Better use of technology in the classroom is key to improving students' performance, according to a leading computer expert.

Microsoft worldwide education vice-president Anthony Salcito told the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication, that the focus today should not be on acquiring more technology for schools, but on reimagining its use.

"We're not going far enough to use these tools in a productive way, and I think that's part of the journey we're on," he said on the sidelines of the Microsoft Global Education Forum in Dubai last week.

"I often talk about how we create environments of expectation and motivation for students.

"One of our innovative schools in Turkey has a fish tank above the sinks in the bathrooms.

"They do that so when children wash their hands, they do it quickly because intuitively they think the water is coming from the fish tank and they want to save the fish.

Conservation

"In that way, they get students to think about water conservation."

Salcito said Microsoft was committed to education on a local level in Bahrain and worldwide.

"Five years ago, you were arguing about the need for technology, and people would say 'we're getting better results without'," he said.

"There was a debate as to whether it was part of the equation, but we're done with that debate.

"The debate has shifted now from the acquisition of technology being the goal to being a step.

"Goals should be performance, learning, student-driven goals.

"When Bahrain looks at the future of education, it should think 'how do we grow the country to be economically prosperous and enable our students to contribute to our country, be leaders, be entrepreneurs and inspire the world?'

"That's the mountaintop, that's the goal." - TradeArabia News Service