App keeps pupils, teachers in the loop
dubai — Students and teachers in schools that run under the Ministry of Education (MoE) curriculum will soon have their very own mobile application to keep abreast of all things education-related.
Earlier this year, the ministry released a mobile application for parents called the ‘Mohammed Bin Rashid Smart Learning Programme (MBRSLP) Parentkit’, which allows parents to see their child’s classroom activities anywhere, any time.
However, now it’s time for students and teachers to get in on the action.
Speaking to Khaleej Times on the sidelines of Gitex Technology Week, Rami Omar, smart transformation team leader at the ministry, said the app is being introduced to take the learning experience into the 21st century.
Expected to go live “within a month or two”, the app will come in useful for children who don’t have access to a computer at home, as homework assignments can be completed using the phone device itself. Before, Omar said, school assignments could be completed only in the traditional format, like using a pen and paper or a website portal. “We already have a learning management system, which is an online portal that allows students, parents, and teachers to follow the school agenda, but the application creates ease-of-use. It’s a
24/7 education tool.”
Where the current Parentkit provides an interactive electronic environment for parents to get access to certain data on students such as conduct, medical status, absenteeism, and score sheets, the new app for students and teachers will work in a similar way.
“We don’t have a name for it yet, we are finalising it, but this app can be used by the student to check announcements or updates with teachers and send private notes if they need clarity on homework, for instance,” Omar said.
Additionally, they can also keep track of their personal records such as attendance, history of behaviour, and subject scores.
Asked whether the introduction of tools that allow parents to be more interactive in a child’s school life has the potential to create a bigger workload for teachers, Omar said training and information content had been provided to all users to “ensure the applications are not misused”.
Alongside the new application, which is expected to go live soon, the ministry has also updated its learning management system, which now has three new features.
“The ‘Planner’ allows teachers to create class agendas. The ministry’s curriculum department will upload the basic class plan and teachers can then add material to it. We have a ‘Badges’ section, where teachers award students for various different reasons so they can collect points for awards. We have badges for ‘creative thinking’, ‘tech literacy’, ‘innovator’. And then we have created a collaboration group, where teachers can connect with peers from other government schools to create discussions or ask questions.”
We already have a learning management system ... but the application creates ease-of-use.”
Rami Omar, smart transformation team leader, Ministry of Education