-Sultan, is a former student who is VERY committed to student engagement. He's currently in the process of building new student residences so that ALL first year students will can spend their first year on campus. And, he's helping build the Dhahran Techno Valley Research Park which will consist of a number of research faciliaties that will provide KFUPM students with co-op practicum and undergraduate research opportunities.

Myself and Dr. Matthew Ohland from Purdue University had been invited to faciliate a series of seminars and workshops for KFUPM's Reporting Week. I keynoted a new session on New Trends in Blended and Mobile Learning and then followed with workshops on Blended Learning in Higher Education and Mobile Learning in Higher Education. All the PowerPoint slides and notes from these sessions are available from the following web site.

Again, I was VERY impressed with KFUPM's hospitality and passion for teaching and learning. I sure hope that I get to return again as I find my visits to be rich learning opportunities for myself - especially around the topic of student engagement on campus - outside of the classroom!!