Company puts its digital classroom to a real-life test
A home-grown education programme with digital avatars and an interactive calendar is being tested to help engage pupils in the classroom.
Called Alef, which is the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, the new education platform has been three years in the making by Alef Education, a private education technology company in Abu Dhabi, supported by the Abu Dhabi Financial Group.
“More than three years ago, a group of 300 education and technology experts from leading universities around the world came together to work on this initiative that hopes to redefine education,” Jassim Alseddiqi, chief executive and managing director of the ADFG, said yesterday.
“After years of dedication and hard work, we have put in place an integrated educational system that caters to the needs and challenges of the future.”
The platform is being used by 240 pupils in Grade 6 at a Ministry of Education curriculum school in the capital. Officials say they are in the process of expanding the trial to 1,000 pupils.
“The key building blocks include artificial intelligence, natural language processing, hypermedia content and a really engaging user interface,” said Vikraman Poduval, Alef’s chief technology officer.
“It supports several languages and it adapts to many curriculums.”
Alef works as an online platform that allows pupils to sign in, select an avatar and complete independent-learning lessons, designed by the company, on a variety of topics.
Each begins with a short video addressing the main themes of the subject. Pupils are prompted to answer “technology enhanced questions” to help determine their level of understanding of the subject.
The quiz also maps out how the pupil can proceed – whether they need to review basic concepts or can move on to the basic, intermediate or advanced “depth of knowledge” learning, which takes about 20 minutes to complete for each topic.
The platform can also be used for group work, which is called “experiential learning”. The example shown by Alef officials was an image of marshmallows and uncooked spaghetti, with instructions for teams of students to work together to build the tallest tower.
“There is a library of this experiential learning,” Mr Poduval said. “During this process, they learn how to plan, they learn how to communicate, they learn how to challenge each other.”
Dr Saleh Al Hashemi, Alef’s chief executive, said the platform was not meant to replace the teacher, but to help him or her focus on the needs of the pupils more effectively.
“The role of the teacher is needed, but it changes with this,” Dr Al Hashemi said. “This platform or this solution builds efficiencies in the classroom.
“This platform takes care of 90 per cent of the routine items that a teacher or instructor would do, and therefore gives him the time to turn his attention to where his expertise is needed. He can focus on actual attainment from the student.”