The upsurge in technology and its skills application in recent years have created a revolution in information disseminations in the nation’s education sector. This poses ardent challenges and opportunities to students and teachers at all levels of the education system. The students and teachers are required to be equipped with digital literacy skills and knowledge for competencies in word processing, record keeping, project works and the management of educational resources vital for academic prowess. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the form of digital devices are presently the most prominent, efficient and advanced academic tools available to achieving fast, creative and effective research works for administrative and the management of educational tasks needed for advancing knowledge frontiers for quality education in educational outfits.
Digital devices, therefore play vital role in equalizing opportunities for marginalised persons and groups globally. But the paradox is that for the persons short-charged by the technological divide, the digital devices become tools for further marginalization. Here comes the need for digital literacy amongst students and teachers in the nation’s education system to eliminate or minimize the challenges. The application of digital innovations in the nation’s education system is endangered because of the high digital literacy deficiency among teachers, administrators and education commissions’ staff entrusted with the scheme. And unless proactive steps are taken to addressing this, the disadvantages will deepen to affect the educational manpower development.
The above summary must have been the driving force that the current leadership of Tetfund under architect Sonny Echono is relentless to ensure that our tertiary education system is fully driven by digital literacy technology as it is obtained in other climes.
This he demonstrated last week, when he inaugurated a committee on digital literacy to advance the course of Information Technology (ICT) in the nation’s education sector.
The Committee which is been headed by an Renowned Professor of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Olugbemiro Jegede, has other members from the university community, representatives of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), ICT consultants, TETFund directors of research as well as Academic Staff training and Development in IT.
Other members of the committee include the Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Agriculture, Zuru, Professor Musa Ahmed; Director, IT Infrastructure Solution, NITDA, Dr Usman Gambo Abdullahi and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, IT, Research and Innovation, Baze University, Dr. Rislana Abdulazeez Kanya.
At the inauguration which was virtual, the Executive Secreyary of Tetfund, architect Sonny Echono revealed that the committee to spare-head this noble cause became imperative given that the demand-generation for technology in today’s world, not only in tertiary education but Nigerian economy.
He alluded that digital literacy is a foundation issue of success in today’s technology driven world, regardless of educational goals, career pursuit or job functions.
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“Also hinted that, Under the chairmanship of Professor Olugbemiro Jegede, with members from our universities, NITDA, ICT consultants, TETFund directors of research, Academic Staff Training and Development in IT, it is believed that we will receive a more holistic and comprehensive plan that will increase our efforts towards digital literacy and for the purpose of the exercise today, let me indicate the composition of this committee and the various roles members are supposed to play.
“One of the major interventions we are trying to do here is to digitalize all our academic records and repositories where you can access this and people can benefit from it.
“As part of the component, we will also develop a device that will capture our own local thesis this time because the current system we use. The thesis reproduced in this country are not in the database and it is difficult to cross-check them but now, we are going to have all our thesis digitalized.”
Echono added that digital literacy presents many opportunities through several inter-connected areas and the beneficiary institutions and Nigerian students are already engaging with digital technologies and digital media and using them to find information and to communicate meaningfully in different roles and formats.
The quest for the promotion of digital literacy by the management of tetfund at this critical juncture of our nationhood is not unconnected to the fact that, Schools may still have desks and students may still have notebooks, but a lot has changed in the classrooms over the past years, especially in the developed climes due to the widespread access to the Internet. It has accelerated the implementation of digital innovations in the education sector. Ideas spread fast and people can research for the best methods for using technology in education. Hardware companies are producing devices such as laptops and tablets which are customized to meet specific education needs. Cut- throat competition among different technology firms is another factor that is accelerating the rate of digital innovations.Technology is causing massive changes in all sectors of the global economy especially in the education sector which is a key sector that have been affected by the digital innovations. Technology is playing a major role in the twenty-first century education. The new model of integrating technology into the curriculum means that computers are in great demand in the education sector day. Digital literacy teachers and administrators face the task of developing a technology plan that makes the most effective and efficient use of digital devices available.
With all this transformation taken place at tetfund, it is safe to state that Tetfund is indeed the game changer in our educational sector in Nigeria.
Tersoo Adagher
A Public Affairs Analyst write from Abuja.
email: [email protected]
