The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic prompted a remote learning revolution as schools around the world swiftly embraced technology to ensure pupils did not miss out on crucial education.
The switch from classrooms to living rooms, however, raised questions about the long-term impact on pupils left disconnected from friends and teachers.
But it was not just learners who have had to make the transition from in-person studies to Zoom lessons.
Now, because I'm at home, I don't get that opportunity for regular intervention. So that's actually the biggest challenge that I'm facing so far
Christi McKeever
While government schools across the emirates and all schools in Abu Dhabi are adopting remote learning until January 21, some teachers have had to get to grips with remote teaching while pupils are in class.
Christi McKeever, a grade five teacher at American Academy for Girls in Dubai, had to immediately switch from leading an in-person class to teaching remotely after she was identified as a close contact of a Covid-19 case.
Ms McKeever teaches English, mathematics, science and social emotional learning, and has 18 pupils in her class, evenly split between remote and in-person learning.
For her class, a staff member oversees the progress for children who are in class, while Ms McKeever teaches from home via video.
“There are definitely challenges when it comes to the actual teaching, such as making sure lessons are engaging, accessible and challenging, and also trying to provide individualised support, especially if pupils are at home," said Ms McKeever.
She said that in a normal classroom dynamic, she would be able to support children on the spot and monitor their work and progress.
Mastering a new way of teaching
“Now, because I'm at home, I don't get that opportunity for regular intervention. So that's actually the biggest challenge that I'm facing so far," she said.
"I'm trying to figure out ways that are going to be engaging and accessible and challenging, but also catered to that individualized support that our pupils need, because they all have different ways of learning.
“It required teachers to completely shift their skill set. And it sometimes it feels like starting from nothing.
“it's constantly just having to be creative, and flexible, and adaptable. And it's throughout the day, it's after school hours, it's in the morning before you log in.“
She said that if a pupil made a mistake she could not always catch it in the moment or address it immediately.
Or if a student was doing really well, she was not able to challenge them on the spot to deepen their understanding.
Plans in place to help teachers
Lisa Johnson, principal at the American Academy for Girls in Dubai, said flexibility was key to allow teachers to tailor lessons.
A hybrid model may involve all pupils learning online or divided into groups with some in class and others working remotely.
She said sometimes teachers would be dialing in just to work with one or two pupils because they needed a little extra attention or support.
“We see sometimes that pupils who are online, tend to disconnect a little bit. It's very difficult to keep them engaged and motivated unless you keep the pace of the class moving," said Ms Johnson.
While some of her grades have around 80 per cent pupils attending in-person classes, others have only 10 per cent of pupils in classrooms.
Ms Johnson said planning logistical changes during the winter break and making schedules was a challenge.
“We've scheduled a system for the admin team and for specialists to make sure that homeroom teachers get breaks to plan and have a bit of lunch and tea.
"All this (planning) was happening over the winter break. So that was an element that made the planning a little bit more challenging, because I had staff traveling. In addition to that, we were completely redoing our master schedule to respond to the four-and-a-half-day work week," said Ms Johnson.
Teacher presses on after infection
Hadeel Jallad, an Arabic teacher at Gems American Academy in Abu Dhabi, was keen to put her pupils first after testing positive for the virus.
With the support of her school, she chose to continue teaching from home.
"It was a little bit difficult and on some days I wasn't feeling well and needed to have medicine before the class," said Ms Jallad.
"My pupils are so young in grade one and grade two, so it was a bit difficult."
She said she decided to use quizzes to make learning fun.
She explained the concept to pupils, got them together in groups, and then used quiz platforms such as Kahoot.
New age of education
Nathalie Pageau, a grade two teacher at the American Academy for Girls in Dubai, said supporting pupils in the classroom as well as online could be difficult.
"It definitely has its challenges such as to keep everyone engaged," she said.
"There are technology issues. Sometimes the technology doesn't work, the calls don't go through or the cameras are not working, so you can't see what the pupils are doing at home."
She said these created disruptions to the lessons and schedule.
"It can be frustrating and challenging at times, because we need to adapt really quickly to a new way of doing things."
