Students of a Dubai school filmed over 1,000 videos to promote the global experiences of Expo 2020 on social media in five languages.
The online videos come as part of the “Amazing UAE” initiative, launched by the French school Lycée Français International Georges Pompidou, to highlight the UAE’s landmarks and diverse society, while equipping students with hands-on skills that complement their education.
Fawzia Lachachi, the school’s Arabic teacher and founder of the initiative, said 250 students from grade 6 to 9 documented their various experiences at the world’s fair in 1,000 short videos filmed in Arabic, English, French, German and Spanish.
“The idea was to encourage students to engage with different cultures and understand the beauty of diversity. Expo 2020 offers the world in one place, making it an excellent opportunity for students to meet new people and explore the latest that each country has to offer in agriculture, energy and technology among other sectors,” said Lachachi.
“The world’s fair brought the world closer to us while we are at home in the UAE.”
The initiative, Lachachi noted, enabled students to expand their knowledge and sharpen their presentation skills. It aimed to foster tolerance and appreciation of differences in students from a young age – values that are at the core of the UAE’s ecosystem.
“Moving from the desert to jungle, space to the deep ocean and more of the technology-equipped nature views at Expo 2020, students were inspired to apply innovation to capture these extraordinary experiences in digital content.”
Lachachi added that the videos, which did not exceed three minutes, attracted a widespread positive response from the school community, parents and social media users.
Last year, the initiative involved 44 students in featuring the UAE’s natural, touristic and historical attractions in five languages with aims to promote the country as a leading destination.
Lachachi said the school’s faculty worked closely with students and supervised the content to ensure a valuable educational experience.
To produce the videos, students were trained on the right pronunciation, language, the choice of vocabularies, tone of voice, posture, choice of clothing, and presentation skills. They were also guided on innovative idea creation and delivery through digital storytelling and proper editing skills.
“The initiative is about producing high-quality content and equipping students with hands-on 21st century skills needed in today’s workplace,” said Lachachi.
“Content is driven with ideas. Students had to learn to develop innovative ideas that attract people’s attention through the proper use of visuals and presentation.”
The videos enabled students to deliver rich and comprehensive content, addressing the history behind Expo 2020, architectural elements, and technologies used in different pavilions.
“Information gathering was a central part of the storytelling,” said Lachachi.
Surprised at the quality of work that students produced, she said, “they went outside the box with their ideas. Some of them interviewed tourists using different languages, while others used creative filming techniques to capture the rich technologies and cultures in pavilions.”
She added that innovation helps the young generation to use social media positively and develop new ways to deliver information.
Lachachi aims to expand the initiative across all schools across the UAE to reflect the UAE’s culture of diversity and youth empowerment.
© Khaleej Times
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