Snaps of Apps:
The GEMS app journey…
The GEMS
Education Core Values of Leading Through Innovation, Pursuing Excellence, Growing by Learning and
Global Citizenship provide all our schools with the basis and indeed, mandate,
to innovate for educational excellence and to develop ways in which to use
digital technology to transform learning, communication and collaboration.
Beginnings
Back in the spring of 2011, GEMS Royal Dubai
School was the first in the region to co-develop and launch a school smartphone
app, used to communicate with parents and share students’ achievements.
Children as young as 5 years old were able to contribute directly to the
content of the app, giving the young learners an authentic platform for content
creation and publishing.
The success of this project provided the
inspiration for the GEMS ‘3aDay’ Parental Engagement App, with the original
design actually drawn up by a Royal Dubai School student.
GEMS Parental Engagement App
A Digital
Complement to Sound Advice - the GEMS 3aday App
This is exactly why the 3aday app was
created: to give parents the ‘what to do or say’ knowledge, so they too can give
their children the proven benefits of home support. On the app, select “GEMS
Teachers” contribute a variety of simple yet specific, age-appropriate topics
for families to talk about, activities to share, or meaningful ways of
encouraging children.
The first of its kind in the digital world,
the app provides engagement ideas and guidance from educational experts direct
to parents and care-givers, as well as a networking platform for like-minded
parents keen to support learning. Unlike an educational app parents might
‘park’ their kids in front of like a TV screen, for children to use alone, or
an app that gives parenting advice, the GEMS 3aday app feeds busy parents
learning-focused activities for them to do WITH their children. When parents
participate in learning with their children it sends the message, “learning
is important in this family.”
With the
combination of simple age-appropriate activity ideas and integration of
contemporary smart phones and tablets, the 3aday app
responds directly to the findings and recommendations of a 2011 report, ‘Best
Practices in Parental Engagement’, published by the UK Department for
Education. This report found that engagement works best when parents receive clear, specific and
targeted information, and recommended the use of technology wherever possible
to reach modern parents. (Source: Janet Goodall and John Vorhaus (2011) Review of Best Practice in Parental
Engagement. London: Department for Education)
The 3 daily
strategies integrated into the 3aday app – talk
about, share, and encourage learning, are reinforced by current
international research.
The “talk” option suggests specific topics or
ideas for parents to discuss and provides sample or model questions for parents
to ask.
The “share” option gives parents specific
activity ideas – the best of which is reading (in any language) to inspire a
love for learning among primary children, and other hands-on suggestions such
as kitchen science, math games, real-world applications and family challenges.
Customized features
and functions
In the Settings area, parents are able to
request push notification when new ideas are posted and remind busy parents to
engage.
Selected age range
for age-appropriate ideas
Parents select an age group in order to
receive ideas appropriate to their child. Alternatively, they may choose to
receive the full range of teacher-driven engagement topics with the ‘all-ages’
option, and then use what fits best.
User generated
content and social networking
Unique to the app, are the social networking
functions, allowing parents to comment on Teacher posts to build a network with
other like-minded parents and experts, to promote learning-focused engagement
globally.
Registered users can share their most successful
activity ideas or tips to start a dialogue, or comment on other posts to
support each other with suggestions for, “how it worked with my child…”
Likes and Hearts
Parenting and supporting learning is a
demanding and often thankless role. Stars
for posts we like or hearts for
comments we love, give parents validation and encouragement when they do engage
with their children.
Families can make learning more interesting
and effective when they participate in it together, and reinforce the message
that learning
is important in this family. The 3aday app facilitates and supports
family engagement in learning – a smart use of technology to strengthen
learning and family bonds.
Free
to the public, the 3aday app is available now for iOS and Android phones, and
will be available soon for iPads.
A School app – created by the students
At GEMS Winchester School, Jebel Ali, students
were challenged to create an official app for the school, through which parents
could access a wide range of services and information, including details of
curriculum, homework, newsletters and even school bus services.
The winning entry in the competition has been
submitted to the App Store and Google Play for approval, where it will be
available for download by parents very soon.
Sanjeera Siddiqui, Head of ICT/Digital Learning
Leader, said:
“This competition turned out to be a huge
success in terms of students’ creativity, motivation, ownership and general
self-esteem. We are very proud of the young children who participated in the
competition and challenged themselves in the field of technology and authentic
innovation. The project also complemented the school’s focus on skills
development and employability.”
Serious
Competition
In
September 2014, GEMS Education and Mashreq teamed up to launch a mobile app development
competition. Students from nineteen schools were charged with creating a mobile
app focused on educating corporate and investment banking clients on the
benefits of online banking. Participants worked in multidisciplinary teams ensuring
a balance of technical functionality, aesthetics, and business viability.
Participants were given a two hour user experience and innovation workshop
along with information on the Mashreq Matrix, Mashreq’s online banking
platform, and had one and a half months to develop a working app. Winners of
this challenge will be announced the Global Entrepreneurship Week Awards at
Wellington International School in December 2014. (Christine Nasserghodsi,
Director of Innovation at GEMS Wellington International School and Ritesh
Dhanak, Senior Supervisor, Digital Learning at GEMS Modern Academy).
Teachers
develop for their students
Not satisfied with generally available digital resources,
the teachers at GEMS Our Own English High School Sharjah decided they wanted to
offer a much more personalized digital learning experience for their students.
A group of IT, English and mathematics teachers got together to create two high
quality web apps for their students, both of which provide a personalized pathway
for every student. Sheeba Ansar, Digital Learning Leader at the school, said, “We
thought that we could give our students a better experience by creating a
system and content that would better suit their needs. If the people creating
the digital products actually know the children who will be using them, the
learning outcomes are greatly improved.” The apps, ‘MathCafe’ and ‘LitGalore’
are accessed through the secure GEMS learning platform and have proved to be a
great hit with students, who appreciate that their teachers have taken the time
and made the effort to innovate in order to address their personal needs in
such an engaging way.
Radio on the Go
The days of the school public address system look to be long
gone at GEMS Winchester School in Oud Metha.
Digital Learning Leader, Mario Ross, has led a team of teachers and
students to create the school’s own streaming radio station, which can be
accessed anytime, anywhere, on all platforms and devices. A native app has been
built for iOS, Android and Windows, making it even easier to connect with all
members of the community. Students broadcast live during the school day and
parents are able to listen live or playback the day’s show in the evening. This is true innovation - technological
creativity with a real purpose - as students discuss and debate real life,
current issues on air, embedding the learning within a greatly enhanced
curriculum. By providing mobile, digital access to the whole community, the
school is bringing parents, students and teachers together, with greater shared
purpose, as parental engagement in learning reaches new heights.
Phil
Redhead
Senior
Advisor, IT: Education Technology
GEMS
Education
