Funmi Ogundare
Stakeholders in the education sector recently converged virtually for a webinar, ‘Extended Reality: Improving Education and Enterprise Outcomes,’ designed to foster technology-driven training among educators.
In her remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of Tributary Initiative for Learning, Eniola Adefioye, stated that the programme would bring about an unprecedented digital change in the sector, especially among learners.
“I am very particular about fostering technological-driven training and learning because the world has changed, and we need to move in tandem with it. The crop of learners that we have are technology-savvy, and it will be very important for us to take an active part in it and embrace the change through fostering innovative teaching and learning.”
She also stressed the need for educators to embrace technology and reinforce learning, adding that once they adopt creative and innovative ways, it will go a long way in reducing the unemployment situation in the country.
“Technology has made it possible for us to create lessons on the go and bring about different elements into the training that will reinforce learning. Technology has broken barriers. We now have access to training with technology wherever we are.
“We need to be very creative with the use of elements that will help the learners understand and retain. With the unemployment situation in Nigeria, we need to adopt a quick and authentic solution to improve skills development,” Adefioye further stressed.
The Founder and Chairman EON Reality, Dan Lejerskar, stressed the importance of ‘Extended Reality’ (XR) technology to educate and create an experience that will help shape the environment positively.
He said there was a need for Nigerians to learn practical skills, adding that with technology, “you can portray how you want people to behave in the society, do special meetings, create a digital reality of the physical environment and invite people to explore.”
Lejerskar also explained that “it is a fun way to learn” and build “the community.”
“It is not just learning for learning sake, but learning for complete outcomes. You can also use it for security, health, manufacturing and transportation,” said Lejerskar.
He cited an instance of how developed countries are already using the technology and creating their own environment and experiences worldwide, pointing out that students are emotionally engaged with it.
“It is actually easy to implement. Knowledge is a human right, and we want to make this technology accessible and affordable. The future is bright, and XR is global. With the device, the physical world is dissolved in it and what is important is digital access that is where the value is, and anyone can create the value,” he explained.
Lejerskar also noted the need for government to give incentives to people to innovate, share experiences, and a sense of purpose to plan and come up with solutions to challenges confronting the nation.
Also commenting during the event, EON Reality’s Director of Global Education and Training, Marcin Kasica, said the EON XR gives access to create content and import data from multiple formats.
“It is a mobile platform, and everybody can access it via their mobile phones and create content online. Many people see mobile phones as interrupting education, but we are able to create a learning experience which would be easy to share with users,” Kasica.
According to him, educators should be innovative in teaching their students to prepare them for future challenges.
“Technology should be able to affect the way we work and teach. You can create lessons or content as a teacher and put it on the platform to distribute. The XR has the ability to destroy the complex of communication and break barriers,” he said.
