Over 65 teachers and school administrators received invaluable training on online learning and digital education conducted by the Gulf Educational Supplies and Solutions (GESS), the premiere educational exhibition in the Arab world, in partnership with the British Council. “The workshop, hosted especially for members of GESS Al Nadi, was aimed at bringing together the Gulf's leading educational stakeholders to enhance their online learning and digital education capabilities,” said Matt Thompson, Project Director, F&E Group, organizers of the GESS Education Awards. Among the featured speakers included Suzanne Mordue, e-Learning Consultant/Global Teacher Development Team, British Council, Istanbul, Turkey who spoke about The Digital World of Learning and Development. She presented a comprehensive look at the effect of technology on learning and learners themselves. The presented likewise incorporated tips and activities for teachers on how they can best integrate technology into the classroom set up. Learning a new language can be daunting, but one ditigal app makes it fun. Making Arabic language learning exciting and enjoyable in the classroom was the subject of a presentation conducted by Maria Menezes, of Something Fishy About Arabic, where she discussed a stimulating Arabic language learning app for Apple iOS devices, designed to make learning exciting, involving, experiential and fun. Tablets have become a ubiquitous device, even inside the classroom. As a result, there have been a number of tablet-based learning platforms develop to harness the device's potential in helping students learning effectively. Steven Bambury and Luke Rees of iPad Educators conducted a session on Redefining Tasks Using iPads. During their session, Bambury and Rees showed project-based, child-led and enquiry-type tasks that can be facilitated through fundamental apps like iMovie, Book Creator, Stage, Explain Everything, and Nearpod thus making learning an engaging experience for learners. Arab e-learning Academy's Sharifa Hajjat then shared Top 10 Tips for Effective e-Learning Design which provided valuable insights for school administrators on how they can best develop and execute e-learning initiatives in their classrooms. MindHyve's Shawn Frank, Creative Director and Co-Founder and Ronak Dave, Technical Director and Co-Founder, demonstrated their latest apps which could be useful in helping kids improve their semantic skills and hygiene habits. One of the apps - Matchalon - helps kids gain semantic skills through a fun game-like environment; the other – Groomar - is targeted toward kids with special needs, to teach them the importance of attaining grooming skills, in a fun and interactive format. — SG
