Microsoft has announced that 2,013 educators from the UAE are now Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Experts, compared to 323 last year – a more than six-fold growth. This year’s UAE educators make up the lion’s share of the MIE Expert program, with one in ten out of 20,000 featured worldwide. This worldwide MIE Expert program aims to share ideas and approaches through a global community ecosystem, focused on improving student learning through technology.

The growth in the UAE’s MIE Experts is in line with a broader trend of an increase in applications for the program around the globe. The response in the UAE was strong, following a year-long awareness-raising through Microsoft Edudays events, and face to face and virtual trainings carried out throughout the country. This provided solid grounding for remote learning to be effectively implemented in classrooms across the UAE – and accordingly the nation’s MIE Experts are from all seven Emirates.

“With the challenges that COVID-19 has presented for all our communities, educators have become more vital than ever. At a time of great reimagining and change, they help to reshape our world by imparting knowledge and expertise.” said Ahmed Ameen Ashour, Education Director, Microsoft UAE. “These educators will lead the transformation of teaching in the new era- and achieve better learning outcomes“

As a MIE Expert, educators build their capacity for using technology in both the classroom and across the curriculum to improve student learning. These experts advise Microsoft and educational institutions on how to integrate technology in pedagogically sound ways and be an advocate for how Microsoft technology can improve learning. The list of selected MIE Experts from the UAE can be found here.