UAE schools encourage tablets in place of books

With schools asking students to pay as much as Dh2,000 to buy an education tablet, parents are feeling the pinch

Dubai: Students are usually expected to bring their own device at the university and high-school level, according to Intel’s regional business manager Frederico Carvalho.

‘Tablets will soon replace books in classrooms’

Dubai: Instead of scribbling notes in books, students today learn and solve equations using laptops and tablets. A new report released by Intel on Tuesday showed how more schools will join the tech bandwagon in the years to come.

The education sector in GCC is expected to increase its device utilisation by 100 per cent in two years, according to the report. Interactive tables, 3D projectors, tablets and Internet-connected devices will change the classroom experience forever.

“Technology, we believe, makes learning better by making it more accessible. It really allows us to take a good education system and make it great,” said Frederico Carvalho, regional business manager of Intel. About 60 per cent of students opt for laptops for studying, while the rest prefer tablets.

The education sector accounted for 10.3 per cent of all tablet shipments to the Middle East during the first half of 2014.

“We are seeing teachers use new tools when teaching a lesson. Our effort is to design devices which allow teachers to focus on teaching rather than investing time to learn complex technology,” explained Frederico.

Today, only 10 per cent of classrooms don’t use any technology for teaching, Director at IDC Adriana Rangel said. Interestingly, institutions interviewed for the study discouraged the use of smartphones in the classroom and do not provide connectivity for such devices.

“A teacher is a facilitator inside the classroom. We see strong resistance from parents when it comes to implementing tablets inside the classroom, especially when they perceive these devices as gaming tools,” shared an instructor from Al Ittihad Private School.

The survey, titled ‘Role of Technology in the Education Sector’, saw the participation of chief information officers at 10 leading education groups in the GCC.—muaz@khaleejtimes.com

Schools across the UAE are encouraging students to ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) or participate in interactive learning by borrowing school resources. Khaleej Times asked schools in Dubai if parents were asked to shell out the money for the devices.

Anees Unissa, ICT manager at Indian High School (IHS), said the school does not provide devices to students. She explained the tablets are optional but most students end up buying the device as it helps in ‘effective learning’. “We use a classroom management system which works with the Intel tablet. Parents pay for the tablets since the child takes the device home,” explained Anees.

Some 3,000 students at the school have already purchased the tablets at Dh2,000 per device, with more students expected to buy the tablet as the programme will be expanded to more grades in the coming years.

Sary El Shaar, head of Education Technology at Al Ittihad Private School, shared similar views. “The curriculum is not available on different platforms and that’s why we encourage students to buy the device specified by the school.”

Addressing privacy concerns, he explained: “The devices are locked to allow only educational apps during school hours. Even (access to) Google and YouTube is restricted on the device.”

When asked about prices, Intel could not provide specific details, saying the products are sold through channel partners and prices vary depending on technical specifications. “Intel only designs the tablet and we don’t manufacture them. We license the manufacturing to original design manufacturers. The re-seller sets a price since we do not sell any device directly.”

— muaz@khaleejtimes.com

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