AN exclusive interview with Tribune Education reveals the intention of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to embrace an online / virtual mode of teaching when schools are reopened, to complement the regular physical classroom teaching.
Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, the president of the union, said members are aware that blended classrooms have become the new normal, especially in tertiary institutions post-COVID-19 and that members are warming up for the change.
Ogunyemi said digital teaching is not new to ASUU members as they have been using e-learning mode to engage students and source materials and had been using other social media devices and platforms for a long time, and so cannot be afraid to conduct e-teaching and e-learning.
But he noted that Nigeria needs to provide e-classrooms that will be interactive and inspiring. According to him, there must be necessary things in place for the smooth running of e-classrooms.
He said: “We don’t want students who are supposed to be in class not to be there because of either poor internet connectivity, lack of data or electricity and so on.
“Because we all know that many students, especially in public schools, don’t have laptops or functional android phones let alone having internet access just because they cannot afford these on their own.
“Some students are also living in places with poor electricity supply and they cannot afford to run generators. So, we want a situation whereby the internet is heavily subsidised. Students who don’t have money to get some of the equipment on their own must be able to have access to where they can source materials offline or free.
“Apart from accessing their studies online, there is also a need to recreate classrooms digitally that every student will be in class at the same time and be given equal attention without the distraction of any form.
“We must also have the necessary skills and pedagogical orientation to host e-classrooms. There is need for objectives setting, content generation, classroom control, students’ evaluation and so forth. These are pedagogical skills that go with online/virtual classroom mode to make the class very interactive and effective.
“These are the issues that ASUU is saying must be tackled before we can talk of having effective e-learning mode like that of the developed countries and not that ASUU doesn’t want to embrace technology.
“Because if we don’t get our bearing right first, we will ridicule and make a mockery of ourselves and the quality of education.”
When asked how realistic it is for government to put all these things in place soon, the ASUU leader said all it takes is for the government at both federal and state levels to believe in the project and declare a state of emergency in education, just as it has done concerning COVID-19 pandemic.
Source cited: Nigerian Tribune
