By Harb Bou-Harb, Senior Education Director, Microsoft Middle East & Africa
The Middle East and Africa is undergoing massive digital transformation journeys. Both public and private sectors across the region are exploring ways of doing more with less; of standing out in the global community; of diversifying oil-rich economies; and taking advantage of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to build the next generation of workforce.
But while impressive progress has been made, skills gaps remain in key areas. Cloud, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and other technologies have a shortage of professionals trained to exploit them properly. And so, we look to the field of education for answers. We call upon educators to supply us with the next generation of technological innovators.
Wanted: Soft skills
Technology companies also have a part to play. We must support educators as they shape our future workforce. It is for this reason that events like BETT were conceived. BETT’s focus on technology in the classroom is not meant to encourage attendees merely to cover the latest tools and platforms. In recent years, it has focused on how softer skills are much in demand, and how millennials and other digital natives need more social, collaborative methods of study to be able to master these requirements and gain the much-needed skills required in future-jobs. Technology can help to create collaborative learning environments in order to achieve such ends.
BETT MEA 2019 will be held from 22 to 23 April at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council. This year’s BETT theme is “Building a Successful Change Culture to Meet the Evolving Needs of 21st-Century Citizens”. As worldwide partner, this will be the fourth edition of the international event that Microsoft has brought to the region, which will feature two days of spirited discussion and key knowledge transfer between educators and technologists, as they seek to find new ways of providing students with future-ready skillsets.
Better learning outcomes
Microsoft has always believed the roles played by school leaders and educators are indispensable in shaping the next generation’s society. As the economies that young people will join become more and more digital, it makes more sense than ever to bring the right technologies into the classroom and drive better learning outcomes. Educators need to be given the ability to make lessons come to life – to inspire students to develop not only STEM and language skills, but to guide them towards honing leadership qualities, collaboration attributes, empathic tendencies and other subtle arts that will be vital for the future workplace.
The BETT theme for 2019 is not arbitrary. Building a change culture was identified as the biggest challenge by education leaders in the MEA region in recent polls; and providing students with the skills they require for the unknown future of the labour market was seen as a major determinant for success. The importance of social learning cannot be overstated. It continually emerges as a source of concern among teachers and employers. And those institutions and technology companies that have introduced more social interaction in the classroom have discovered that it can go a long way towards deepening students’ understanding of concepts being taught, as well as helping to build their own soft skills. In March this year, Microsoft and The Economist Intelligence Unit released new data exploring how education professionals prioritized and approached student well-being. When surveying more than 750 education professionals across 15 countries, we found that 80% of educators believe positive emotions are critical for academic success, while 70% say that emotional well-being has grown to be more important for K-12 students since they began their careers in education.
Steadfast commitment
Microsoft’s commitment to the education sector, both regionally and globally, is absolute. The Fourth Industrial Revolution poses challenges to societies everywhere. At the heart of these issues lies one burning question: how do we prepare the next generation to live, work and lead in a global digital economy? Our work across various initiatives such as Microsoft Showcase schools, Microsoft innovative educator expert, Microsoft Cloud Society and Microsoft virtual academy are poised to ensure lifelong learning – and innovations such as Minecraft in education, Windows 10, as well was Office 365 for education are aimed to equip thousands with the skills needed to shape that new world. We are also actively involved in regional partnerships such One Million Arab Coders, MADRASA, P@SHA, ANDESA, Hour Of code and AI Summer camps, solely with the mission to empower today’s students and youth to achieve more, tomorrow.
Microsoft is also strong committed to accessibility and inclusion in technology, because we believe there are no limits to what people can achieve when technology reflects the diversity of everyone who uses it. Transparency, accountability and inclusion aren’t just built into our culture. They’re reflected in products and services designed for people of all abilities.
Each month, 1 million new Windows 10 devices are being used by students in K-12 and higher education. As part of an ongoing philanthropic mission to support education, Microsoft has donated $1.4 billion in software and services, helping more than 95,000 schools and non-profits worldwide. We also made the video-centric education tool Flipgrid free to all educators because we believe in the power of social, interactive learning. A new educator joins Flipgrid every 55 seconds, suggesting they agree with us.
This is true digital transformation in education, where School leaders and Educators are playing a critical role in this journey. Bringing the right technologies at the heart of their efforts to drive better learning outcomes is what we at Microsoft are passionate about. We want to empower them to bring classrooms and lessons to life like never before so they can inspire students to develop the critical skills, much needed in tomorrow’s jobs. I look forward to being part of these discussions with key education decision-makers at this year’s BETT MEA and talk about how we can build a future-ready workforce.
