Teaching in the classroom today can no longer sustain the interest of students and be effective if the process involves traditional approach -teachers as sole provider of content information. In recent years technology has played a significant role in transforming education to more progressive and interactive activities. However the use of technology itself does not produce positive results in quality of learning and students' achievement. Teachers must be competent in subject knowledge, pedagogical skills and technological know-how. The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge or TPACK as a conceptual framework can guide teachers to understand the complex relations between the six components of the model. There has been numerous studies on TPACK in international contexts beyond cultural and language boundaries. This paper examined recent studies on TPACK in various countries and reports findings from a study conducted with student teachers in the UAE.

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This paper explores how a group of undergraduate students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) use their mobile phones to perform informal learning activities related to the content of their courses outside the classroom. The paper also addresses the usefulness of informal learning activities to support students' learning. The study adopts an exploratory case study design and uses multiple methods of data collection including questionnaires, interviews and diary entries. Main findings suggest that students performed informal learning activities mostly from home, interacting mainly with classmates. It also shows that students were in control of their informal learning activities without teachers' input. However, it was found that students used only a limited number of applications but these were considered useful to their learning. The paper contributes to a discussion of the implications of training and instructor support to help students to take more advantage of mobile phone applications to support informal learning. Recommendations for further research are discussed.

Despite the exponential growth in STEM-related jobs, there is an acute shortage of people choosing to pursue STEM-related studies and careers. Compared with men, women are underrepresented in STEM-related courses and careers. The chapter, therefore, examined the associations of perceived usefulness of 3D printing technology, self-concept in using 3D printing technology, and interest in and enjoyment of using 3D printing technology with interest in science-, math-, and technology-related careers among 276 female elementary students enrolled in public schools in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The results of path analyses after accounting for student demographic characteristics, revealed that perceived usefulness of 3D printing technology, self-concept in using 3D printing technology, and interest in and enjoyment of using 3D printing technology were significantly and positively related to interest in science-, math-, and technology-related careers among female elementary students. Implications of the findings for policy and practice are discussed.

this paper presents an overview of a work in progress research project that investigated cycle 2 in-service teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of a training offered in the United Arab Emirates on how to use and integrate robotics in teaching. The project also investigated teacher beliefs, attitudes and intention to use robotics in their future teaching. A description of the training offered to cycle 2 teachers is presented. Potential contributions to the context and knowledge as well as future work are discussed.

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This paper investigates how a group of undergraduate female students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) use mobile phones to support informal learning related to the content of their courses. It also addresses the usefulness of informal learning activities to support students’ formal learning. Data were collected using a survey and focus group interviews. Main findings show that students performed informal learning mainly from home and interacted with key individuals. Overall, students used basic mobile phone applications which they found useful to their learning. The paper discusses key themes emerging from the findings and makes a contribution towards understanding the uses of mobile technologies in informal learning settings within a non-Western culture. Recommendations for future research are also discussed.

To examine the relationship between students’ perceptions and their non-cognitive outcomes, this research uses secondary analysis of PISA data from 14,167 students in the United Arab Emirates. Seven factors of learning environment were identified after reviewing the literature. The findings reveal that six factors of the learning environments had a statistically significant association with epistemological beliefs. It was also found that three aspects of learning environments had a statistically significant association with self-efficacy. The results indicate that the three aspects of learning environments had a statistically significant association with anxiety. There was no association found between anxiety and any other teacher factors. The findings also show a positive and statistically significant relationship between students’ epistemological beliefs and self-efficacy, and a negative significant relationship between self-efficacy and anxiety. The research thus confirmed previous research by establishing a significant association between the nature of the learning environment and students’ cognitive outcomes.