₦airaland Forum

The goal of education is not to increase the amount of knowledge but to create the possibilities
for a child to invent and discover, to create men who are capable of doing new things.
---Jean Piaget

Every time I sit to think about my educational journey, I wished I attended;
• A school where I am taught to be a lifelong learner
• A school where I am allowed to learn at my own pace
• A school where I get to choose what I want to learn
• A school where I am taught how to learn, and why I need to learn as well as apply what I am learning in the real world
• A school where I am free to be creative and innovative rather than being compliant and conforming
• A school where passion rule over fear
• A school where I am taught to make, save and invest money
• A school that would boost my self-confidence and self-esteem rather than kill it
• A school where I am taught to learn, unlearn and if need be ; to relearn
• A school where I am allowed to become a dreamer as well as pursue my dreams
• A school where teachers inspire, coach and motivate
• A school where I am taught how to set goals, plan and achieve my goals.
I wished I attended such a school, but I believe that this is what school must become and teach to harness our potentials and maximize them.

SEPTEMBER 27, 2017
BY ONYINYE UCHE
Writer at Techpoint.ng.
Interested in EdTech and tech jobs
Email; info@techpoint.ng
IN: EDUCATION
Despite rapid technological changes that have transformed the way we live and work; Nigerian classrooms have remained resistant to this change.

Recently, Silicon Valley’s celebrated style of learning was validated by a research that proved personalised learning more effective than the traditional model of education. Personalised learning recognizes that all children are unique, hence learning in the classroom, will progress at different rates.

It involves the use of interactive software and other digital technologies to tailor instruction to each student’s strengths, weaknesses, and preferences, thereby ensuring that students can learn at their own pace. But the concept of personalised learning isn’t exactly new; the Montessori method of education developed by Maria Montessori in 1907 also emphasizes a child-centered approach to education where learning is self-directed.

Montessori education is said to be better than traditional school methods. According to Dr. Tina Udoji, an educationist, the Montessori method can save Nigeria’s education. However, in Nigeria, Montessori schools are typically more expensive and less common than regular schools and very few of them practice what they preach. This has limited the reach of self-directed learning to students in classrooms.


But today, with technology, especially with the proliferation of digital devices, one-on-one learning can become more accessible to students.

Why we should be thinking personalised learning

There is no doubt that the Nigerian education system is in dire need of a redress. Today schools are faced with many problems including, a lack of skilled and passionate teachers, outdated curriculum, ill-equipped facilities that house more students than they should and much more. The result of our failing education system is evident; 70% of graduates from tertiary institutions are unemployable.

The calculated use of technology in schools may be the only chance to revive this crumbling system. As the world moves on to a new phase of learning, it is pertinent that Nigeria is not left far behind.

“We are all aware of what is happening in the education sector, but nobody is doing anything about it. No serious nation jokes with investing in its human capacity building,” says Dr. Bongo Adi, a specialist in development economics and a consultant to the World Bank.

In 2015, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscillia Chan announced in a letter to their daughter that 99% of Facebook’s shares will be donated to causes that will better society, and personalized learning is one of these causes. Facebook also has a team of engineers working with local educators and schools to improve the classroom experience.

Recently, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative jointly funded a $12 million initiative to improve personalised learning in the classroom.

What is the big lesson? Personalised learning holds promises that should also be explored here in Nigeria too. This will require effective collaboration between educators, software engineers, entrepreneurs and the government, rather than the usual disjointed efforts we have witnessed. While we have seen some efforts by startup, companies, and people to boost edtech in Nigeria, we are simply not doing enough.

Attention must be paid to the education sector with tech entrepreneurs piloting practical solutions to the problems in the education sector and investors — who can simply be well-meaning Nigerians with the financial capacity funding these solutions. Schools and teachers should be open to exploring and adopting technology.

Also, access to basic infrastructure like power and the internet cannot be ignored, and the government must create favorable policies that will fuel collaboration and growth.

Considering the huge capital and human investments required to make this move and all the present challenges with edtech in the country, we cannot expect change to happen overnight. Yet we must begin to take bold steps to consciously create our own future.

Perhaps a personalised learning summit –with feasible goals, involving all the relevant stakeholders is a good place to start.

https://techpoint.ng/2017/09/27/adopting-personalized-learning/

“Today’s generation of young people faces a radically changing world. Up to half of the world’s jobs (2 billion) are at high risk of disappearing due to automation in the coming decades. In contrast to the impact of innovation in previous generations, new technologies risk not creating new jobs at anything like the scale they are eradicating them. Due to shifts between industries and the changing nature of work within industries, demand for high-level skills will grow and many low and medium – skilled jobs will become obsolete. Jobs open to those without high level skills will often be insecure and poorly paid. Only quality education for all children can generate the needed skills, prevent worsening inequality and provide a prosperous future for all’.
• Excerpt from: The Learning Generation. (A report by The International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity Executive summary presented at the United Nations General Assembly. September, 2017).
The above quotation was the opening report referenced above, lending a very strong voice to the express need for a urgent attention needed to revamp the education sector of Nigeria, Africa and the world at large.
[b]Futureschoo[/b]l is positioning herself as one of the desperately needed answer and stakeholder in the educational sector with the sole vision of ; “Changing the educational narratives for Africa one step at a time”. We believe strongly that for our childrens and youth to be well positioned to benefit immensely from the current technological growth and advancements in the coming days, there is a dire need to re-examine certain pertinent issues about our educational process which include;
• How to really learn
• Why the need to learn
• Channels available for learning
• When to learn
• What to learn
Among other issues.
At futureschool, the focus will be on;
1) Harnessing the power of technology for effective and adequate learning.
2) Advocacy (Achievement of the SDGs on Education).
3) Training ( Acquisition of contemporary skills)
4) Teacher and student development (Capacity building).
5) Content creation and curation and many more…..
Follow this profile for enriching contents as we change the educational narratives for Africa one step at a time..