Impact of digital revolution on future of education to be explored at Government Summit

• Session to measure contribution of countries for common good of humanity

Dubai, February 8, 2015: The third Government Summit, which begins tomorrow, February 9, under the theme, ‘Shaping Future Governments’, will explore the future of education and the challenges in this vital sector, taking into consideration the fast paced technological developments and digital revolution.

The first day of the Summit will host a session titled, ‘The Future of Online Education’, with the participation of high-profile speakers, including Jim Shelton, Deputy Secretary General of the US Department of Education; Dino Varkey, Group Executive Director and Board Member of GEMS Education, UAE; and Anant Agarwal, CEO of the ‘edX’, USA.

The session will discuss the need to innovate teaching methods to align them to e-learning levels by offering adequate training to teachers. Speakers will highlight the current conflict in the education sector created by the technology revolution and the conviction that the integration of interactive technology in the educational system has become a necessity rather than a privilege or luxury.

‘The Future of Online Education’ session will also discuss how future prosperity of the countries depends on its success in the development of clear strategies to employ optimal skills of its citizens and how students are prepared for entrepreneurship.  The session will focus on the need to integrate entrepreneurship education at all levels of current education to pave the way for innovative projects that contribute to the economic development of knowledge-based economies.

The discussion will also focus on the importance of coordinated efforts between educators and those in charge of technology development to make the best use of high end technology products to serve the educational system. The session will emphasize how effective communication between the teacher and the student can help meet the unique and specific needs of each student, in addition to build teaching techniques that are compatible with the elements of e-learning.

On the second day of the Summit, Simon Anholt, professor of international relations and public policy adviser in the UK, will speak on ‘What Makes a Good Country’. The session will highlight how human progress depends on national policies and to what extent it is important for countries to cooperate with each other for the benefit of their communities.

Anholt’s viewpoints would be significant in view of the fact that global challenges such as climate and economic crises, epidemics and poverty, population and food scarcity as well as water and energy crises are issues faced by the entire humanity irrespective of national boundaries. The session will try to look at the problems based on Anholt’s ‘good country indicator’, which uses a wide range of data from the United Nations and other international organizations to measure the contribution of countries for the common good of humanity.