Students can now identify their 'genius traits' during school hours

Khaleej Times spoke to some educators who have implemented The Genius Hour into their classrooms.

Personalised learning is the latest of trends in the global education industry, including the UAE. Educators are willing to allow students to focus on their passionate projects for at least an hour on every school day.
The move is part of a global movement, called The Genius Hour, which allows pupils to spend one hour of classroom time to focus on subjects they are passionate about.
Khaleej Times spoke to some educators who have implemented The Genius Hour into their classrooms.
The Key Stage 2 students at the GEMS FirstPoint School are using that hour each week to become more creative and educated in subjects they personally enjoy. "The Genius Hour will provide the children with a structure to explore and research something they are personally interested in and then at the end of the term share their project that they are passionate about with a chosen audience," said Nicola Matthews, director of Key Stage 2 at the school.
"Our aim is to motivate and excite the children's creativity and inquiry through real-life learning experiences in a cross-curricular approach. The role of the teacher is to guide and build in skill development opportunities that pose a new challenge to their students. Having explored what The Genius Hour will offer them, the children were keen to explore their interests and are now working on their higher level question that they want to show off their inner genius through their project."
Matthews said the pupils will be pitching their projects to their peers to seek constructive feedback before launching into their research. A weekly blog will also be created to document the stages of their project and then they will celebrate their hard work in their final presentation. "We will be left behind if we don't take technology into our classrooms. The Genius Hour is one such opportunity for us to raise the bar and upscale the learning experience to take it to the next level."
Another school that has introduced The Genius Hour within its classrooms is the GEMS New Millennium School in Al Khail. They have structured their hour on the four 21st century skills - critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity.
"During these classes, our students explore learning with technologies like technology such as Minecraft, TinkerCAD, Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence. To ensure effective outcomes, we have constructed a clear roadmap that leads the students to the desired destination - problem-based learning," said Masha Nazeem, the innovation lead at the school.
"To start with, students are briefed on the curriculum relevance of the chosen topic. Then, they indulge in few activities to understand the concept after which we shoot a problem statement at the students and they are asked to design a solution based on three vital factors - user-friendliness, cost-effectiveness and reliability. This leads to design thinking. The students as a team make a project plan and execute it with the above-stated technology aids within the stipulated time. Thus, they acquire the Rapid Prototyping skill. At the end of the term, selected projects are displayed in the Genius Hour Showcase Day. This is how we create our 'GEMS NMS Genius Hour Champions'.
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com

Kids keen to embrace passion at school hours
UAE students feel they can significantly benefit from an hour given to them during classroom hours to work on their own passion projects.
Students believe that focusing solely on traditional subjects will not allow them to hone skills that they want to use further in their careers. They support the idea behind The Genius Hour and are encouraging all schools to implement it.
Sravya Nagalakunta, a Grade 9 student at The Indian High School, said: "As education plays a huge a role in one's life, so does skills. If the Genius Hour is introduced by schools, it will not only enhance life skills but also develop cognitive thinking. This hour allows students to explore and think creatively which lacks the standard syllabus of any school.
"There are many benefits which include students conducting research on topics that might interest them. The teachers get to know more about their students. The Genius Hour can help students pick their career path, something that they are interested in pursuing. Students learn the responsibilities of working independently, time management, creatively and efficiently."
Dhanvi Sayani, a Grade 8 student at the Gems Our Own English High School, Dubai, said The Genius Hour can enable students to become more independent and more responsible. "It helps students utilise their free periods thoroughly and this will also help them bringing out good grades in their exams. It will also help them do extra researches and help them unleash their creativity.
"Students can also use their time wisely by practising their hobbies and learn new languages, coding, etc. They can also use their time to keep fit and practise sports or do a piece of art or solve a rubik's cube or play a match of chess that puts their brains to work. In all the Genius Hour is a very helpful initiative which can bring great outcomes if used wisely," Sayani said.
The Genius Hour isn't the first personalised learning programme schools are using in the UAE. Earlier this year, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) launched a programme, called Rahhal, which allows students to spend several classroom hours to gain experience in an area they are passionate about, whether that's on-campus or off-campus. The programme is currently in a trial phase.
sarwat@haleejtimes.com

• Dubai