Changing the face of learning: a success story at Al Khubairat

We have previously discussed how teachers at The British School – Al Khubairat, located in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, have recently welcomed the deployment of G-Suite for Education and 720 Acer Chromebooks Spin 11 for their students to use on a 1:1 basis and how the upgrade has changed classroom time and administrative tasks for the better.
But a school would be nothing without its students, so now it is time to hear their voices. What does this transformation look like from the other side of the teacher’s desk?

A one-stop shop for learning

Students at Al Khubairat have been interviewed about their experiences using their Chromebooks and G-Suite in the classroom and have given a positive response in general, but there is one aspect they seem to have appreciated the most: Google Classroom, Calendar and the synergy of the several other G-Suite applications have created a single, efficient place to go for all their learning and organisational needs.
With a little help from Google in remembering their homework assignments and schedules, students are more independent and free to focus on learning without the need to be constantly reminded about their daily duties: G-Suite and Acer Chromebooks are helping them take their education in their own hands and explore their interests and talents with a wealth of apps for any endeavour, all while never missing a deadline or losing an important piece of material again.

No subject is left out

Another interesting aspect that tends to emerge from student interviews is that they have definitely noticed that technology is no longer its own subject, but a fact of life that pervades all other areas of learning: the examples they brought up when asked to describe their day-to-day experience with the devices go from languages to science and all the way to visual arts.
Students have been exploring the full range of possibilities offered by Google’s educational products. From drawing with Google Canvas, to charting and graphing experiment results in science, to improving language and digital literacy skills in one fell swoop by editing their own videos in language classes, students at Al Khubairat are learning the most important lesson of all: no part of life can do without technology in this day and age and school is no exception.
By applying technology equally to all lessons and using G-Suite as a great, unified hub for all their learning, students are also given the chance to see with their own eyes that all human knowledge is interconnected and that even in today’s highly specialised world, there is value in knowing a little bit of everything and in staying curious.
It is plain to see that Acer Chromebooks and G-Suite have made a positive difference in these young people’s lives and we would like to take the time to express our wish that such a difference may carry over into their adult years and shape them into men and women who can build a better future for all of us.