Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, the Vice-Chancellor, Lagos State University (LASU) Ojo, has charged educational stakeholders to adopt and embrace technology to advance learning and teaching methods in schools.
Olatunji-Bello represented by Prof. Adenike Boyo, the Dean, Faculty of Science, made the assertion at the 6th annual international conference organised by the Faculty of Education, LASU, on Tuesday in Lagos.
The theme of the conference is: “Innovation and Technology for Sustainable Educational Development”.
She said that it was high time stakeholders embraced technology and come up with innovations that would address education challenges in the country.
“Our world is being technologically driven and cannot be over-emphasised, the economies of the world have witnessed a dramatic change in the last few years.
“We now have some technology companies whose budget is more than Nigeria’s fiscal budget.
“There is no alternative to infuse innovation and technology to our teaching and learning if our products must compete favourably in the market place,” Olatunji- Bello said.
She said that everyone witnessed the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which shut down virtually every aspect of people’s lives for a while.
“LASU was able to overcome the challenges of the pandemic through technology, not all the universities were equipped to overcome the challenges,” Olatunji-Bello said.
In his remarks, Prof. Olatunde Owolabi, the Dean Faculty of Education, said the choice of the conference theme was informed by the dire need for a paradigm shift in education.
Owolabi said that innovation and technology would bring swift response that could bring desirable changes in the educational landscape globally.
“Today’s effort will no doubt produce galaxies of developmental and innovative ideas that will lift our educational enterprise to greater height.
“Lagos State is well known for the innovation in governance; we call on Lagos State Government for sponsorship of a new research project proposal in the faculty,” he said.
In a keynote address, Prof. Emmanuel Adu, a lecturer at the University of Forte Hare, South Africa, said that technological advancement on the part of the lecturer must be addressed to discover techniques to supervise online examinations.
Adu said institutions should think about giving rigorous coaching to students, so they could make the best use of the current technology.
“As we celebrate World Teachers’ Day today, it is paramount for us to stay relevant by adopting the online teaching process which is completely new to some,” he said.
Prof. Olumuyiwa Noah, former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Academics, LASU also urged education stakeholders to make their curriculum planning progressively and more rational.
Noah said the state government needed to sustain and continue good projects such as “Eko Excel Projects”.
“Lagos State Government should also involve Federal Government in the idea of Eko Excel project in order for other states in the country to start the same project,” he said.