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Zayed Sustainability Prize
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 380hp at 5,800rpm
Torque: 530Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
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On sale: Now
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
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What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
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What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is the most popular virtual currency in the world. It was created in 2009 as a new way of paying for things that would not be subject to central banks that are capable of devaluing currency. A Bitcoin itself is essentially a line of computer code. It's signed digitally when it goes from one owner to another. There are sustainability concerns around the cryptocurrency, which stem from the process of "mining" that is central to its existence.
The "miners" use computers to make complex calculations that verify transactions in Bitcoin. This uses a tremendous amount of energy via computers and server farms all over the world, which has given rise to concerns about the amount of fossil fuel-dependent electricity used to power the computers.
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World record transfers
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
SPEC SHEET
Display: 6.8" edge quad-HD dynamic Amoled 2X, Infinity-O, 3088 x 1440, 500ppi, HDR10 , 120Hz
Processor: 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/Exynos 2200, 8-core
Memory: 8/12GB RAM
Storage: 128/256/512GB/1TB
Platform: Android 12
Main camera: quad 12MP ultra-wide f/2.2, 108MP wide f/1.8, 10MP telephoto f/4.9, 10MP telephoto 2.4; Space Zoom up to 100x, auto HDR, expert RAW
Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, full-HD@60fps, HD@30fps, super slo-mo@960fps
Front camera: 40MP f/2.2
Battery: 5000mAh, fast wireless charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
I/O: USB-C
SIM: single nano, or nano and SIM, nano and nano, eSIM/nano and nano
Colours: burgundy, green, phantom black, phantom white, graphite, sky blue, red
Price: Dh4,699 for 128GB, Dh5,099 for 256GB, Dh5,499 for 512GB; 1TB unavailable in the UAE
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
PREMIER LEAGUE STATS
Romelu Lukaku's goalscoring statistics in the Premier League
Season/club/appearances (substitute)/goals
2011/12 Chelsea: 8(7) - 0
2012/13 West Brom (loan): 35(15) - 17
2013/14 Chelsea: 2(2) - 0
2013/14 Everton (loan): 31(2) - 15
2014/15 Everton: 36(4) - 10
2015/16 Everton: 37(1) - 18
2016/17 Everton: 37(1) - 25
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
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Day 1 results:
Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
South Africa 66 (2) beat Sri Lanka 57 (2)
Australia 126 (4) beat Malaysia -16 (0)
Open Women
New Zealand 64 (2) beat South Africa 57 (2)
England 69 (3) beat UAE 63 (1)
Australia 124 (4) beat UAE 23 (0)
New Zealand 74 (2) beat England 55 (2)
The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre, V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: seven-speed PDK dual clutch automatic
Power: 375bhp
Torque: 520Nm
Price: Dh332,800
On sale: now
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The biog
Name: James Mullan
Nationality: Irish
Family: Wife, Pom; and daughters Kate, 18, and Ciara, 13, who attend Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS)
Favourite book or author: “That’s a really difficult question. I’m a big fan of Donna Tartt, The Secret History. I’d recommend that, go and have a read of that.”
Dream: “It would be to continue to have fun and to work with really interesting people, which I have been very fortunate to do for a lot of my life. I just enjoy working with very smart, fun people.”
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Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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All kick-off times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Brackets denote aggregate score
Tuesday:
Roma (1) v Shakhtar Donetsk (2), 11.45pm
Manchester United (0) v Sevilla (0), 11.45pm
Wednesday:
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25-MAN SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Francis Uzoho, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Daniel Akpeyi
Defenders: Olaoluwa Aina, Abdullahi Shehu, Chidozie Awaziem, William Ekong, Leon Balogun, Kenneth Omeruo, Jamilu Collins, Semi Ajayi
Midfielders: John Obi Mikel, Wilfred Ndidi, Oghenekaro Etebo, John Ogu
Forwards: Ahmed Musa, Victor Osimhen, Moses Simon, Henry Onyekuru, Odion Ighalo, Alexander Iwobi, Samuel Kalu, Paul Onuachu, Kelechi Iheanacho, Samuel Chukwueze
On Standby: Theophilus Afelokhai, Bryan Idowu, Ikouwem Utin, Mikel Agu, Junior Ajayi, Valentine Ozornwafor
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