₦airaland Forum

Imagine education like a journey. In the past, students only had paper maps (books) to guide them. Now, digital tools are like GPS, helping students navigate learning more efficiently and accurately. With these tools, students can learn at their own pace, access various resources, and collaborate with peers, all from the comfort of their homes or schools.

Highlighting 5 Popular Digital Tools
Let's explore five digital tools that are changing the way Nigerian students learn, making the journey smoother and more engaging:

Google Classroom
Think of Google Classroom like a virtual school bag. It keeps all your notes, assignments, and messages from teachers in one place. Just like you would open your bag to find a book, you open Google Classroom to find your study materials. It helps students stay organized and connected with their teachers and classmates, even if they're not in the same physical classroom.

Kahoot!
Kahoot! is like turning a boring quiz into a fun game show. Imagine a quiz where you answer questions on your phone or computer, and you see how you’re doing against your friends in real-time. It makes learning feel like a game, with points and rewards, which can be more exciting than just reading from a textbook.

Edmodo
Think of Edmodo as a social media platform for learning, like Facebook but designed for students and teachers. It allows teachers to post assignments, students to submit homework, and everyone to discuss topics in a safe online space. It’s a place where learning meets social interaction, helping students feel more connected and engaged.

Zoom
Zoom is like a virtual classroom where you meet your teachers and classmates online. It’s like a video call app (like WhatsApp or Skype) but with special features for education, such as virtual whiteboards and breakout rooms for group discussions. It allows real-time face-to-face interaction, even when students are far apart.

Quizlet
Imagine Quizlet as your personal flashcard maker. When preparing for exams, students often create flashcards to memorize terms or formulas. Quizlet brings this practice online, with the added benefit of fun learning games and quizzes to test knowledge. It helps make memorization faster and more interactive.

Benefits of Each Tool for Nigerian Students
Google Classroom: Helps keep students organized by having everything (assignments, grades, resources) in one place, just like a well-packed school bag.
Kahoot!: Turns learning into a fun, competitive game, which can motivate students to engage more deeply with the material, much like playing a friendly football match encourages team spirit.
Edmodo: Provides a safe online space for students to communicate, share ideas, and access resources, similar to a school notice board but much more interactive and accessible from anywhere.
Zoom: Brings the classroom experience to your home, making it possible to have face-to-face lessons without physical travel, like inviting your teacher over for a lesson at your dining table.
Quizlet: Makes memorization fun and effective, just like turning a study session into a puzzle-solving game, helping students retain information better.

Tips for Integrating These Tools into Daily Study Routines
Set a Daily Schedule: Use Google Classroom to check assignments and deadlines every morning, like checking your diary to plan your day.
Make Learning Fun with Kahoot!: Organize weekly quiz competitions with friends to review lessons, similar to playing a game night with family.
Stay Connected with Edmodo: Use Edmodo to ask teachers questions or discuss homework with classmates, like chatting with friends about a new movie you’ve watched.
Join Virtual Classes on Zoom: Schedule regular Zoom sessions for group studies or additional tutoring, much like planning a study group at a local library.
Review and Memorize with Quizlet: Spend 15-20 minutes each day using Quizlet flashcards to review terms and definitions, as if you were doing quick, daily workouts to keep fit.

Encouraging Adoption and Adaptation to Digital Tools
Digital tools are like new companions on a student’s learning journey — they make the path easier, more engaging, and full of exciting possibilities. By adopting these tools, Nigerian students can transform their educational experiences, making learning more interactive, fun, and accessible from anywhere. It’s time to embrace these new "maps" and "GPS tools" for a brighter educational future.

The management of the Nigerian Edu­ca­tion Loan Fund (NELFUND) has clarified reasons stu­dents of the National Open Uni­versity of Nigeria (NOUN) were not eli­gible for the loan facil­ity put in place by the administration of the Pres­id­ent and Commander-in-Chief, Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.

The Man­aging Dir­ector/Chief Exec­ut­ive Officer of the Fund, Mr. Akin­tunde Saw­yerr, who stated this while addressing newsmen in Abuja explained that it was due to their inab­il­ity to pos­sess the Joint Admis­sions and Matric­u­la­tion Board (JAMB) Num­ber- one of the major require­ments.

This clarification mean that although NOUN was lis­ted as the 29th school among the 126 fed­eral higher insti­tu­tions to bene­fit from the scheme on the NELFUND web­site, they, however, would not be among the 1.2mil­lion bene­fi­ciar­ies in the first phase of the project.

The MD also revealed that 60,000 stu­dents had registered for the facil­ity in one week, out of which 30,000, rep­res­ent­ing 50 per cent of the fig­ure, suc­cess­fully applied.

He said the agency had strict cri­teria and guidelines, and would not bend the rules for any insti­tu­tion or indi­vidual, no mat­ter how highly placed.

