Corporate
Affairs Group Manager of Intel, Babatunde
Akinola, on Tuesday said the company had invested more than $1
billion in technological education in 10 years.
In a
statement obtained by the News Agency of
Nigeria in Lagos, Akinola said more than 200,000 teachers had been trained
with technology within the period.
He said the
training was through “Intel Teaching
Programme” establishment and promised that the company would still do more.
According to
him, Intel recently partnered with the Tai
Solarin University of Education on a four-day training exercise tagged: “Intel Teacher Professional Development
Training.”
Akinola said
in the statement: “The course we are running is Intel Teaching Portfolio of
Courses and we have been training teachers around the world for the past 10
years.
“We see TASEUD as a strategic partner because
their mandate is Education.
“Being a
state government University and the first University of education in Nigeria
with a mandate to train teachers for the economy, the training will definitely
filter down.
“Without the
right skill set, the Nigerian child faces a global disenfranchisement. The
world is getting more global and if you do not fit in, you face being
disenfranchised.
“That is not
what we want for our children; unfortunately we do not have the teachers with
the right skills set to help them stay competitive. Yes, they might have the
right content, but in terms of delivery, things have changed.
“Attention
span for children has changed; reading method and culture have also changed. We
have to meet the kids at their needs.
“What are
the things they relate to? They relate to devices. So, we need to know how to
use these devices both to teach and to promote learning.”
Akinola said
aside training the teachers, there was also workshop for Intel business
partners.
He said the
training for business partners was strategic since they also fitted into the
chain of learning and teaching.
He said:
“Since they are the ones that go out to deploy the feature solutions, we wanted
them to understand that it is not just enough to deploy feature solutions.
“They need
to also focus on teachers and provide the right content for teachers to be
comfortable.
“All over
the world, there is an increasing attention on the role technology plays in
preparing students for the 21st century.
“Unlike the
traditional method of learning, which is more about the paper and pencil
teacher centred approach, technology-induced learning not only motivates
learning in students.
“But it also
offers them the 21st century skills needed to remain competitive in a highly
technological knowledge-based economy.”
Akinola
noted that most teachers in the current dispensation had little or no knowledge
about technology.
He said
there had been several interventions from both the Federal and State
governments, particularly in the use of technology, tablets, desktops and laptops
among students.
Akinola said
these interventions cannot work effectively as long as attention is on just the
students and not the teachers.
“To this
end, future teachers, and educators, in general, need professional development,
not only in technological skills and applications, but also in new academic
methods of incorporating technology into the classroom,” he said.
Akinola said
the training exercise in partnership with TASUED was part of Intel’s global
Teach Programme to improve effectiveness among teachers through professional
development.
He said this
would help the teachers to integrate technology into their teaching, while
promoting among the students, problem-solving, critical thinking and
collaboration skills.
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