HIGHER COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

I T NEWSLETTER

DEPARTMENT OFINFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

V o l . 1 , I s s u e 0 7M a r c h

HOD'S MESSAGEWelcome to the March 2017 issue of this IT Newsletter!

March has been a marvelous month which entitled the staff and students with a number of activities, in the campus and even off-the-campus. The department is joyfully triumphant on the achievements and participation of the students and staff in these activities, which have shaped goodwill, adjudged competence, and good repu-tation by the department and the College-at-large. The activities during the month of March mainly focused on event participations, risk, health and safety, industry and academic linkages, industry and social engagement, staff and staff services, student and student services, academic meetings, and alumni matters.

It is high time to thank all the stakeholders of the department for such remarkable achievements throughout the month of March! Dr. Huda Al-Shuaily

Head of IT Department

w w w . h c t . e d u . o m

2017

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“Three Omani girl students at the Higher College of Technology have developed a mobile application (app) to encourage volunteering in Oman. The app, developed by Sara Al Mahrizi, Ithar Said and Muthla Al Wahaibi, will help those who are interested in volunteer-ing or joining the Al Rahma Association for Motherhood and Childhood through the app. The Al Rahma Associa-tion strives to help less fortunate families in the Omani society by providing them with the necessary financial or non–financial support through donations from the private sector or other people in society. “Through our hybrid app, which works on all platforms, people can register their names and express an interest in volunteer-ing. The association will get in touch with them when they need volunteers,” Al Mahrizi said.According to her, if the association is going to organise a fund raising event or an awareness programme in an area, they can use the app to alert the volunteers who have registered in the app from that area. “When the volunteers get the alert, they can join the event. This will help the organisation save money and resources,” Al Mahrizi added. Currently, the app is available for the Al Rahma Association, but the developers are trying to expand it to other organisations too. The three Omani girls are planning to graduate as software engineers, who can bring a change in society. “We want to build our career in software development with a human touch,” Al Mahrizi added. The group had also put up a stall at COMEX 2017 to display & promote the app.” ***

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It is our heartfelt welcome to a newly-joined Assistant Lecturer Ms. Bashayer Al-Ajmi who joined the department last March 12, 2017. ***

welcoming a new staff

A group of IT students had showcased their knowledge and skills during the 2nd iTech Mara-thon 2017 held last March 6, 2017 in Ibri College of Technology. The event aimed at promoting students’ competence on Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Various technical and private colleges and universities participated in the event. The following were the tracks of competitions participated in by HCT-IT students: (1) IT Programming (Muntadher Adulluh Al-Ajmi and Abdullah Sulaiman al-Kharousi); (2) Network Security Designing (Hamood Hamed Al-Muskari and Adull Mohammed alWahaibi); (3) Project Demonstration (Mahammed Al-Wa-haibi and Ibrahim Al-Jabri); and (4) Photography Contest (Said Nasser Saif Al Hammami); (5) Math Contest (Ahmed Hamed Alabri and Marwa Nasser Al Rahbi).Ms. Rahma Al-Habsi (Database Lecturer) and Ms. Shaniba Ibrahim (Information Systems Lec-turer) had supervised the students throughout the event. ***

iTech Marathon 2017

it department in the media

Below is the excerpt, copied verbatim from a news article of ‘Times of Oman’ entitled ‘Omani Girls Devel-oped an App to Encourage Volunteering’.

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Oman COMEX 2017

The Higher College of Technology through the IT department had participated during the Oman COMEX 2017, under the supervision of the Ministry of Manpower. The objectives of this participation were as follows: Showcasing the technical capabili-ties of HCT students which should enhance the competence of HCT graduates, engaging students in the industrial realm and allowing them to establish industrial link, enhancing the students’ skills such as presentation and communication, and providing the students with the look-and-feel regarding the needs of the job market, and to experience the latest technologies. The college showcased seven (7) projects during the duration of the said exhibition as follows:

