January 31, 2023
Here at Dubai Heights Academy, we are technologically creative. We strive to incorporate a multitude of different types of technology into our learning and believe that balance is key when it comes to traditional learning and technology. As a highly inclusive school we are also developing the use of assistive technology to enhance the student learning experience for all our students. Together with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), we are developing and piloting an exciting new project-based curriculum with Key Stage 3 students as part of an initial 3 year partnership focusing on a very important STEM topic that is transforming society: artificial intelligence (AI). Each week, students have sessions at school which are carefully designed by MIT specialists and delivered by our on site MIT correspondent.
More recently, we have extended the collaboration with MIT to include children in Years 1 and 2 who are receiving the special opportunity to develop their literacy and social-emotional learning through a robot literacy station designed by researchers at MIT’s media lab. The learning station consists of the learning companion robot, Jibo, a tablet with learning activities, and a camera to collect information about the study right here at Dubai Heights Academy. Students, together with Jibo, participate in exploring storybooks that target their language learning and curiosity skills, emotion regulation activities that enhance social-emotional learning, and creative exploration activity that scaffolds their creativity.
As the only school in the region offering this groundbreaking AI Literacy programme to enhance our students' literacy, social and development; we are very proud of our ongoing commitment to preparing young people for success in a rapidly changing world.