Education

Khalifa Award for Education conference sets out to ‘meet, think and inspire’

An upcoming educational conference aims to introduce best international practices and new technology to educators and policymakers in the UAE.

The National staff

September 03, 2014

ABU DHABI // A conference for educators and policymakers aims to encourage nationwide innovation and creativity in all levels of education.

The Khalifa Award for Education will this month hold its first international conference to review research in education and to share experience locally and from abroad, the programme announced on Wednesday.

Organisers hope the event will help to introduce international best practices in developing education while preserving national identity, as well as introducing technological developments, improving communication between institutions, and consolidating efforts among institutions with similar goals. Held under the slogan, “We meet, think and inspire”, session topics include international experiences in education and educational technology.

“The nice thing here is that the focus is not only on technology, but also about how to [use] experience from each country,” said Amal Al Afifi, secretary general of the Khalifa Award for Education.

“It is good to share together these efforts.”

Speakers will include representatives from the Ministry of Education, Abu Dhabi Education Council and the Khalifa Award for Education, she said.

“This is to see what we can do for the future for teachers and for students,” said Ms Al Afifi.

International speakers include educators from the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Keynote speakers include Sun-Geun Baek, president of the Korean Educational Development Institute, who will speak about learning experiences in South Korea.

David Marsh, a researcher in higher education at the Jyvaskyla University Continuing Professional Development Centre, is scheduled to speak about Finland’s educational development and innovation.

Local keynote speakers include Marwan Al Sawaleh, undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, and Hamad Al Dhaheri, executive director of private schools and quality assurance at Adec.

The Khalifa Award for Education International Conference runs from September 16 to 17 at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Abu Dhabi.

It will be held under the auspices of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chairman of the Khalifa Award for Education’s board of trustees.

More information is available at www.khaward.ae and www.kaeic.com.

newsdesk@thenational.ae

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How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers

Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.

It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.

The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.

Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.

Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.

He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.

AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”

A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.

Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.

Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.

Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.

By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.

Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.

In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”

Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.

She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.

Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.