Project Name: Al-Rahma Mobile Application Type of Project: Mobile application with database, Software Engineering Student Names: Ithar Said Ba-mkalif, Muthala Hamood Al-Waheibi, Sara Hamed Al-MahriziSupervisor Name: Dr.Kauthar Thani Al-Khaifi

Project Name: Omani TREASURE GameType of Project: Game, Software EngineeringStudent Name: Bashair Saud Al Hashli Supervisor Name: Areej Al-Majid

Project Name: Point-of-Sale System Type of Project: IT Solution for Business, Information Systems Student Names: Mohammed Rashid Al-Wahaibi, Musaab Maqbol Al-SahlaniSupervisor Name: Dr. Abdulrahiman Shaikh

Project Name: English LearnType of Project: IT Solution for Student Learning, Informa-tion SystemsStudents name: Mohammed Rashid Al-WahaibiSupervisor: None

Project Name: Educational 3D KAABA, Type of Project: Virtual Reality, Software EngineeringStudents Name: Lina Al-Harthy, Maryam Mohamed Al-Blushi, Muzna Ibrahim Al-ZadjaliSupervisor Name: Areej Al-Majid

Project Name: I Love Oman GameType of Project: Game, Software Engineering Students name: Maryam Mohamed Al-Blushi, Muzna Ibrahim Al-ZadjaliSupervisor Name: Ruel Michael Gilbang

Project Name: Lost Mandouse Game Type of Project: Game, Software Engineering Students name: Lina Al-Harthy, Noor Nabil Al-BlushiSupervisor Name: Ruel Michael Gilbang

Dr. Kauthar Al-Khaifi, IT Lecturer and Head of Industrial and Social Engagement Committee, coordinated the participa-tion of the students and staff into the said event. The following IT lecturers participated during the event, namely: Ms. Bashay-er Obaid Salim Al-Ajmi and Ms. Samar Abdullah Al-Araimi.

The HCT participation in the event has been highly-ap-preciated, acknowledged, and commended by the audience as well as featured and covered by the lead-ing media and official gazettes of the Sultanate. ***

testing the feasibility of a classroom management app

Mr. Gregorio A. Dela Cruz (Database Lecturer) tested a “Classroom Management Application” last March 16, 2017 in N234, HCT. He used an open source software that could view all students’ computer work-station screens at the teacher’s own workstation. Using this application, a teacher can monitor the activities of the students during teaching hours and even during examination. The management is currently pursuing its feasibility for future implementa-tion. ***

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The HCT-IT Staff has been under collaboration with Ericson to support the department to improve quali-ty in education. During the first visit, the team had a roundtable with Ms. Samiya Alharthi (HR Manager GCC), Mr. Khalid Mohammed (Customer Opera-tions Manager), Mr. Asif Sheriff (Accounting Manag-er), and Mr. Naaim Jaleel (Accounting Manager) in Knowledge Oasis, Muscat, KOM4.

Dr. Huda Al-Shuaily (HoD, IT-HCT), Dr. Manal Nasser Al-Rawahi (IT Lecturer), and Dr. Mohammed Said Al-Bahri (IT Lecturer) conducted a meeting with the representatives of Ericson.

The follow-up meeting was held in HCT last March 20, 2017 with Stephen Young (Customer Project Man-ager, Ericson).***

meeting with ericson

CISCO Academy GCC Partner Meeting

The CISCO ACADEMY GCC Partner Meeting was held in CISCO Systems Dubai last March 29-30, 2017. The theme of the event was “CISCO Academy Curric-ulum Updates and Instructor Trainer Qualification”. The aim of the event is to conduct a meeting to foster partnership among CISCO academies in the Gulf region and Instructor Training Qualification (ITQ). The first day of the event provided CISCO academy curriculum updates while the second day of the event focused on ITQ matters. The following Network-ing lecturers attended the event: Dr. Tripti Sharma, Ms. Khadija (K.J. Sasikala), Mr. Kiran Kumar, and Mr. Leopoldo Maglalang (ASC/ITC – Lead Contact).

