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Intel: Impacting Learning with Technology Via Teacher Education

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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 centered 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.

However, most teachers in this current dispensation have little or no knowledge about technology and so come across as averse to this new method of infusing technology into education, explaining why in many schools, the use of mobile devices which could help improve learning process is prohibited.

Although, there have been several interventions from both the Federal and State governments, particular in the use of technology, tablets, desktops and laptops among students, but 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.

At the forefront of promoting technology skills in the classroom is Intel Corporation. The blue chip company recently partnered with the Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED) on a 4-day training exercise tagged, “Intel Teacher Professional Development Training.”

The training exercise is part of Intel’s global Teach Program to improve effectiveness among teachers through professional development, by helping them integrate technology into their teaching, while promoting among the students, problem-solving, critical thinking and collaboration skills.

Speaking on the training, Shelly Shott, Global Education Specialist, Intel, who facilitated the training sessions, emphasized the need for a student-centered environment which according to her is a perfect environment to introduce technology.

Shott said that, “Intel believes that we have to educate our students for the 21st century. The old format of teaching does not necessarily support technology in the classroom, which is why we are advocating for a student-centered approach to learning.”

Being the first University of Education, the partnership with TASUED, will provide Intel with the opportunity to have a system in place whereby teachers year in year out are given technology skills before they graduate.

Moreso, Intel through the program, has provided the school with its curriculum for teachers training which they can apply to both Pre-service and In-service teachers.

Speaking on the initiative, Babatunde Akinola, corporate affairs group manager, Intel, said, “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. The company has invested over 1 billion in education and we still continue to do that. We see TASEUD as a strategic partner because their mandate is Education.”

Akinola added that, “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.”

Noting that without the right skill set, the Nigerian child faces a global dis-enfranchisement, he explained that, “The world is getting more global and if you do not fit in, you face being dis-enfranchised. 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.”

Commending Intel for the initiative, Dr. Niran Adetoro, director Academic Planning, Quality Assured and Research, Tai Solarin University of Education (TASEUD), said the training could not have come at a better time, given that the school is looking for exciting and innovative ways to help teachers and by extension the children learn better.

On the mode of implementation, Adetoro added noted that, “We will do a report to the University management and thereafter, we will want to step it down to teachers within the University that technology can be very useful in facilitating learning.

We intend to pass on the knowledge to teachers in the Secondary school and we are also going to do Pilot. We hope to do a lot of studies from this and ask for some funding from government and TETFUND. We will be doing this first and foremost with the Secondary schools and the schools around for the piloting.”

While noting that the management of the school is very committed to the program and would do everything within its power to pass on the knowledge learned from the exercise, he stressed that, “The level of commitment from the management team is very high, especially from the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oluyemisi Obilade, who herself is a thoroughbred teacher that believes in innovative ways of impacting the profession.”

On his part, Dr. Yomi Okunowo, fellow, African Humanity Programme (AHP) and American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) noted that a lot of advocacy will be carried out to project the usefulness and possibilities that are open to employ technology into teaching and learning.

Okunowo stated that, “For us, we have been discussing how to go about making people to join the bandwagon from what we have gained from here. And we believe, beyond the university authority, there should be a survey of the technology we have in schools and conduct a survey of the professionals in the school.

The survey would address questions like, what do they know? What is it that they do not know? What are the facilities on ground? From what we see on ground, how then can we intervene and help to project the knowledge we have learnt from here?”

Describing the training as an eye opener, another participant, Dr. Kemi Banjoko, a senior lecturer in Chemistry remarked that, “The one that intrigued me more, had to do with the use of mobile phone and tablets in teaching. Though, we use them majorly for social networking, the training has opened up a world of new possibilities for me in using them to enhance learning and teaching. I learnt that you could even create a group for your students using mobile devices, where you discuss topics, post information, where you even post questions and get instant feedback.”

Aside training the teachers, there was also a 2-day workshop for Intel business partners. According to Intel, the training for business partners was strategic since they also fit into the chain of learning and teaching.

