Schools teaching children as young as three to code and use new technology, The National reports.
The new Dunecrest American School (DAS) is located just a few-minute drive away from our latest development, Easy18 which offers quality living at an affordable price. A stone’s throw away from the best Dubai has to offer, residents will have quick access to the top schools based in Dubai Academic City, and entertainment venues including the following:
GEMS Modern Academy
GEMS Wellington Academy
GEMS Our Own High School
Kent College
King’s School
Repton School
Rising School
Primus Private School
School of Creative Science
American International School
French International School
German International School
Indian International School
A dozen of other new schools have opened their doors this academic year including:
The Arbor School
South View School
Brighton College
GEMS Founders School Mizhar
The Aquila School UK
Al Mawakeb School Al Khawaneej
Dunecrest American School
Fairgreen International School
Dwight School
Soloman International School
Ambassador School Al Mankhool
GEMS New Our Own private High School Sharjah
Many of the best universities of the Emirate are also just a few minutes drive from Easy18, including:
University of Dubai
Herriot-Watt University
Zayyed University
American University in the Emirates
Birla Institute of Technology
British University in Dubai
Birmingham University
Rochester Institute of Technology
Al Ghurair University
Emirates Aviation University
Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University
SP Jain School of Global Management
Murdoch University
Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government
and many more.
DAS integrates learning coding with other lessons to help teach pupils critical thinking. They start teaching coding to children as young as three. Bill Delbrugge, director of the school, believes that rather than treating coding as something to be learnt in isolation, it should be embedded in everything that children do.
An example lesson for three-year-olds might see a child who is learning about the Wizard of Oz tasked with getting Dorothy from point A to point B on a computer screen. When they push arrows to move Dorothy, they are learning to sequence.
Nigel Cropley, principal at Gems Founders School Al Mizhar, which also launched in September, said the school aims for all their pupils to be coders “from foundation stage to Year 13”.
“We want these children to be problem solvers. It’s about solving real-world problems with the use of technology,” said Mr Cropley.
Pupils at the school will do projects looking at issues such as how the school can be more energy efficient.
The school also has an innovation wing where children can innovate and do complex coding, and they also have 3D printers.
Joanne Wells, principal at South View School, said the fact that technology affects every part of our life is at the heart of the way they now run the school.
However, she believes at the same time that preparing children for a distant future should not mean overlooking the present.