Higher Colleges of Technology, CORE partner in UAE's flagship education project

This historic partnership firmly places the UAE as a frontrunner in the field of digital education in the world by making it one of the few countries to adopt revolutionary technologies in mobile learning (m-learning) and cloud computing through hand-held devices.

Building on the popularity of tablet PCs and smart phones, the initiative has revolutionised traditional concepts of teaching and learning, firmly aligning them with cutting-edge 21st century education processes.

The objective of this project is to leverage the power of handheld devices such as tablet PCs to transform teaching and learning by bringing the world into the classroom and extending the classroom to the world. The initiative brings knowledge and information to the students and break down the virtual walls of the classroom, allowing students to become the co-creators of their own learning environment through collaborations with their own peers and faculty.

While marking one of CORE's major breakthrough projects in the Middle East, the collaboration comes only a few days after His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister for Higher Education & Scientific Research, and John Couch, Vice-President of Apple Inc's Worldwide Education, highlighted the advantages of mobile learning for today's tech-savvy students at the inaugural annual Global Mobile Learning Congress 2012 in Al Ain on September 25.

This initiative by CORE will usher in the largest nationwide campaign to expand the reach of mobile learning through Apple IPad tablets. The landmark project will benefit approximately 55,000 students in UAE (including over 20,000 students across 17 centres of HCT) and has the potential to cover nearly 10,000 students at Zayed University and UAE University.

The Apple iPad tablets will be powered by CORE's transformational educational solutions including its proprietary "Assessment Center", a unique and powerful tool that tracks and analyses a student's progress. This market-leading solution, which has met with unprecedented success in the United States, is designed to support region-wide assessment initiatives and help teachers, schools and administrators to scientifically assess their students.

Sanjeev Mansotra, Chairman & Global CEO of CORE Education & Technologies Limited, said, "We are delighted to partner with HCT in this prestigious project and bring our global expertise in transformational education solutions to usher in a new beginning for digital education era in UAE. Our new partnership will further supplement HCT's commitment towards optimum use of technology in education and we hope to roll out the program across other schools and higher educational institutions in the Middle East."

Mansotra added, "It is the government's endeavor to make best practices in education accessible to every student in the UAE. I am confident that CORE, a world leader in this domain, will ensure this initiative is a grand success."

CORE's R&D team and HCT's academic team will together develop a psychometric-based item bank aligned to local curriculum to complement the assessment platform. The entire platform is built on a cloud environment enabling stakeholders to access the assessment solution and generate reports anytime, anywhere.

Another important feature that has been incorporated into the solution is ipGrowth (Ipsative Growth), a powerful formative assessment solution that measures growth in student achievement by reviewing and interpreting key student data. ipGrowth provides uniquely actionable insights into both a student's current academic performance as well as his/her understanding.