Educational technology, also referred to as Ed-tech is referred to as the process of improving both learning and teaching performance by the utilization of tangible hardware, software and other technical resources.
The standard of the educational sector in Nigeria has barely been hanging on to past glories of the traditional education which instils the very important values of hard work, integrity, diligence and high efficiency. With these lacking in any production sector, such as education, the outcomes are often devastating resulting in low productivity which in turn undermines sustainable development. Nigeria’s educational sector, in particular, has faced a lot of setbacks which include limited or low access to quality education by the masses, shortage of teaching staff and poor infrastructures.
Ed-Tech has been instrumental in changing the future of education and has also challenged traditional teaching methods. It is widely agreed that watching how this occurs in this part of the world has been fascinating. Ed-Tech has indeed become a beacon of hope amidst the storm. It has the potential to transform the landscape of our educational sector by providing innovative answers in order to advance learning outcomes. With our youthful population, comprising over 30 million students in primary and secondary schools, Ed-Tech has been provided a fertile ground for its initiatives to take place.
Educational technology has greatly impacted learning in some of the following ways:
Digital Learning Resources
Before the availability of online learning tools and content such as blogs, online courses and educational platforms, books functioned as the principal teaching resources in the classic classroom, learning environment. A good percentage of e-learning graduates have agreed that these online courses are a good investment and their prices are worth the value they offer. Regardless of age, time, and location, anybody can now learn easily.
Collective Learning
The COVID-19 pandemic brought along a lot of changes. Some positive and others negative. While students had missed being in their classrooms with their friends, it was later discovered that the introduction of online classes was a blessing in disguise allowing flexible study schedules and even a decrease in how much money is spent on transportation. However, while a large number of learning institutions have shifted to online classes and assessments, it also means that students have more than enough resources at their disposal to learn from.
Flexibility
All individuals have different study patterns. It isn’t possible for a teacher to modify a course outline for each student. But, through the provision of these digital learning resources, students can learn and study when, where and how best it suits them without causing any sort of disturbance or hindrance to anyone else.
Nigeria’s Ed-Tech revolution is in progress and in order to fully leverage Ed-Tech’s full potential, there should be a collective effort to invest in infrastructure, integrate Ed-Tech training into teacher training programs, partner with Ed-Tech startups such as Rducate, uLesson, Coursera, Jobberman, Udemy and Alison. Dr.Ngozi Okoli, an Education Consultant expressed her support for the rise of educational technology in Nigeria. She stated that “Teachers must be equipped with Ed-Tech skills to effectively integrate technology into classrooms.”
According to the founder of uLesson, Olalekan Adeeko, “Ed-Tech has the potential to democratize access to quality education in Nigeria.”
Technological innovations have undeniably been the biggest development in recent times. We can be rest assured that they will carry on to be important in the future. Nigeria’s Ed-Tech sector has grown and it will continue to do so. We will witness a trend in education towards better collaboration, from digital learning platforms and resources to more personalized learning experiences.
