Nigerian Students Can Get More Exposure With Electronics Education Initiative – Dr Akogun

IDONUAGBE AKOGUN

The Founder of Electronic Education Initiative and The African Continental Representative for ClassPoint, a Singapore-developed and US-based teaching and learning software platform, Dr. IDONUAGBE AKOGUN, has said Nigerian students stand the chance of competing and surpassing their peers from around the world as they compete favorably with their counterparts in other countries through the use of the E-Education Program.

According to him, the initiative will save Nigerian students, their parents as well as the Government time and resources and still get quality in education from universities and institutions of learning from around the world.

He called on the government and the Tertiary institution community in the country to fully embrace the initiative.

He ascertained that Education-Technology and Live Electronic Education Programs now eliminate the cost of travel, security issues and reduces the accommodation and cost associated with international travel.

Dr. Akogun said, “Whether you’re in Bayero University in Kano, Auchi Polytechnic, Usman Dan Fodio University in Sokoto, University of Port Harcourt or the College of Education in Abeokuta in Ogun State, we’re trying to achieve a system where the Nigerian students before graduation can have a sense of both national and global visibility, marketability and understanding, so that students can comprehend they are not just competing with their fellow students from across the States in the country but realize that as a graduate, they are maximizing their knowledge and the marketability of their skills to compete and surpass their peers from across the world, whether from Singapore, Europe or America and that is the goal of the project.

“In the E-DON program (Electronic Digital Online Network), there is live interaction with students from foreign faculty across the world here in our local classroom, that is the goal of the Electronic Education Initiative.

It’s been very successful thus far, of course, we’ve had some little bumps on the road due to content funding, and sometimes just a number of bureaucratic hurdles but as management start to see and understand the benefits of what the initiative can do for their campus in terms of global reach and student admission and retention as well as the possibilities of international grants partnerships and how this would benefit the current student population and the future of the country’s labor force, it’s been successful.

“Almost every organization to every sector from Agriculture to Healthcare, from Security to Hospitality has a level of training in Nigeria from the tertiary institutions to even companies, directly or indirectly, and what do they do? They send Nigerians students or staff abroad, to Europe, Asia, and America to go and study programs on Management and or leadership, STEM-related issues whether in science, technology or engineering, but the Electronic Education Initiative now eliminates the cost of travel, security issues and reduces the accommodation and cost associated with international travel, enabling each person to study and learn from the safety of the Nigerian Classroom or their respective home.

“Technology is now a new reality in Africa and in Nigeria in particular, allowing multimedia in our local classrooms and in some cases, in your homes. Now, you don’t have to travel to see a faculty, an expert or an academics in any specific field of study, in your local classroom you can see and hear from them in no time using software like ClassPoint.

This eliminates so much cost and in that regard, even the issues of getting visas and going to embassies are put away and students now have the opportunity to stay at home and learn from schools that are miles away across the world, and I think with this, it reduces and soon would eliminate the Japa syndrome,” Akogun said.

Akogun who is a recipient of the Federal Government’s National Merit of Honor for his work in Global Education Technology and International Linkages an award organized by NIDCOM to celebrate our diaspora’s brightest and best.

According to him, the Electronic Education Initiative has been well accepted especially in our higher institutions though people have not seen such an initiative happen in their schools in past and why they have to change from what they know to what they don’t know.

He said when it is explained to teachers and faculty with time and persistence, they start to realize it is indeed a global trend that with Education Technology would bring funding, bring more benefits like enhanced admission numbers, global grant partnerships and, of course, growth to the school on its own and also create attraction and acceptability.

Dr. Akogun said the initiative has brought partnerships with schools like Lincoln University, Texas A&M University, University of Bolton, University of Delaware, Singapore Institute of technology, Cambridge University and Howard University to name a few.

He said, “Between 2010 to 2013, I was a consultant with the National University Commission and we brought on board University of Benin, Ahmadu Bello University, Bayero University in Kano, University of Port Harcourt and several universities.

Those were the pilot schools that benefitted from the initiative across the country, with the University of Benin in Edo State being the 1st 2013 to officially start the international Live E-Education Linkage with Lincoln University in Missouri USA.

“Currently, I consult with the National Commission for College of Education and we’re bringing learning management systems ClassPoint into the local classrooms in the colleges of education.

The colleges of education are schools that produce our future teachers, so, we’re maximizing this technology to first of all bring infrastructure to colleges of education before bringing partnership to the schools. To this end I must appreciate the amazing Professor Paulinus Chijoke the Executive Secretary of the NCCE as well as the brilliant Professor Farouk Haruna the Chairman Committee of Provosts Nigerian Colleges of Education for his Leaderhip and Vision “.

Akogun believes together we can achieve great things and through Education we can give the tools to our younger generations to come the means to enhance and benefit society. He said “This is why I do what I do to empower our young people to see past the ordinary and know they too can be extra-ordinary surpassing their peers across the world maximizing Electronic Education, Our Students can, we all can”.