FROM CITIZENS TO NETIZENS; THE CHANGING FACE OF TEACHING (part 2) CHIBU NDUBISI

FROM CITIZENS TO NETIZENS; THE CHANGING FACE OF TEACHING  

                                     CHIBU NDUBUISI 10/07/2017 (part 2)

 Peace be to you.

There is no age like this digital era which has so much predisposed us to myriad of information at our fingertip. When you ask a friend about a subject that needs clarification, you might just get a reply like this “just goggle it’. Google is the name of a search engine that tends to answer some of the questions been fed to it. It is a digital teacher that answers questions, but not really answering the questions of knowing when we will fall in love or die.

In this Citizen to Netizens series, I will x-ray the changing face of teaching; and knowing what it takes to partake in the digital world. In his column titled “The Online Warriors And Social Media As A Battle Ground For Survival” Reuben Abati posited that “the beauty of the new media is its democratic temper, with any electronic device, anyone at all can set up a communication unit using a phone, a tablet, a laptop, a desktop and simply occupy the social space and broadcast information which in a matter of minutes may go viral and condition public opinion”.

How has the digital age changed the face of teaching? To easily understand this, The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) is leveraging on the advantages of the digital era to simplify open education in Nigeria. We no longer talk of text books in hard copies but e books in soft copies, no longer seminars but webinars, the digital library offers us more flexibility over the traditional static library. We can follow any subject of interest that appeals to us and be up to date in that field. With the aid of social media platforms, we can follow any teacher of our choice, be it a rabbi, imam, pastor, author, blogger, or priest  and keep updating ourselves with knowledge through their social media pages, websites and newsletters.

Today, so many mobile applications have been designed to aid us to learn more about many subjects of interest on earth and help us increase in the quantum of knowledge. I have personally benefited from the TED talk show application, Khan Academy application, Story corps application and many more  applications too numerous to mention.

How can Nigeria be a better player in this changing face of teaching demands? Recently in Edo state, herdsmen took over a school, and forcing the pupils out of school, may be, the herdsmen were trying to encourage the state government to make learning online with just a digital device like the tablet model of Osun state(OPON IMO)" Opón Ìmò Technology Enhanced Learning System (OTELS). This tool is called the Opón Ìmò, “Tablet of Knowledge". Osun state is among the states that owe teachers salaries in Nigeria that is why the billionaire Dangote had to come to their rescue and bail the workers with some food items to enable them feed their families. How much wages or salaries do teachers earn in Nigeria? Are they paid their wages or salaries regularly? How many states in Nigeria regularly pay their teachers’ salaries or wages?  If they are not paid, how can they be good catalyst to the dissemination of knowledge in this era? where is the electricity or solar energy that drives this processes?

On the part of the students, they are now prized victims for kidnap kingpins. We can’t easily forget about the Chibok missing school girls experience and many more gory tales. These are questions that need clarification if Nigeria can be a player in this digital era.  
 In some government schools, the students help the teachers to gather firewood and fetch water while in some schools, the teachers on their part have turned their classrooms to business centers were they engage in buying and selling to augment and make life move on.

Quo va dis Nigeria ?

“To defend a nation we need armies but to defend a civilization we need education.” What are we teaching?  and What do we intend to defend? if we continue in this trajectory we will keep promoting mediocrity and keep fracturing a fractured Nigeria.

Peace be with you.