Ways of improving Digital Education in Nigeria

Digital education is the inventive use of digital tools and technology during teaching and learning. It is the type of teaching and learning that is accompanied by technological instructional practices and effective use of technology. Digital education can also be referred to as the use of the internet or ICT to enhance and support the teaching and learning process. It is often called Technology-enhanced learning (TEL) or E-learning.

In Nigeria, some form of digital education exists in our education system especially in the private sector yet, to a large extent, the idea of technology in the classroom is relatively new and even controversial for almost all stakeholders in education.

The reason for the controversies can be summarised thus: lack of skilled manpower to manage available systems, inadequate ICT infrastructure, lack of funds, lack of effective coordination of all the various ICT for education, etc.

However, despite the problems that have hindered the full operation of digital education in Nigeria, some schools have adopted this and are enjoying its numerous benefits.

Taking a look at the education system of advanced countries of the world like countries in Europe and America, it is obvious that the huge success recorded in these systems is a result of the adoption and effective use of technology that facilitate teaching and learning. Therefore, it is important that the Nigerian education sector improve digital education in order to produce global graduates.

There are many ways in which the above can be achieved especially if all hands are on deck;

First, the education sector should be properly funded especially by the government. It is obvious that for us to achieve a proper E-learning environment, there should be the availability of and access to the internet in schools. There should be adequate funds for the purchase of internet facilities and these should be easily accessible to teachers and learners.

Also, to improve digital education in Nigeria, all stake-holders in education should change their mind-sets from seeing technology as evil to seeing ways in which technology can improve teaching and learning experience. In discussion with some teachers, many of them frowned heavily at the idea of young learners especially having access to the internet in schools. They credit the level of moral decadence among youths in society to the use of the internet. While it is true that inappropriate and unmonitored use of the internet among young learners can be harmful, one should note that the learners of this age are digital natives and the use of the internet in almost everything they do is their reality.

In addition to the above, safety measures should be put in place to make sure that at least, within the school learning hours, students’ access to certain information would be managed and monitored. This can be achieved if the government and school administrators liaise with some tech-companies like techno, LG, etc. to produce special tablets and laptops. These special E-learning tools would be programmed in such a way that they will limit students’ access to only materials and information necessary and needful for learning. The materials also should be designed in such fun ways that the students would enjoy being meaningfully engaged. This I call “distracting their distraction.”

The practice of digital education in Nigeria will become effective when adequate ICT infrastructures are made available. Most government-owned schools in Nigeria do not have even a functional ICT laboratory. The learners in such schools are only aware of what a computer looks like through drawings of computes on the board by teachers.

In some private-owned schools, there are few digital classrooms. In some of these schools, there is only one projector and internet access is limited to certain areas of the school and to only certain personnel members and never to students. This practice definitely cannot improve digital education in Nigeria. If we must adopt the use of ICT in our government schools and improve its use in our private schools, adequate ICT infrastructures should therefore be made available in schools.

Furthermore, if digital education would be improved in Nigeria, there should be less- dependence on education funding on the government. The truth is that the Nigerian government by practice over the years has not really shown interest in the education sector. Therefore, still waiting for the government alone to improve education let alone adapt and improve digital education is equivalent to “waiting for Godot” by Oscar Wilde. It, therefore, becomes necessary that private investors in education are needed. Multi-national conglomerates and companies should increase their investments in the education sector by setting up E-learning classrooms in schools, training educators in the use of ICT in teaching and learning, providing infrastructure in schools, etc.

Improvement of digital education requires effective co-ordination of the different ICT for education in such schools by skilled man-power. These schools should employ tech-savvy personnel who will monitor the use of the internet. What do we have in the majority of private schools that claim to practice digital education? We have one or two engineers who might not be “specialist” in the use of ICT related issues being in charge of managing everything related to ICT in the school. This is not proper as it hinders the effective practice of E-learning.

Improving digital education in Nigeria requires that educators should be trained in the use of ICT especially for teaching purposes. It is quite sad that most of the teachers and educators cannot even utilize properly their phones let alone use other ICT infrastructures. Most educators are not aware that they can create virtual classrooms for learners, have virtual excursions in the classroom, etc. This emphasizes the need to train educators to become tech-savvy.

 In conclusion, Improving digital education in Nigeria will contribute to the improvement of our quality of education and if all stakeholders in education adopt a “can-do’ attitude, digital education practices will improve in the Nigerian education sector.

Written by

Amaka Mbaegbu,                                                                                     

08170819022.

[email protected]

The essay that came third in the MTN, Essay competition for teachers tagged "The Contest', 5th October 2019.