SAIS-Dubai has made an investment to ensure the success of our students. We are giving students a chance to take control of their learning while developing 21st Century skills in their classrooms.
Sharjah American International School Dubai (SAIS-Dubai) is located in the Al Warqaa 1 community, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. There are over 25 different nationalities and cultural backgrounds that can be found in grades K-12 at Sharjah American International School Dubai campus. Since the campus serves such a diverse community, the school addresses the needs of our students with a comprehensive American curriculum that aligns and utilizes the Common Core State Initiative Standards in English and Mathematics and for non-core subjects parallels the State of Michigan standards in Science, Physical Education and Performing Arts.
SAIS-Dubai’s mission is to provide a Western education within a context that respects local traditions, to encourage academic excellence, to implement inclusive learning environment that accepts students of all ability levels and provides for their needs, and to build personalities that embrace 21st century learning skills and show interest in the important issues of the global community. In order to further the dedication to 21st Century skills in 2015-2016 Academic year, the campus has made lots of changes in the area of technology. We have upgraded their infrastructure to support a total of 3000 devices. We have installed Smartboards in every classroom from KG to grade 12, and most importantly implemented a 1:1 tablet initiative in grades 5-9, to build on the existing 1:1 laptop initiative in place in grades 10-12.
SAIS-Dubai has made an investment to ensure the success of our students, and the following are the main points that helped to drive making that decision.
- The American Common Core Curriculum. It is specifically designed to teach students 21st century skills – creative thinking, innovation, information & ICT literacy, problem-solving, communication & collaboration, among others. It deliberately challenges teachers to change the way they teach to a student-centred style and focuses on preparing skills for students that promote career and college readiness.
- UAE National Agenda – For that reason, the UAE Vision 2021 National Agenda emphasizes the development of a first-rate education system, which will require a complete transformation of the current education system and teaching methods. The National Agenda aims for all schools, universities and students to be equipped with Smart systems and devices as a basis for all teaching methods, projects and research.
- Digital technology has become one of the major tools for delivering new ways of learning, its flexibility, processing capabilities and sharing potential means students can have a full and engaging learning experience whenever and wherever they happen to be.
- Desire to Increase student engagement in the grades of 5-9. We feel that by incorporating digital media and resources into the classrooms, we are encouraging students’ participation and excitement for learning by using their interests in technology.
We are proud of the technology initiatives this academic year and would like to encourage other schools to follow in our path. At SAIS Dubai, we are giving students a chance to take control of their learning while developing 21st Century skills in their classrooms. Our students are learning to apply these skills to real life while becoming engaged and excited about new learning experiences. This technology upgrade has really allowed us to take learning to a new and more exciting level at SAIS-Dubai.
If you are interested in learning more about our program or the school, please visit our website www.saisdubai.net, and visit our hashtags #saisdubai #saisbestpractice for examples of best practices taking place at our school.
By Chassie Selouane
