GEMS Modern Academy

GEMS Modern Academy, an independent international school in Dubai, UAE, is shaping the future of education and empowering students to thrive in an ever-evolving world. Having integrated technology and entrepreneurship into its curriculum, the school has seen a 37% year-on-year rise in student participation and national and international collaborations with the likes of DFC, SAP, and Microsoft.

Recognising the need to prepare students for an uncertain future, GEMS Modern Academy introduced a number of technological innovations into its curriculum and practices as early as 2001, to include the region's first online report card system, developed entirely by students and teachers. The school even has a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programme, through which students from Grade 2 onwards bring their own learning devices.

In 2015-16, after sending teachers to Carnegie Mellon University for training in STEAM and technology integration, the school incorporated the disciplines into classrooms. Also, after partnering with Harvard Project Zero, the school developed thinking routines and a multidisciplinary approach towards innovation, known as the futures curriculum method, which has been adopted by several other schools.

All together, this has led to an entrepreneurial mindset that the school deliberately fosters. Starting in primary school with Unit of Inquiry projects, and moving on to Challenge-Based Learning in middle school and the school’s Prism Project and Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme in senior school, GEMS Modern Academy provides what it calls a scaffolded strategy for developing critical thinking, problem-solving, design thinking and a growth mindset.

Along those lines, the school has collaborated with Dubai SME since 2008 on entrepreneurship competitions and has even become a certified Hamdan Incubation Center, raising AED 85,000 to bring student projects to market.

Entrepreneurial success does not rely on technological innovation alone. The traditional student leadership model is now a holacracy-inspired leadership model, distributing authority and decision making, empowering the Student and Innovation Councils. These student-led initiatives have gone on to create a #community constantly exploring emerging technologies like blockchain, AI, and robotics, and their impact on learning, pedagogy, and systems development.

Should GEMS Modern Academy win the World's Best School Prize for Innovation, it will prioritise preparing students and educators for the rise of Artificial Intelligence. The plan includes establishing an incubation fund, benefiting both in-house and external student projects. By providing seed money and connecting students with industry experts, the fund aims to empower innovative ideas and offer guidance. GEMS Modern Academy's objective is to support both their school and others seeking similar opportunities.