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An Educational Technologist, Dr Oluwakemi Olurinola, has partnered with the National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC) to train 6,000 teachers on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Pedagogy to address the digital skills gap in the education sector.
Olurinola, who works with the Department of Science and Technology Education at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, disclosed this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.
She explained that the university was also collaborating with Google and Exquitec Education Technology as training partners to deliver the programme to teachers across various states.
According to her, findings during the COVID-19 pandemic revealed a huge digital skills gap among teachers, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
“This skill gap is still yet to be bridged, and now we have the influx of AI tools in the educational setting.
“This project, AI in Pedagogy, is essentially about improving teachers’ proficiency and efficacy in using AI for teaching and learning.
“So we intend to train teachers across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, sponsored by Google, to enhance their proficiency and confidence in using AI in the classroom.
“We are targeting 6,000 teachers, 1,000 from each of the six geopolitical zones including those from private schools, government-owned schools, and federal colleges,” Olurinola said.
Speaking on how the teachers would be selected, she stated that the university would collaborate with NSSEC to nominate participants from different states.
On why the project focuses on AI training for teachers, she noted that AI has had a significant disruptive impact across various sectors, and education should not be left behind.
“The education sector seems to be the last to fully grasp how this is affecting us.
“In a recent study, particularly in Africa, we found that only about two per cent of AI research focused on pedagogy.
“So we really haven’t understood how this is impacting us, and that has created fear among teachers, with the assumption that technology is meant to replace us.
“Now, with this new layer of technological advancement, there is another wave of disruption, leading to resistance.
“The best way to navigate this wave is to understand how AI works, what it offers, and how we can maximise its benefits in teaching,” she added.
Olurinola, however, reassured teachers that AI would not replace human jobs but would only take over roles that do not require critical thinking or human empathy.
She emphasised that AI would, in fact, create new job opportunities rather than replace humans, as widely speculated.
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