A don, Dr Martin Igbineweka, says the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has helped to accelerate infusion of technology and innovation into learning in the country.
Igbineweka, of Department of Educational Evaluation and Counselling Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Benin (UNIBEN), stated this.
He said that the pandemic had brought a new dimension to the need for internet learning, particularly at the university.
Igbineweka described the pandemic as a blessing in disguise for the Nigerian education sector, saying that it had promoted e-learning.
“COVID-19 pandemic has brought a new dimension to the need for internet learning in the university.
“I will use this opportunity to thank the Vice-Chancellor of UNIBEN, Prof. Lilian Salami, for the way she has responded to it.
“Lecturers now see the need for their notes to be online so that students can access them.
“Assignments can now be given online and assessed, while students to have seen the need for WhatsApp and Telegram, not just as social media products, but as tools for education.
“Students now see the need to be Information Technology (IT)-compliant.
“I’m talking from my environment. In education, we say learning proceeds from known to unknown. Let me start from home because charity begins at home,” he said.
Igbineweka asserted that the situation had brought about more efficiency and productivity in the education sector, despite the fact that contacts with students were reduced.
“Classes have been split into two. Contacts with students have been reduced, but lectures still go on.
“Notwithstanding the pandemic, teaching and learning continue via the internet and IT,” he said.
The lecturer, however, advocated for more funding for education amidst the pandemic, to explore more alternatives.
“Moving education forward amidst the pandemic needs proper funding.
“COVID-19 has come to stay and we must all learn to adjust and live with it.
“In the act of adjusting, we will find more alternatives to produce more efficiency and attain greater heights.
“But in the interim, I will urge other vice chancellors around the country to replicate what is happening at UNIBEN, in adherence to the COVID-19 outbreak,” Igbineweka said. (NAN)
