The American University of Ras Al Khaimah (AURAK) is set to develop a slew of smart learning tools with the AED 500,000 research funding awarded by the Ministry of Education (MOE) under the Mohammed Bin Rashid Smart Learning Program (MBRSLP).

The funding was granted to the university’s Office of Research and Community Service.

“The American University of Ras Al Khaimah is thrilled to be selected for the grant that will help take our faculty and students’ smart learning innovations to fruition,” saidDr. Mohamed Al Zarooni, Associate Provost for Research and Community Service, AURAK. “As a research-focused university, we encourage our faculty and students to experiment with new ideas. Getting this funding is a testimony to the type of innovative work our faculty and students are doing, and we are confident the tools they are creating will help take smart learning to the next level.”

The AURAK team has submitted proposals in 13 different areas, which have now been approved by the MOE. The faculty and student teams are due to start work on the individual innovations soon.

The smart learning ideas the team has submitted include Developing a Machine Learning–Based Decision-Making Tool to Support Students’ Academic Progress; Customized IOT Black Box for Renewable System Education and Research; a Learning and Evaluation Platform for Student Entrepreneurs; Teaching in the Metaverse: Using Virtual Reality (VR) to Improve Student Engagement in the Classroom; an AI-powered Arabic Reading Proficiency Test and a new approach in Design Studios for Heritage Sites.

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Smart Learning Program was set up in 2018 to encourage development of a unique learning environment in schools through the introduction of ‘Smart Classes’ where students will utilize smart devices as a means of acquiring knowledge. It is basically a seed funding program for outstanding Research and Development (R&D) proposals in targeted Education Technology (EDTech) topics.

Projects funded by the MBRSLP program are expected to advance scientific and technological development within EDTech and have the potential to transition into startups. In addition, through these projects, the MBRSLP is encouraging the development of partnerships between UAE universities, companies, and leading industrial and academic institutes, both nationally and worldwide. 

Applicants were required to demonstrate the potential impact of their R&D and identify how this impact would be realized.  

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