Akinola said that, “Because 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, but they need to also focus on teachers and provide the right content for teachers for them to be comfortable.”

With more than 200,000 teachers trained in the last 10 years, Intel Teaching program in Nigeria has become the most successful of its kind and stakeholders within the industry express optimism that, Intel’s partnership with TASEUD would yield more results in the coming years.
 

 


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Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

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StarNews, Global Black Economic Forum Launch Business Competition In Partnership with MTN & USAID

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Africa’s leading video streaming platform, StarNews Mobile and the Global Black Economic Forum (GBEF), have announced a call for applications for the launch of their Business Competition in Lagos, Nigeria.

Held in partnership with MTN and United Nations Agency for International Development (USAID), the initiative will empower Nigeria’s most promising businesses that are classified as Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with invaluable investment and partnership opportunities from the USA.

Held over 10 weeks between April 8th to June 14th, hosted exclusively on the StarNews Biz Channel on the StarNews platform, this competition offers a platform for emerging entrepreneurs to showcase their ventures and gain national visibility.

With subscribers voting for their favourite candidates, the top 20 contestants will seize the spotlight and make their mark on the business landscape.

The StarNews Business Competition in partnership with GBEF delivers a unique opportunity for thriving Nigerian SMEs to access mentoring, funding, partnerships and socio-economic development tools through the Global Black Economic Forum.

With the prospect of securing cash prizes through StarNews worth up to NGN5,000,000, getting access to StarNews’s network of investors and the opportunity to gain national visibility by having their business on the StarNews web platform.

The top three winners will also receive coaching from GBEF’s Academy for Advancing Excellence and become part of GBEF’s ecosystem of global leaders committed to social and economic justice across the Black Diaspora.

Previous speakers at GBEF convenings from the entertainment sector include Wyclef Jean (Haitian Musician & Activist), Debra Lee (Former CEO of Black Entertainment Television – BET) and Ceci Kurzman (Founder of Nexus Management Group). Applications will close on April 5th 2024.

Speaking on the competition’s launch, Guy Kamgaing, Founder and CEO at StarNews Mobile, says “The StarNews Business Competition is a passion project close to our hearts at StarNews Mobile.

It’s about discovering the most promising business entrepreneurs and creators in Nigeria, opening up global opportunities for them and providing them with the resources and tools to achieve their goals.

By partnering with MTN, USAID and GBEF, we want to be a platform of empowerment for these SMEs by helping them give back to the communities that are supporting them.”

According to the US Embassy and Consulate for Nigeria, over 80% of Nigerian startups are incorporated in the United States and more than 60% of venture capital funding in Nigerian startups accounted for by the US.

In 2023 alone, Nigerian startups raised a total of $398mn however, this signalled a 66% funding decline compared to 2022 due to the global economic downturn, reinforcing the massive need for a fresh injection of capital and business support for Nigeria’s emerging SMEs.

Alphonso David, President and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum notes that, “Our partnership with StarNews Mobile is a critical resource as we continue to build the collective strength of entrepreneurship across the Diaspora.

“Building a sustainable ecosystem of Black entrepreneurs in the United States and across the African continent is essential to create a future that makes economic opportunity and economic freedom a reality for all.”

A sister company to ESSENCE, GBEF advances its work by convening global summits and conferences, bringing together world leaders, business leaders, entrepreneurs, celebrities and civic leaders to address the most challenging problems facing our communities.

GBEF’s Academy for Advancing Excellence facilitates workforce and leadership development strategy, addressing the talent pipeline & employee lifecycle, providing leadership development & coaching, and conducting institutional assessments & research.

GBEF also develops and implements economic and social justice policy recommendations with partners ranging from civil and human rights organisations to government entities and corporations that advocate for economic opportunity, social justice, and health equity through thought leadership, advocacy and litigation.

Launched in 2017, StarNews Mobile empowers African content creators with the unique opportunity to monetize their work through a subscription model, boasting over 4 million subscribers and a thriving community of more than 120 content creators.

