Showing a promising step towards defining the future of tech education, 10-year-old Emirati girl AlDhabi AlMheiri has opened up an AI Learning Academy just targeted at kids in the 7-13 age bracket. The open site is designed to transform the way the youth get information about artificial intelligence and tackle female underrepresentation in technology, in particular in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
AlDhabi, a four-time Guinness World Record holder and the creator of the Rainbow Chimney publishing house, has created 20 video-based lessons that teach all the major AI knowledge people need: machine learning, ethics, and even entrepreneurship. In every module, there are printable worksheets and practical projects, ensuring that children can learn how to make abstract ideas fun and practical.
In an interview, AlDhabi said, I was afraid to make my lessons sound too official. That is why, I used simple words, bright cartoonish characters, and things which children really know.
A Peer-to-Peer Approach That Works
Research indicates that peer-generated material improves knowledge comprehension and retention by anywhere up to 40 per cent, especially in the case of artificial intelligence. Children also learn much more effectively when taught by other children themselves, which is also cleverly implemented in the case of AlDhabi.
The fact that her initiative is gender-inclusive is remarkable. With AI engagement rates among girls in middle school lagging behind their male counterparts by an almost 30 percent difference, the academy features specifically designed Girl in AI classes. The modules are designed to make young girls feel welcome to the world of AI by teaching them the rules of the game in a comfortable, relatable setting and feel welcome to join this community dominated by males.
Entrepreneurship Meets Ethics
The platform goes beyond education AI; it seeks to have kids grow into tech creators rather than just consumers. Entrepreneurship modules also make students think about themselves as constructors and business transformers in addition to approaching the principle values as privacy and responsible behavior.
According to AlDhabi, she wants children to feel like producers rather than consumers. They are able to construct, to guide and to begin early.
The academy adheres to stringent child data protection rules and has to seek parental approval. All lessons are available in both Arabic and English thus widening the scope of people reached and in line with the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN which focuses on quality education and gender equality.
A Young Leader with Big Credentials
The resume of AlDhabi is undoubtedly astonishing especially at her young age. She has done 163 hours of IBM-certified AI work, undertaken executive education at NYU Abu Dhabi and she has an entrepreneurship fellowship from Georgetown University. Its free AI Learning Academy is now available at ailearning.ae and is accessible to families and schools across the globe in a child-safe environment.
Technology does not belong exclusively to the adults, stated AlDhabi. Children love it, can comprehend it, develop, transform and mold the future of it-all we have to do is to allow them access. Her child-driven, community-based project could very well be the model of how digital education will take on the future.