it staff attended Middle EastOracle User Group Majlis 2017

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The Middle East Oracle User Group (MEOUG) Majlis 2017 9th Annual User Conference was held last March 22-23, 2017 in Atlantis, the Palm, Dubai, UAE. It was attended by Oracle DBAs, System Administra-

presentation on geogebraLast March 1, 2017, Dr.Saad Ahmed (Head of Math Section), Dr. Abraham Varghese (Math Lecturer), and Mr. Shajidmon Kolamban (Math Lecturer) conducted a presentation entitled “Calculus using GeoGebra” in HCT, which was participated in by IT/Math staff of the department. GeoGebra is avail-able on multiple platforms with its desktop applica-tions for Windows, Mac OS and Linux, with its tablet apps for Android, iPad and Windows, and with its web application based on HTML5 technology.

GeoGebra is a free educational mathematics software that joins dynamic geometry, algebra and calculus. It was created by Markus Hohenwarter in 2001/2002 as part of his Master thesis in mathematics education and computer science at the University of Salzburg in Austria. Since 2006 GeoGebra is supported by the Austrian Ministry of Education to maintain the free availability of the software for mathematics education at schools and universities. It allows the display of mathematical objects in three different representations: graphically (e.g., points, function graphs), algebraically (e.g., coordi-nates of points, equations), and in spreadsheet cells.

In this presentation, the presenters simulated the concepts and problems in calculus using GeoGebra. ***

tors, Business Vendors, and Business Owners from Middle East and Africa. The conference had 42 par-allel sessions (presentations and hands-on activities) such as discussions on Operations in the Cloud, Development/Test Environments in the Cloud, Run-ning Big Data Analytics in the Cloud, Archiving in the Cloud, Moving Apps in the Cloud, Infrastructure Refresh, Application Consolidation and Moving Data Center to Cloud.Mr. Farhan Ghafoor (Database Lecturer) attended the conference. Mr. Farhan Ghafoor described the event as “[…] an excellent opportunity to acquire knowledge on the latest technologies related to Cloud Computing and Oracle Cloud.” ***

The other participants of the said event were Mr. Marc Khayat – CISCO Academy – Turkey Middle East Africa (TMENA) – CISCO Academy Technical Manager and Mr. Ahmed Elkabbany – CISCO Acad-emy Middle East Regional Manager. ***

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Multimedia Section Meeting

InvenT 2017: Techno-Fest EventMajan University College conducted a Tech-no-Fest Event (InvenT 2017) for students and facul-ty members of various colleges in Oman on 20th March 2017.

The students from the Department of IT, HCT par-ticipated in different events. For Project Exhibition event, Ms. Sara Hamed Al-Mahrizi, Ms. Ithar Said Ba-mkalif, Ms. Muthala Hamood Al-Waheibi, of Software Engineering Specialization won third prize for the project Al Rahma’s Mobile Applica-tion, supervised by Dr. Kauthar Thani Al-Khaifi.Faculty members were also invited to submit abstracts on ‘Innovative teaching practices’ event. The top ten abstracts were selected and invited for the presentations. The following 4 abstracts were short-listed from the Department of IT, HCT. 1. “The Rise of Blended Course Delivery in Math Section” - presented by Dr. Saad Salman Ahmad and Dr. Eduardo M. Lacap, Jr. and co-authored by Dr. Huda Salim Al Shuaily, Ms. Helen Anitha Rani, Mr. Giri Ramdas, and Mr. Zulfiqar Zaman.2. “Innovative Teaching Practices – B2 Approach” – presented by Mr. Balasupramanian N. and Dr. Ben George.3. “Innovative Learning Strategies on the 21st Cen-tury” - presented by Mr. Maglalang Leopoldo and co-authored by Mr. Russell Diona, Ms. Ronette S. Rabanal and Mr. Tauqeer Safdar.

