Dubai: Information and communications technology is transforming the education sector in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries due to the increased use of devices for teaching and learning purposes.
According to a study commissioned by Intel to research firm International Data Corporation, the education sector in the GCC is expected to increase its device utilisation to 100 per cent in the coming two years.
Frederico Carvalho, regional business director at Intel Corporation, said that the trend is facilitating a drastic shift from teacher-centric teaching methods to learner-favoured styles across the GCC.
““We found that over 90 per cent of the educational institutes utilise laptops, tablets and two in one (laptop-tablet combo). The GCC’s education sector is witnessing significant growth and a focus on delivering quality education has driven institutions to adopt technology at every level,” he said.
The study showed that the utilisation split between laptops and tablets in the region is currently at 60-40, with 60 per cent of students using laptops for content creation, whereas tablets are seen as suitable for reading and accessing applications.
However, tablets are now used more in kindergarten and primary schools, where students are provided with institute-owned devices for day usage. These are lighter devices that have easily customisable applications and require minimum IT help.
The education sector accounted for 10.3 per cent of all tablet shipments to the Middle East region in the first half of 2014, up from 2.2 per cent for all of 2013.
The IT investment in the GCC education sector is put at $616 million or 2.3 per cent of the total investment and it is expected to grow at an annual rate of 10.4 per cent between 2013 and 2017.
The global IT investment in the education sector is at 2.5 per cent or $51 billion (Dh187.33 billion).
To bridge the gap between laptops and tablets, institutions are now considering two-in-one devices.
The bring your own device (BYOD) concept has also proved popular with institutions; over 60 per cent of those interviewed have a BYOD policy for students using their own devices for learning purposes.
Adriana Rangel, systems and infrastructure solutions director at IDC, said that the GCC education sector is witnessing unprecedented growth and development owing to intrinsic drivers like government reforms for education, the rapid influx of expatriates, the development of the region as a knowledge hub, and a conscious effort to produce industry-ready graduates in the region that parallel the growth in certain key industries.
“Beyond the adoption of mobile devices through government initiatives and private sector investments, we have also observed acceleration in the adoption of private clouds,” she said.
The report said that less than 30 per cent of the institutions use interactive whiteboards for teaching. Many institutes have LCD or LED panels that are connected to the instructor’s tablet or laptop to display teaching material. All of the institutes reported using video projectors to promote audiovisual learning for certain course material.
