AMMAN – HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, founder and chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Global (TAG.Global), has addressed the 16th International Conference for the Gifted and Talented, organized by the Arab Council for the Gifted and Talented (ACGT) at the University of Petra, as a keynote speaker, in the presence of Former Prime Minister Prof. Adnan Badran.
The Conference was held under the theme: “Gift, Talent, and Artificial Intelligence in Education: Visions for the Future,” with the participation of a group of intellectuals and high-ranking dignitaries.
In his speech, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh highlighted the importance of keeping abreast with the technological advancement that has become today’s reality and the backbone of the future, affirming that the main source of world power today relies on ICT-based economy, rather than military capability.
He referred to some ICT corporations that have become more powerful than some countries.
Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh went on to say that creativity only requires an individual decision rather than await support from others. He cited TAG.Global as an example, noting that it has become global in various fields, due to its choice to become a creative knowledge-based organization, developing hundreds of knowledge-based inventions that it offers as a service to its clients.
For his part, Prof. Badran stressed the importance of fostering creative thinking abilities in education, stating that creative minds could be developed by adopting integrated learning methods in solving problems, fact-finding and building skills.
Prof. Badran called for updating the education inputs that will shift it to integrated learning, as well as changing the school’s image to become more appealing to students, saying: “We must focus on training teachers and developing curriculum that correspond to the era of competitive globalization, modern and contemporary concepts and trends in education.”
In his statement, Prof. Atef Kanaan, chairman of the ACGT, said: “Encouraging and supporting talented and gifted people has become an imperative. At the same time, developing education is the only key for any society to keep pace with the progress of nations at various levels.”
During the session, Prof. Rami Abdel-Rahim, president of the University of Petra, talked about the University’s role in promoting talented students and creativity, pointing out that talented people have logical thinking that enable them to perceive and see some aspects that others do not.
Meanwhile, Prof. Essam Zabalawi, president of the Australian University in Kuwait, touched upon the importance of employing artificial intelligence (AI) in educational institutions. He noted that while higher education institutions in developed countries have been working to expand the use of AI, their counterparts in the Arab region are still at the stage of thinking about the possibility of employing it.
During the Conference, speakers criticized the lack of inventions and intellectual production in Jordan, especially in light of the current education system that needs to be upgraded. They also stressed that the era of digitalization and artificial intelligence is based on scientific research that is not valuable unless it leads to an actual invention.
At the end of the Conference, the patron of the Conference, Dr. Badran, handed over the honorary shields and certificates to Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh, and the speakers.