- What initiatives have you undertaken to integrate
smart technology in your classrooms?
All GEMS schools are equipped with cutting edge learning technology and technical
infrastructure, including industry-standard hardware and secure, high speed
Internet access for students, teachers and guests. Also, research shows that learning improves
significantly when students have ownership of the devices they use every day,
as well as the content held on those devices and in the cloud. Accordingly, students in our schools are
reaping the benefits of successful ‘Bring Your Own Technology’ schemes, empowering
them to learn anywhere, anytime and resulting in deeper, more meaningful
learning experiences. Effective use of such technology is preparing our
students for the world of work, as they learn to become responsible digital citizens
and capable, independent, adaptable learners and innovators. It is important that we recognise the role of
parents in supporting such initiatives which can, at times, seem something of a
bridge too far. Through the GEMS Parent
Engagement Programme, we work hard to ensure that our parents are aware of the
aims of such innovations and that we provide the necessary information and
support to empower them to engage with their children’s learning.
I was privileged to
attend an event at GEMS Winchester School recently, where the school was
judging the winners of its annual ‘Technobizad’ event, a competition which
challenges GEMS students to design and market a new product or service. The judging panel included representatives
from the digital technology industry, which provided further authenticity to
the competition, as well as cementing valuable connections with the UAE business
community. The high quality of the
finalists’ innovations was matched by the stunning creativity on show. For example, two 12-year old students, ________
and __________ demonstrated the original concept of a fully integrated mobile
application designed to provide visitors to Dubai Expo 2020 with a seamless
experience, both at the exhibition and around the city, from the airport ePass,
to paying for taxis, the show guide, smart pay at retail outlets and so on. The concept was perfectly aligned with the
goals of the Dubai Smart Government initiative and I have no doubt that such an
app will be a commercial reality when the time comes. I would like to think
that the students who came up with the concept will play a major role in its
eventual launch.
·
Does it
involve special training for teachers?
Recent history has demonstrated that simply throwing technology
into schools has little or no impact on learning and can, in fact, be detrimental
to student achievement. As U.S.
Secretary for Education, Arne Duncan puts it, “Technology alone isn’t going
to improve student achievement. The best combination is great teachers working
with technology to engage students in the pursuit of the learning they need.”
Professional development is a vital component of digital transformation and
GEMS has a team of digital learning advisors working across its schools to provide
the necessary support and quality assurance, based on a clearly defined set of
Digital Standards. In addition, every
school has a designated Digital Learning Leader, a highly-skilled teacher who
is responsible for ensuring outstanding practice throughout the school. As technology becomes more intuitive, we are now
seeing less of a focus on training with regard to specific tools and more on
how technology is transforming the teaching and learning process. This clear and sustained focus on learning
and student achievement is the key to ensuring that we optimize the positive
impact of technology in our schools.
- Does it require a complete overhaul of the curricula
to appropriately integrate smart learning tools in the education system?
Not necessarily a complete overhaul, but integrating technology effectively
certainly requires schools to take a step back and to re-evaluate the outcomes
they are trying to help their students achieve.
It is important to recognise that we shouldn’t be re-inventing the
curriculum just to integrate the available technology. Rather, we must look to the desired outcomes
we want for our children and provide a curriculum which meets their needs. Only then should we consider how technology
can help them achieve these new goals. This
re-evaluation is already having a transformational impact on how learning is
organised. Examination results are still
very important, of course, but there is now widespread acceptance of the fact
that we need to be giving our students so much more if they are to flourish in
a digitally-driven, global community where the only certainty is uncertainty. Skills,
values and personal attributes are now key components in the curriculum of
forward-thinking schools, as educators and policy-makers strive to provide our
young people with the toolkit they will need after graduation. ‘Learning to learn’ has been part of most
curricula for many years and now ‘learning to learn digitally’ is
beginning to establish itself as a key skill being taught in schools.
- What, according to you, are the challenges of
implementing smart learning in schools?
Infrastructure, the cost of devices, professional development and the time
needed to step back and re-design the curriculum are all major challenges, but
not insurmountable. The main barrier to
change, indeed, the elephant in the room, is the outdated public examination
system we still see almost everywhere. There
is a damaging disconnect between the knowledge, skills, values and attributes most
educators and industry leaders believe our students need to acquire and how the
students are, in fact, ultimately assessed – for the most part by way of
handwritten examinations, sat alone and in silence. It does not have to be this way. Denmark is leading the way with open-Internet
exams and educational institutions there are finding that the level of
challenge actually increases significantly in this model, as students are
pushed to be more creative, to think more critically and to solve real
problems, whilst demonstrating a far greater depth of learning than seen
previously. And the assessment system
matches the modern and relevant curriculum. In most systems, however, the results of
largely handwritten final examinations remain the passport to higher
education. If smart learning is to
really take off in schools, I suggest there needs to be a concerted effort in
partnership with policy-makers, examination boards, universities and industry,
to develop authentic assessment models which reflect the outcomes we really
want for our students.
·
How can schools effectively use
technology and other digital media as tools for learning without exposing
children to the inherent risks of smart technology?
One thing we know for certain is that banning anything simply sends it underground
and makes it more dangerous. As an
educator, I believe that the best way to protect our children from such risks
is education. We teach our children to
swim, cross the road, ride a bicycle and, eventually, drive a car safely. It is, I believe, also our duty, as educators
and parents, to teach them how to navigate the digital world safely and to become
responsible and effective users of digital technology and media, including social
media. This is why GEMS schools, as a key component of their transformation to
smart learning organisations, are running comprehensive, fully assessed Digital
Citizenship programmes. For example, Common Sense Media, a
US-based
nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children and families thrive in a
world of digital media and technology, provide a full K-12 Digital Citizenship curriculum. Over the past six months, we have seen a
growing number of our schools gain certification as ‘Common Sense’
institutions, demonstrating their commitment to the digital safety and well-being
of the children in their care. All GEMS
schools are delivering this curriculum, or equivalent programmes, and it is
something we take very seriously. Again,
the partnership with parents is vital and we are working closely with our
communities to ensure that we give a consistent message to our young
learners. We have partnered with Common
Sense Media to have all of the parent resources accompanying the curriculum translated
into Arabic and these are being distributed to our Arabic-speaking families as
the students cover the relevant topics in school.
- Is it possible to have an education technology
revolution with strong privacy protections for students?
As part of our schools’ Digital Citizenship education, students are
taught how to take necessary steps to keep their identities, passwords and
personal information private in the online world and also how to build a
positive online presence. Student data
is stored in secure systems and we are working to further improve our provision
in this area, with the introduction of enhanced digital systems across all GEMS
schools.
Recent events have shown that, as an absolute ideal, privacy is a luxury
that has arguably been lost as a result of sophisticated technology. If one country’s security services can listen
into the telephone calls of other world leaders and hackers can leak celebrity
photos from the cloud, then we should indeed be wary of trusting any security
system. It may be that the best way to
protect ourselves is to ensure that our online, or virtual persona, matches our
real life behaviours - and that we have nothing to hide. In short, and thanks to technology, it’s more
difficult to be a bad person these days – and that surely has to be a good
thing!
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