The Arab Academy
is the world's leading provider of online Arabic language courses and
proficiency tests. Its program
helps transfer traditional Arabic language classes at your school to
"smart classrooms". Smart
classrooms are different than traditional classes in the following:
the way the class is administered, the way
homework is given, done and corrected, the way the teacher follows up
on students. It also changes
the evaluation criteria and the role of teachers and parents.
Let us now present each of the above points in turn and explain
it further.
I: Smart Arabic Classroom
A smart Arabic classroom differs from a traditional classroom
as follows:
1. A Computer and Projector in Class
Instead of depending on "books" only, the centerpiece of the
smart classroom is the interactive curriculum that is displayed to the
whole group through a data show connected to a computer.
2. Web based interactive curriculum
A traditional class is composed of a teacher, students and a book. The book is the pivot upon which the whole educational
process rotates. Instead, a smart classroom rotates around an interactive
web based curriculum.
II: Homework
A smart class transfers the homework from the burden that students like
to escape from in a traditional Arabic classroom, into an enjoyable
learning experience. That is
because the homework now involves working on interactive activities
and games with immediate feedback and automatic correction.
All grammar activities provide students with intelligent feedback
that explains why the answer is wrong.
Students may also send to the teachers questions through the
web site and the teacher responds through the teacher's board.
III.
Evaluation Criteria
The evaluation criteria in smart classrooms differ from those in traditional
classes. Smart classes take advantage
of a computer's ability to store information in a vast and accurate
way. Evaluation is therefore based on the following:
1.
Attendance: time spent
online on the program
2. Homework: working on the
online activities
3. Tests: students take online
tests and scores are automatically recorded
4. Writing: students learn
how to write and type Arabic as they are required to submit compositions
on a regular basis.
5. Interacting with students and teachers: students
are encouraged to interact online on the site, in order to create an
active supportive environment.
IV.
Student Tracking
Smart classes involve a change in the way that teacher's correct students
work as follows:
1.
Correction:
Instead of carrying all those copybooks of students, teachers are able
to follow up on their students' work from one place online. A number of reports are generated with details
on students' work. This helps
teachers understand the needs of each student and of the group as a
whole.
2.
Display of Grades
Instead of waiting to get the copybook back with corrections on it,
students are now able to view their grades online.
Details on their mistakes are also provided along with corrections
of their compositions.
V:
Role of Parents
Parents are not expected to help students in their studies or in doing
their homework. However, they
are expected to follow up on their children and make sure that all is
well through:
1. Preparation of Computers:
First and foremost, parents have to make sure that the computer at home,
that the student is going to be use, meets the technical requirements
of Arab Academy
programs. Studying revolves around
the computer, so it is essential that the computer be ready. Please
read the technical requirements at the end of this document (Attachment
A)
2. Interaction with Parents:
There is a special board where teachers send messages
to parents and vice versa. Parents
can also use this board to send messages to the teacher.
We hope that this would facilitate interaction between parents
and teachers.
3. Logging In:
Parents should be aware that the school provides each child with a username
and password to be used to log on to the web site.
Parents should keep those passes in a safe place so that the
student would not lose it. The
password should be changed periodically to protect it.
4. Password Protection:
Students should change the password as soon as they get it, in order
to protect it. Parents should
make sure that their child is the only one who uses this password.
This is because when those passes are used to log on to the site,
all activities are recorded online and a report is sent to the teacher. If another person uses those passes to log in
to the program, the reports that are sent to the teacher would be wrong
and the teacher will not be able to understand the student's needs and
abilities. This could have a negative effect on the student's
grades and linguistic ability. Further,
the terms and conditions of use of the Arab Academy
web site specify that each user should have one password only. The school has subscribed and paid fees for
each student, so please protect your child's rights and interests by
not sharing those passes with others.
We hope that your
child would find this new experience positive and inspiring. We also
promise to continue to try and develop our teaching methods at our school. Finally, we would like to invite you to visit
the web site of Arab
Academy from: www.arabacademy.com
Technical
Requirements of Arab Academy
Programs |