Launch a program "Horizons" To empower educators with artificial intelligence technology through GITEX

Dubai, October 14, 2017 – The Emirates College for Educational Development, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, today launched its training program “Afaq” to empower educators and teachers with artificial intelligence technology and integrate its technologies into the educational environment in an effective, ethical and sustainable manner, in line with the strategic directions of the UAE towards the future of education.

The program was launched on the sidelines of the college’s participation in the GITEX 2025 International Technology Exhibition within the Abu Dhabi Government Pavilion.

This is to enhance the seven areas of artificial intelligence that the Ministry of Education included in the curricula, which are basic concepts, data and algorithms, software use, moral awareness, real-life applications, innovation and project design, policies and community engagement.

The program – which in its first phase aims to train 5,000 male and female teachers in the country – is based on the latest “TALIS 2024” report, a global survey conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on the learning environment and working conditions for teachers, which indicates that 75% of teachers in the UAE use artificial intelligence in their work, which reflects the country’s leadership in the field of innovation in education.

The program is the first of its kind in the country in terms of its reliance on the latest national and international frameworks. It was carefully developed by an elite group of academics and educational experts at the college, based on the National Framework for Specialized Competencies for Educators (NECF) and the Competencies Framework for Teachers in the Field of Artificial Intelligence issued by UNESCO.

The program aims to enable educators to employ artificial intelligence tools in a practical and effective manner in designing comprehensive and diverse educational experiences, based on an understanding of students’ levels of development, enhancing interaction and participation in education, developing educators’ competencies to design assessment tasks supported by artificial intelligence, and activating reflective feedback loops that support critical thinking and self-learning among students, taking into account the dimensions Ethical and ensuring the fairness and comprehensiveness of the evaluation.

In this regard, His Excellency Sulaiman Al Kaabi, Executive Director of the Student Quality of Life Sector at the Ministry of Education, said that the (afaq) program comes within the framework of our strategies aimed at raising the efficiency of teachers and educators in the country’s schools with the basics, concepts, uses and principles of artificial intelligence, which contributes to building integrated educational communities that keep pace with the country’s aspirations towards leadership in the digital field, and enhance societal confidence in teaching and adopting artificial intelligence. In the education sector, to achieve a more flexible, innovative, comprehensive and sustainable educational system that supports the knowledge economy and achieves our national goals.

He stressed the Ministry of Education’s keenness to provide quality programs in cooperation with partners, to develop the skills and capabilities of teachers in formulating sustainable strategic visions, and developing innovative educational plans that support students and meet their needs, with the introduction of artificial intelligence and its inclusion as a curriculum within the educational system of government schools in the country.

For her part, Dr. Mai Laith Al-Taie, Director of the Emirates College for Educational Development, explained that the (Afaq) program represents a qualitative step towards enabling educators to integrate the capabilities of artificial intelligence in developing their educational practices in a way that enhances the quality of education, and at the same time consolidates Emirati values ​​in conscious and ethical dealing with technology, and enhances the UAE’s leading position in the world in the field of adopting artificial intelligence in education, noting that the report “TALIS” 2024 indicates that 75% of teachers in the UAE are adopting artificial intelligence, which confirms the college’s strategic role in educational innovation.

She added that the college is working to prepare a generation of educators capable of realizing the vision of the wise leadership towards future education, formulating innovative strategic visions, and designing advanced educational experiences that keep pace with the national priorities of the UAE.

He explained that the program enhances efforts to enable educators to build a participatory school culture that supports the integration of artificial intelligence, and to formulate a strategic vision emanating from the local context, based on educational understanding, and keeping pace with the requirements of education using artificial intelligence, in addition to developing ethical school policies for the use of artificial intelligence, that reflect the inherent values ​​of the UAE, and ensure the responsible and ethical use of artificial intelligence tools.

The themes of the “Afaq” training program, which includes 5 training workshops, each lasting 4 hours, with a total of 20 training hours, include building a school culture that supports artificial intelligence, designing comprehensive and adaptive learning environments using artificial intelligence, integrating constructive assessment practices with mechanisms for providing feedback and professional reflection supported by artificial intelligence, and preparing ethical school policies that enhance transparency. And justice, and supports community trust, in addition to planning sustainable institutional innovation, and building school networks for learning and participatory educational development.

The program’s methodology includes practical workshops based on employing artificial intelligence applications, short videos, interactive electronic activities, group activities that promote collaborative work and the ethics of using artificial intelligence, interactive activities, mini-evaluations, and feedback sessions aimed at developing participants’ practices in using artificial intelligence.

• For more: Follow Khaleejion 24 Arabic, Khaleejion 24 English, Khaleejion 24 Live, and for social media follow us on Facebook and Twitter