The disappearance of the traditional form of schools and the participation of students in curriculum design
The Corona pandemic forced the state to jump into the future in the education system.
Experts and academics suggested expanding the new style of distance education after the end of the Corona “Covid 19” pandemic in light of its mandatory application in the country at the present time, stressing that the strong digital infrastructure in the UAE helped to continue education in its new form, while more than 776 million students were affected. Around the world because of the pandemic.
They said during a session held by the Dubai Police Scholars Council remotely under the title "distance education ... to the unknown", that the Corona pandemic imposed on the state to jump into the future in the education system, and it was helped by that application of distance education in several schools and universities years before The occurrence of the current exceptional circumstance, expecting the emergence of a different type of smart schools and the disappearance of the traditional form of schools gradually in the future.
In detail, the President of Dubai University, Dr. Issa Al-Bastaki, said at the session moderated by the Director of the General Department of Training in Dubai Police, Colonel Badran Al Shamsi, that the UAE experience in distance education is not a result of today in the shadow of the Corona pandemic, but started in practice since the nineties of the last century when Students were taught in the western regions, pointing out that there are certainly differences between traditional education and distance education. The first provides direct communication between the student and the teacher, which generates a feeling of comfort, as well as interaction and intimacy. As for distance education saves a lot of time, whether wasted in Move to orbit Q. It also provides opportunities for students to practice in the use of modern communication techniques.
He added that there is a difference between distance education and smart education, for the first represents only the beginning of the second, which is an advanced stage that completely abolishes dependence on one source of education, and allows the student to obtain from any source or place as it does not require a specific time for education, in addition to that it depends on more means As sophisticated as artificial intelligence and robotics.
Al Bastaki anticipated the emergence of what can be described as smart schools that provide the previous two types of education, the disappearance of the traditional style of schools with their buildings and facilities, as well as increased interaction with families so that they are involved in the development of educational courses, and give students full freedom to choose their academic programs and obtain them in a way that suits their circumstances And their vision of their future.
For her part, Director of the Education Council at the Ministry of Education, Hessa Al-Rasheed, said that the continuation of education in the UAE despite the current circumstances is something worthy of pride, noting that the Ministry of Education was prepared through a strong infrastructure, which includes a smart education portal that includes all students And teachers, and allows the teacher to design natural content as well as contain interactive books, an audiovisual library, an electronic teacher training curve, and an intelligent exam management system.
She added that the curriculum may be framed at the moment, but the student may participate in its design in the future, stressing that distance education is proceeding well in its seventh week in the country now, and we are in an experimental phase that started before the Corona pandemic through five schools, then it started compulsory in light of The precautionary measures are continuously evaluated by monitoring the views of students, pointing out that the Ministry held a remote meeting two weeks ago with a group of students at the UAE level.
To that, a representative from the Fourth Industrial Revolution Center in the Emirates, Arwa Al-Qasim, said that Dubai Future Outlook was keen to study the form of education after the end of the Corona pandemic, and concluded that the UAE had an opportunity to be a regional center for smart education, pointing out that the country was planning changes in The education system, but the outbreak of the virus contributed to the acceleration of this step, as educational institutions suspended their traditional activities and then resorted to distance education in order to protect students, and such a change takes years of planning in the current circumstances.
For its part, the head of creativity, happiness and innovation in the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, Hind Al-Mualla, said that it is necessary to distinguish between two important matters regarding the mechanism of distance education, the first is the application of this system in times of disasters like Corona, and the second is its application in normal circumstances, pointing out that evaluation This experiment is continuing, and based on the results, the need for legislation will be determined to ensure the continuity or codification of this system.
She added that the UAE has an excellent infrastructure in the education sector that helped to overcome the crisis to a large extent, explaining that the psychological psyche of students is affected if they sit at home without learning.
Innovative solutions
A recent study conducted by the Dubai Foundation for the Future, concluded that some of the organizing bodies have resorted to innovative solutions that are far from traditional education, such as training the parents and students of students to teach, the participation of students and families in designing learning tools and curricula, as well as a change in the tuition fees owed For schools, which may need less space do not require receiving cohorts of students, invest more in developers of distance education programs.