Effective Introduction and Adoption of Advanced Technology in Dubai Private Schools
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Date
2013-04
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The British University in Dubai (BUiD)
Abstract
Education the world over has seen widespread, intensive introduction of advanced technology within it. Governments of some countries have spent billions of dollars and have continued spending huge amount of resources towards the use of advanced technology (AT) in educational institutions. AT resources now play a significant role in almost all spheres of educational institutions ranging from the kindergarten, high schools to the universities.
Just as technology has turned around businesses and organisations, making them more profitable and competitive, schools have been seen to be a prospective environment in introducing technology. In this research, a look at the reasons why governments, institutions and stakeholders in the educational sector are clamouring for the use of advanced technologies at places of learning, reasons why schools use AT is explored. AT in schools should not be only about resources or money spent, but rather the way and manner employed by schools in making best use of these resources in bringing out positive results in students.
The research focuses on the reasons why schools use AT and the challenges experienced while using it. How AT can be effectively used, the benefit derived from it and major barriers to effective adoption of AT in school is researched. This research takes an empirical exploration of AT use is some five private secondary schools in the of Emirate of Dubai - UAE. An extensive exploration of previous scholarly work on AT use in education as well as an in-depth case study research of some selected private schools in Dubai was done.
From the literature, factors found to enable effective use of AT in schools, such as availability of resources, onsite technical assistance, support of management and so forth were found. Findings from this research suggest that teachers’ continuous professional development such as AT user groups, frequent training of teachers, as well as providing immediate support both technical and pedagogical to teachers play a significant role in ensuring effective AT use in schools. When different subjects are interwoven such that they are all linked to one another also encourages teachers to use AT. Availability of resources and time to incorporate technology into teaching is required as well for effective AT adoption.
Further research focusing on teachers, which explores teachers’ use, problems and challenges they encounter while using AT should be done. This should provide a balanced insight especially if the findings are added to those of this research, in order to draw up a comprehensive understanding on how AT can be effectively adopted in schools.
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DISSERTATION WITH DISTINCTION
Keywords
Dubai private schools, educational institutions, United Arab Emirates (UAE)