How Ankabut and AI-ready devices are reshaping student experience in UAE education

Technology is now part of how schools and universities teach, assess and support students. From AI and adaptive learning platforms to virtual simulations, digital classrooms and data-based progress tracking, institutions are using these tools to make lessons more interactive and responsive to individual needs. Research across education settings also points to gains in engagement, feedback and learning outcomes when digital tools are matched to the needs of students and the learning goals of the classroom.

As education institutions adopt more digital tools, there is also a growing need to bring these services together. Students and educators can find themselves navigating separate platforms for learning management, assignments, research, library access, video, email, storage, timetables and support. Each system can have its own interface, login and notifications.

Sofiane Benna, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Technology Operations at Ankabut, says the problem is not necessarily the amount of technology, but how it is organised. “Digital overload is not about too much technology, but about too many disconnected front doors,” he says.

Ankabut’s digital experience platform brings these services together through one By Chiranti Sengupta Senior Editor unified portal and mobile app, supported by single sign-on.

“It is designed around stakeholder journeys – educator, student, and administrator each get the tasks and information relevant to them, rather than a menu of systems,” says Benna.

This gives students and educators access to classwork, research and collaboration tools in one place, reducing the need to move between multiple applications. It also creates a more consistent experience across devices.

That consistency becomes particularly important outside the classroom. Students increasingly need access to learning resources, collaboration tools and support from home, on shared devices and during term breaks.

“The experience should not change when the student walks out of the building,” says Benna.

Ankabut brings connectivity, cloud infrastructure, identity and cybersecurity into one managed environment so students can continue accessing lessons and collaboration tools outside the campus. The same tools, protections and single sign-on can be maintained across different settings.

“Institutions get a unified digital experience accessed through secured solutions – all on sovereign UAE infrastructure,” he says.

For students, the technology experience also depends on the devices they use every day. Laptops and other devices now need to support more than accessing course material. Students use them for research, note-taking, presentations, content creation and collaboration.

Tolga Özdil, Regional Commercial Director, Middle East, Turkey & Africa (META) at ASUS, says a capable personal device can allow students to manage these different activities without needing separate devices for each task.

“The right technology will enable the learners to perform different activities using a single device,” he says.

“At ASUS, our mission is to ensure that performance, portability and flexibility are combined to meet these needs. AI-ready specifications, touchscreens and 360-degree flippable displays are features that provide adapt their devices to different tasks without any complexity.”

The device becomes part of the wider learning process, supporting students as they move between individual study, research, creation and collaboration.

AI is also becoming part of how students learn and how institutions support them. For students, it can help generate ideas, explain complex concepts, brainstorm and organise information. For institutions, it can analyse data and identify students who may need additional support.

But the quality of AI-driven insights depends on the quality of the data available to institutions.

“In most institutions, the learner’s data sits in silos – held separately by each application, in different formats and under different owners – so no single view of the student exists,” says Benna.

“Any AI built on a single fragment of that picture produces weak or misleading signals, which is why identifying learning needs and spotting students at risk remain manual, after-the-fact exercises,” he says.

Ankabut’s student success solution brings data from different applications into a unified platform. This can help institutions identify early signals that a student is falling behind, giving educators an opportunity to intervene while there is still time to provide support.

For students, Özdil says AI should complement learning rather than replace the effort required to understand and evaluate information. Educators and parents have a role in helping students use these tools effectively and responsibly, particularly when it comes to checking the accuracy of AIgenerated information.

“Verification of facts is necessary since it will enable learners to make their own judgment,” says Özdil. The same principle applies to institutions. AI can identify patterns and provide signals, but educators remain responsible for interpreting those signals and deciding how best to support a student.

“AI provides the signal; the judgment stays human,” says Benna.