Accord­ing to him, the Fund would ensure due dili­gence, “pro­tect tax-­pay­ers’ money and safe­guard the scheme from frivol­ously hand­ing out money without account­ab­il­ity

Mr. Saw­yerr said: “We have strict cri­teria and guidelines around how people can access this loan oppor­tun­ity.

All of them are non-nego­ti­able. JAMB (num­ber) is non-nego­ti­able using this applic­a­tion pro­cess.

Unfor­tu­nately, if an applic­ant hasn’t got a JAMB num­ber, and hasn’t gone through the JAMB applic­a­tion pro­cess, it is going to be impossible to grant that indi­vidual a loan at this stage.

It would be recalled that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government had set up the loan fund to support indigent Nigerians in their higher education pursuit, while they pay back in instalments, two years, after completing their National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) programme.

The disbursed loan would be paid directly to the institutions where the applicant’s admission was domiciled to avoid diversion, while repayment of 10 per cent of the loan would also be done by the employer of any beneficiary at source.

The repayment was made as flexible as possible as the Fund was not willing to criminalise beneficiaries who defaulted.

Meanwhile, the expected sources of NELF funding include; one per cent of all profits accruing to them Federal Government from oil and other minerals, one per cent of taxes, levies and duties accruing from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Nigerian Custom Service (NCS), Education Bonds and Education Endowment Fund schemes.

The Honourable Minister of Education (HME), Professor Tahir Mamman, OON, SAN, has announced that degrees obtained via Open and Distance Learning (ODL) system of education in Nigeria from accredited institutions have same and equal value with the ones issued at regular/conventional university system.

The Minister further explained that ODL system of education was established years ago to close the widening gap created by limited admission spaces in the conventional universities which was and still being experienced in Nigerian University System (NUS). The Minister, speaking at the opening ceremony of a three-day stakeholders’ Roundtable for the critique and adoption of the draft stand-alone National Policy on Open, Distance and e-Learning in Abuja, on Tuesday, reaffirmed that ODL system had come to stay, adding that it had served and continued to serve the purpose for which it was established.

He said: “Sadly, only limited number of qualified students (about 25%) who applied for admissions into tertiary institutions are able to secure admissions in a particular admission year. What happens to the rest of hundreds that are interested in university education? ODL has closed that gap. National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) has been doing amazingly well, growing in leaps and bounds over the years. Several universities have also been accredited recently to run dual mode system of education under close and strict monitoring of the National Universities Commission (NUC).”

The Minister admitted the concerns of some Nigerians and employers of labour about the quality of education in ODL, but assured that there’s a strong quality assurance system in place to checkmate the content and delivery system of the ODL operators. “Evidently, ODL is the future of accessing university education and we have to embrace it wholeheartedly.

Government has developed robust policies to address the challenges being witnessed in the ODL system of education particularly, the issue of quality assurance of the system. “To this end, more advocacy is required, and being done to correct that misconceptions. We are aware that some ODL students have been unable to participate in law school and NYSC scheme. These issues are being addressed and would be resolved sooner than expected.”

The Director of ICT, Federal Ministry of Education (FME), Mr Abubakar Isah who represented the Honourable Minister of State for Education (HMSE), Dr. Tanko Sununu, in the event, commended the move to strengthen the ODL system of education as alternative to the regular and conventional university system.

He said: “The focus of ODL in Nigeria has in recent years shifted from being something which is just desirable to becoming a reality with the establishment of NOUN and the emergence of a number of conventional Universities and Polytechnics with the approval of the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), respectively, to operate ODL centres. “We must acknowledge the significant challenges which have to be overcome, relating to financial resources, intellectual capital and sustainability as well as the standard and quality of ODL delivery. This is where the development of sustainable policy on ODL becomes critical to realign national strategies with emerging educational challenges.” He added that the National Council on Education (NCE) had, in 2021, approved that the Federal Ministry of Education collaborate with relevant stakeholders to develop a stand-alone National Policy for ODL, hence the stakeholders’ Roundtable that provides a great opportunity for participants from the academia, government agencies and private sector to share experiences on technical issues that confront us in the operation of ODL in Nigeria. “It will also broaden our perspectives and enable us to forge ahead in our journey to strengthen ODL in Nigeria from the basic, post-basic through tertiary education sub-sector,” he said.

In his remarks, the Acting Executive Secretary, NUC, Mr. Chris J. Maiyaki, said that 2020 COVID-19 pandemic reawakened the consciousness of the world to the importance of online activities, thus forcing several nations including Nigeria to give considerations to online education system through the ODL aided by technology.

He congratulated the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Open University of Nigeria for nurturing the laudable project and the huge success it had achieved so far.

He said in line with the NUC regulatory mandate of laying down Minimum Academic Standards it recently consummated and activated the Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) in the NUS. According to him, the finalised CCMAS took into consideration the need to inculcate 21st century skills and global best practices including digital literacy.