4. “Effectiveness of Self-Made Video Tutorials in Teaching Computer Science Courses” - present-ed by Dr. Vinu Sherimon. All the presenters were awarded with a certifi-cate of appreciation and a memento. ***

The Multimedia Section headed by Mr. Talib Al-Mahruqi (Head of Multimedia Section) called for a meeting last March 2, 2017 in N234, HCT. During the first half of the meeting duration, Dr. Mary Ann Paguio (PMC Officer) showed the steps on how to review policies, how to acknowl-edge them, and how to download the copies of college policies. Ms. Jacqueline Fat Yara (QA Officer) had presented the College Vision-Mis-sion statement, the College Values, and the Graduate Attributes in detail, followed by Dr. Amando P. Singun Jr. (QA Officer) who discussed about the Approach, Deployment, Result, and Improvement (ADRI) model which is used to evaluate the effectiveness of the Quality Assur-ance system of the department. In addition, he provided a brief introduction about Institutional Standards Assessment Application (ISAA). On the other hand, Mr. Talib Al-Mahruqi facilitated the remaining session with the following discussions such as New IT Program, Communication Proto-col, Alumni Gathering, FURAP (Research), Course Project, and the like. ***

First Aid Awareness Session

Almost 43% of the total population of IT staff par-ticipated in the First Aid Awareness workshop organized by the college last March 9, 2017 in Multi-Purpose Hall, HCT. The presenters were from Al Hayat International Hospital, namely: Dr. Srinivas Venakatram and Dr. Mohammed Kheer Al Khateeb who provided theoretical and prac-tical sessions on First Aid Awareness Session. ***

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EDITORIAL BOARD

Moderator: Dr. Huda Al-ShuailyEditor-in-Chief: Dr. Amando P. Singun, Jr.Graphic Designer: Mr. Waleed Al-Barwani Content Editors:1. Mr. Talib Al-Mahruqi2. Dr. Kauthar Al-Khaifi3. Dr. Vinu Sherimon4. Ms. Jacqueline Fat YaraContributors: Department CommitteesPublicity: Ms. Samar Abdullah Al-Araimi

ALUMNI GATHERINGALUMNI CORNER

I am proud to have graduated from the IT De-partment of the Higher College of Technology, Muscat in 2013 with the degree Bachelor of Technology, specialized in Information Systems.

Looking back to my College life, I enjoyed learning more about my field of study and I believe that I have cultivated my potentials (such as leadership) when I was a student. I was an active student-leader under the IT-Biz student organization and had proposed many student projects and worked with my team in many different events. Joining such leadership organization had truly helped me in developing my skills outside the four corners of the classroom and prepared me to the fullest of what I am now.

As a specialist in the field of Information Systems, I was trained in the fields of Corporate Social Responsibility, Human Resources and Customer Management. I started obtaining my Master’s degree from Sultan Qaboos University and had earned the degree from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia in the field of Business Infor-mation Systems.

Currently, I am an Assistant Lecturer at the Higher College of Technology, Muscat. I have a guiding motto in life which I could share among the students and fresh graduates of the IT Depart-ment: “Learning to obtain knowledge is an age-less process that only through hard work and motivation that one can reach his/her own SUCCESS.” ***

Bashayer Obaid Al-Ajmi

“Learning is an ageless process...”

Assistant Lecturer, Department of IT Higher College of Technology, Muscat

Almost 48% of the alumni who attended the Col-lege Alumni Gathering last March 7, 2017 were IT alumni. This event was a part of the Career Fair and Training Expo 2017, with the aim of establish-ing a mutual professional relationship with the alumni for mutual benefits. ***

upcoming event . . .

The Department of Information Technology, Higher College of Technology (HCT), will be conducting a workshop entitled “The Use of Open Educational Resources (OER) to Enhance the Quality of Teaching and Learning” on 20 April 2017. The event is under the patronage of respected Dr. Sheikh Al Khatab bin Ghalib Al Hanai, Vice-Premier of the State Council, and Dr. Muna bint Salim Al Jordaniya, Undersecretary for Tech-nological and Vocational Training, Ministry of Manpower. The workshop will be spearheaded by the College Dean, Dr. Khalid Abdulaziz Am-busaidi, and Head of IT Department, Dr. Huda Al-Shuaily. ***

I T NEWSLETTERInvenT 2017: Techno-Fest Event