Dubai International Academy to hold DI@TECH on March 11 and 12

DIA believes that the future belongs to technology and adopting it at an early age will help in the acceleration of the learning process amongst students. The purpose of the Technology Fair, the first by any educational institution in the region, is to offer parents and community members an opportunity to see how technology is being used in the DIA classrooms.

Poonam Bhojani, DIA Business and Technology Director, said: "We welcome students and parents from across the UAE to come and experience our unique Tech Fair. Technological innovations and the advent of internet have opened new horizons in education as in any other walks of life. It is our constant endeavour to evolve our technology in keeping with advancements across the globe. The fair will not only empower students but also create in them a sense of challenge and excitement which will spur creative ideas and thoughts."

Abdulla Al Karam, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Knowledge Village and Secretary General of the Dubai Education Council, said: "Dubai has consistently invested in technology and has strived to update and create new educational infrastructure to properly equip the students for the future. As a result, efforts are being exerted in technological tools and methods that will enhance education delivery, knowledge management and control processes. I appreciate the initiatives of Dubai International Academy in this direction and I am confident that this Technology Fair will go a long way in furthering the cause."

The two-day event, titled DI@TECH, will be open to student participation from DIA and other schools, besides parents, friends, staff members and government officials. It will feature technology projects by students, symposiums on technology with industry and student participations, exhibition-cum-sale of technology products, inter-school technology debates and quizzes, gaming competitions, Olympiads network based competitive games and much more. There will also be presentations from leading global and regional organizations such as Microsoft, HP, Etisalat, ICDL Gulf.

Hamdi Osman, Founding Partner and Member of DIA Board of Directors, said: "Our approach at DIA will be to encourage students to make maximum use of the infinite reach of the World Wide Web besides enhancing their learning experience through industry standard software. The fair will help us drive their learning process with the help of dedicated and knowledgeable information technology staff; build libraries focused on increasing research based e-learning; and enabling continuous online interaction between parents, teachers and students through the school portal."

"The future looks exciting... Our aim is to have robust learning management systems in place in order to equip our students with laptops, create e-learning, systems, robotics besides an in-school multimedia station with TV and radio centre," Hamdi added.

Besides these goals, DIA also propagates the need for automation of administrative tasks in the school to commit more resources and time to students, enable teacher training programs and having easy technology access as on demand.

Clive Carthew, Academic Director, DIA, added: "Not very often you come across a school which has a specific technology mission....Our mission is to have Technology that "enables, empowers and energizes education". Our technology goal is to have "access, anytime, anywhere". In addition to network connectivity in each classroom; access to multimedia and online learning materials to enforce the curriculum, we are also launching our online school portal during DI@TECH."

He added: "This will allow parents, teachers and students to work collaboratively in educating our student community. We have also invested in high quality instructional software and devices that allow teachers to integrate technology into all aspects of learning and world-class infrastructure to raise the standards of educational attainment in accordance with the IB Curriculum."

DIA's broader mission remains to build lifelong learners for the Global Knowledge Economy. The aim is to create responsible citizens, empowered with innovative and critical thinking skills and sensitivities which are vital for success in the 21st Century.

DI@TECH is sponsored by HP, Microsoft, and Bates PanGulf Group. Parents and students visiting DI@TECH also have a chance to win an HP Laptop. To win, one simply needs to fill out the coupon appearing in the DI@TECH leaflet in 7Days on Friday, March 10th and depositing it at the Welcome Desk at DIA.