The way we learn is changing

The Middle East is slowly but surely rising as a knowledge economy and at the same time embracing changes in the education sector.

This year’s Abu Dhabi International Book Fair was an indicator of the forthcoming trends in the education field. For the first time the exhibition sported an e-zone and although there were only 10 stalls it was clear that every aspect of digital education and e-learning was covered. From library supplies to ebook platforms, educational animation videos and kids e-learning programs for schools; these stalls represented the coming change in educating our next generations.

18 year old Afira Chisty who is a student at The Lyceum School in Karachi shares how use of ebooks and digital softwares has helped in her education. She says, "Use of ebooks help  save us time in searching for the book related  or the hassle of flipping through pages trying to find the  relevant chapter. On the other hand we also have video calls organized by the school to conduct day-to-day lectures, guest lectures, and also to conduct society meetings. Being a student, it counts as a privilege to work with experienced and talented teachers and mentors from across the globe while sitting in Karachi."

Let’s take a look at what innovative ways of teaching are making its way into this sector.

Social Media:

Presence of social media seems to have increased dramatically in the education sector. Facebook is largely being used for education and discussion groups, blogs for thesis and project submissions as well as twitter and other platforms for creating an all round social presence which is used as a marking point for media students especially.

Fadi Salem, Director of the Governance and Innovation Programme at the Dubai School of Government told the Khaleej Times “The emergence of new concepts like ‘social learning’, ‘intelligent decision making networks’ and ‘massive open online courses’, is enabling educators, students and educational institutions to rely on social media tools.”

Interactive learning:

Interactive learning has been a proven methodology for years. But its application has changed drastically. Babies and kids pick up new things through interactive and one-on-one learning. For some reason our education systems slipped in to a limbo of one way interaction with students subjected to teacher monologues.

A lot of that is now changing with a healthy dose of interaction. Be it educational games on tablets and computers for kids or learning modules with user input tests at the end; this is a proven method of enhancing the growth trajectory more effectively.

Online courses:

Since not everyone has the funds, time or opportunity to attend college or do a master’s degree over a 2-3 year dedicated period; online courses have sprung up as a saving grace.

It has become a popular choice with full time professionals as well as those who don’t want to actually travel to another country to study. A number of Universities in the GCC have also turned to this option making distant learning an added source of intake.

Not a new concept but the method of instruction and material sharing has definitely become more easy and effective. Instead of downloading pre recorded videos and power point presentations, the new concept is to conduct online live classes in terms of a conference and then share a list of ebooks available in the college’s library. We’ve yet to see the best of this come.

Game based learning (GBL):

Learning with the help of games is a new thing especially with schools in the West. However, one can say with some surety that this trend will spread to the rest of the world as well if resources permit simply because it’s proven as educative and engaging.

We aren’t saying get your students to play Need For Speed or the likes but a number of education institutions have picked up on the Wii games and similar products that add to classroom instruction. It gives the students a chance to put theory to practice while having some fun!

In essence, one might argue why the big domination of digital gadgets and platforms that could easily prove to be a distraction instead, but the point remains teaching has now moved to a medium the next gen is much more comfortable with.


Also see articles on Best Apps for Teaching and America's Maker movement to revolutionize learning