EDUCATION, CULTURAL DISCOURSES & NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN GULF STATES

Dubai is praised for its modernity, malls and dreamscape resorts themed along tradition, it is also a city that contains intact its heritage quarter in al-Bastakia. The duality of modernity and tradition as manifested in Dubai is applicable to educational trends in the Gulf. Digital technologies available to us especially 3D software allow instructors to explore new venues as academia and digital mediums breach boundaries to create virtual spaces of joint interest between instructors and students. Incorporating local heritage in a context that hinges on computer based design meets student interests, and instructors to explore the spatial attributes of heritage in Dubai. The advantages offered by design studio as a space for the production of creative work and problem based learning medium can also be applied to theoretical courses. Digital technologies available to us play a vital role in enabling authentic and problem or project based learning related to cultural education contexts, for particular groups such as student architects and interior design students at the UAE. This paper discusses kinds of data and frameworks that feature most commonly in education in light of the new technologies available. The methodology used will address investigative techniques using questionnaires, individual and group interviews, to describe which modeling techniques were more effective. This paper also addresses educational frameworks currently adopted such as problem based learning, authentic learning and constructivist approaches. The aim is to explore issues that are associated with the relationship between culture and technology.