He stressed that contemporary events such as the revolution in ICT and Covid-19 pandemic have provided compelling reasons for Nigerian universities to align their teaching and learning processes to these new developments.

He re-echoed that Professor Emeritus Olufemi Jegede, himself the father of ODL, had spoken globally about the potential, benefits as well as the unique and flexible learning offered by ODL. The Commission, he said, and other stakeholders had come into agreement that there was no hiding place for ODL and what Technology could bring to the learning table.

He explained that it was on this backdrop that the NUC in 2009 rolled out the guidelines for ODL and went ahead to establish a directorate dedicated to ODL, known as Directorate of Open, Distance and e-Learning (DODEL). He also highlighted that the NUS now have 5 open Universities, one of them being NOUN and 4 others- private open universities.

He said NUC had also facilitated the development of guidelines on Trans National Education (TNE), which was launched by the Hon Minister of Education and his British counterpart, in November 2023 at Edinburgh Scotland. He added, it took India 18years to produce its own guidelines while it took Nigeria barely 18months. He said NUC went on to produce the guideline on e-learning during the pandemic to streamline the activities in the universities. The commission also produced the guideline for Open Education Resources (OER) and finally the guideline on the establishment of private universities with inputs from several committees of experts and academies drawn from within and outside the shores of Nigeria. He tasked the participants to bring their wealth of experience to bear and to synergise by looking at the global scenario and matching its relevance to the Nigeria higher education system.

In a presentation, the Lead Resource Person in ODL Education in Nigeria, Emeritus Professor Olugbemiro Jegede, who is considered the father of ODL in Nigeria, highlighted the quick transformation that could be witnessed in the education sector through efficient and effective implementation of ODL system of education.

He said: “ODL is the future of education in the world. With the increasing access and penetration of internet to more communities, medical, education, commerce and several other services are being redefined by technology. We can’t afford to be left behind.” He made reference to notable names in Nigeria like Emeritus Professors Pai Obanya and Afe Babalola, who passed through the ODL system of education to become the best in their different callings.

He said, the time had come for the country to embrace the ODL system, while also having a comprehensive ODL Policy in place.

Welcome igwe

My mother is having an affair with dad's best friend'
pulse.ng Dec 13, 2017 10:29 AM
Edna has always been a daddy's girl and she loves and adores her father. She is now in a dilemma after she found out that her mother has been cheating on him.

This is one confused lady (CitiFmOnline)
"Dear Pulse,
My name is Edna, a 24-year-old lady. I finished my National Youth Service Corps scheme some months ago and came back home to start job hunting.
My parents have been married for 26 years and have always had a very interesting marriage. I have three siblings and they have always tried to give us the best they could afford.

The seemingly happy marriage is now being threatened after I found out that my mother had been having a secret affair with one of dad's best friends and business partner for many years.

The man whom I call uncle Mark, is more like a family friend and we the kids exchange visits and I can pop into their house without notice and would be treated like one of them.

His first daughter, Nimi, is my age mate and my best friend. In fact, we could pass for sisters as we are so close many people think we are related.

I am what you would call a daddy's girl because as the only girl, I have always been close to my father. He dots on me and calls me his mother. I love my father so much and the betrayal from my mother is not only painful but very devastating.

I cannot begin to think what will happen if my father gets to know that a woman he has loved for so many years would be sleeping with his own friend.

I got to find out that my mother and 'uncle Mark' were having a secret affair when Nimi hinted me about the sordid affair. She too had found out by mistake and had wanted to tell her mother but first wanted me to know about it.

At first, I did not believe her until she showed me some text messages the two of them had been exchanging. The text messages were so explicit and raunchy, like the kinds young lovers would exchange.

We decided to monitor them and one day, Nimi found a text message her father sent to my mother telling her to meet him at a guest house at a particular time.

We went to the guest house and hid around the place and at the exact time, we saw Nimi' father drive in, shortly followed by mum's car.

We stealthily followed them and saw them book into a room. We gave them some minutes before we went to knock on the door, pretending to be waitresses. My mother was the one that opened the door and she had a towel tied around her waist while Nimi's dad was on the bed in his boxer shorts.

They were both shocked to the bone marrow seeing us and began begging us not to expose them. Nimi wanted to charge into the room but I held her back and dragged her away from the place so that she would not create a scene.

When mum came home, she came to my room and begged me not to tell dad, promising never to indulge in such again. I asked her how long she had been dating 'uncle Mark' and she said they had been dating secretly for over 10 years. Can you imagine that?

Nimi's father, on the other, has also been begging her not to expose him. We have not decided yet on what to do and that is the reason I want your readers to tell us what to do. Personally, I am very disappointed with my mother. I am hurting on my dad's behalf.

Edna."

Dear readers, Edna is torn between the love she has for her father and the fact that exposing her mother could destroy their marriage. On Morning Teaser today, what do you think she should?

Pls I need somebody to help me out. I want to acquire a lease land from Ogun/osun river basin authority.