With a strong presence across six countries including Cameroon, Nigeria, Côte D’Ivoire, Congo, Benin and Ghana, the platform has also established key partnerships with major telecom operators such as MTN and Orange.

To-date, StarNews Mobile has secured over $8mn in funding with its most recent raise – a $3mn pre-Series A funding round in October 2023 – led by Janngo Capital with participation from French football players Aurélien Tchouaméni, Jules Koundé and Mike Maignan.

 


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Companies Invest More than $100,000 Yearly to Upskill their Cybersecurity Teams – Study Reveals

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Over 70% of businesses pay more than USD $100,000 for additional training annually to keep skills of their cybersecurity employees up to date, a recent global Kaspersky study has revealed.

However, the surveyed companies also highlighted that there was a lack of relevant courses covering new challenging spheres in the educational market and stated that training does not always bring them the expected result.

In its recent study ‘The portrait of the modern Information Security professional’, Kaspersky examined the topic of the global cybersecurity staff shortage, analysing the exact reasons businesses lack cybersecurity experts, and identifying the ways they evaluate and upskill their cybersecurity workforce¹.

According to the research, companies are investing significant amounts in upskilling their cybersecurity teams: 43% of organisations globally say they usually spend between $100,000 and $200,000 per year on information security courses, while 31% even invest over $200,000 for training programs. The remaining 26% state they usually pay less than $100,000 for educational initiatives².

However, cybersecurity practitioners also note that the educational market is struggling to keep up with the rapidly changing industry and fail to deliver the necessary training programs on time.

Survey results for the Middle East, Turkiye, Africa (META) region shows that the scarcity of courses covering new challenging spheres (48%) was the main problem for those searching for cybersecurity training.

50% of respondents from the META region also stated that trainees tend to forget what they learned because they had no opportunity to apply newly acquired knowledge, therefore the courses were useless to them.

The need for special training pre-requisites such as coding and advanced mathematics, which were not specified at the pre-registration stage were also problematic for 37% of practitioners from the META region.

“With a constantly evolving threat landscape, businesses should continually improve the skills of their cybersecurity personnel in order to be well prepared for sophisticated cyberattacks.

“Developing high-profile specialists within the company and building internal expertise can be an effective strategy for organisations that aim to retain existing employees and allow them to grow professionally, instead of constantly hunting for new candidates and checking their professional backgrounds and practical skills.

“For organisations served by Managed Service Providers it is also important to maintain a pretty high level of expertise internally and use the same language when discussing the scope of services and Service Level Agreement with them,” comments Veniamin Levtsov, VP, Center of Corporate Business Expertise at Kaspersky.


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Heirs Insurance Launches User-friendly Website for Stakeholders

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Heirs Insurance Group, Nigeria’s fastest growing insurance group, has launched a new website that delivers the most user-friendly insurance experience in the industry.

Heirs Insurance Launches User-friendly Website for Stakeholders

In addition to its features that aid simple navigation, the website also personalizes the insurance experience taking customers through a short journey that enables them to make decisions quickly on the best insurance plan to support their personal and business success, or access competent insurance advisors to speak with.

According to Ifesinachi Okpagu, chief marketing officer, Heirs Insurance Group, the website, www.heirs insurance group.com, embodies the ethos of the brand: the delivery of simple, quick, and accessible insurance service that delights customers and brings the uninsured much closer to taking up insurance plans.

She said: “Today’s customers want simplicity and this new website delivers on that request, ensuring that people find the right insurance solutionsfor their needs in a few minutes. We are empowering customers to take control of their lives, their businesses, assets, and their most cherished people.” Heirs Insurance Group has been at the forefront of pioneering a new era of insurance solutions since its launch with the roll-out of various initiatives including a seamless mobile app, USSD; Prince, its intuitive chatbot; InConnect, its partnership portal Digital Experience Centre; and more. With the launch of this website, Heirs Insurance Group solidifies its position as the leading digital insurance company in Nigeria, democratising access to insurance for all.


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