Najahi Events launches interactive online education platform DUBAI: Najahi Events, which specializes in entertainment and educational — or edutainment — content, has launched iKew, an online Video-On-Demand (VOD) platform featuring motivational speeches, training sessions, specific courses and other edutainment content. The rise of e-learning and the increasing time spent on online platforms reassured the team at Najahi that it was the right time to launch iKew, which stands for information, knowledge, education and workshops. In the past six years, the number of online students has grown by 900 percent with a 50 percent increase in 2020, the company said. The global online education market is forecast to reach $319 billion by 2025, with an average growth of 9.2 percent per year, according to a report by Research & Markets. The global Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) market is estimated to reach $21 billion by 2025, according to the report. “As a business, this was the natural progression for our offering as we anticipated a shift in demand due to the global digitization trends and increased internet access across the Middle East,” said Awfa Mustafa, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Najahi Events. The company’s research found that 50 percent of online learners were not satisfied with the quality of online courses and felt disconnected from presenters, coaches or trainers. Moreover, 90 percent of classes are skipped or dropped due to the content being boring or too expensive. The new platform was designed to be interactive by allowing community members to connect with each other. Its content includes courses and sessions from celebrities and well-known speakers such as John Assaraf, John Demartini and Lisa Nichols, and live event recordings of Prince Ea, Jay Shetty, Les Brown and Nick Vujicic. Although the VOD platform was in the pipeline prior to the pandemic as part of Najahi Events’ growth strategy, its development was accelerated by the events of the past year. “Our vision has always been to create events with speakers who are known to make a positive impact in people’s lives. However, now more than ever, we realize that the pandemic has made people look inward and seek content that will help them deal with the emotional after-effects of the pandemic and the changes in their lifestyles,” said Mustafa. The platform is available on mobile devices now, but will soon be on Smart TV applications, as well. Subscribers can access courses for a monthly membership fee of $27. Users can also purchase individual recorded content and video courses, which are available at a discount to members. Mentors and coaches can feature on the platform by paying a monthly membership fee to be listed on iKew. Mustafa said the platform plans to increase partnerships with prominent speakers, add more localized content, create more benefit opportunities for mentors and expand globally. It will also translate and/or subtitle all videos in English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Mandarin and Hindi, and has plans to launch a state-of-the-art virtual reality (VR) experience in the future.