Scholarship / Using what you know about Edtech in Africa and Arizona State Uni, why are you interested in this? [3]

why are you interested

Question- Using what you know about Edtech in Africa and Arizona state university, why are you interested specifically in this opportunity and how will skills you gain fulfill your future career aspirations?

Tips: 1. what connects me to the program (M.A learning sciences), baobab and edtech in africa?
2. How can I use baobab to impact edtech in africa?

I once had to pause school in 2013 for over five months due to asuu strike, this was a usually recurring situation in nigerian public universities which every Nigerian student experienced or at least read about. Many students from other countries may not have experienced this but we in nigeria were already used to this unproductive phase.

The growth and adoption of digital technology would be a major innovation in the future of teaching and learning in Africa. Educational technology has not been widely adopted in African institutions except very few. Educational technology offers a wide range of benefits to learners example self paced courses and use of technology for interactive learning modules. Arizona state University currently ranks No 1 in the USA for innovation, part of which was made possible by adaptive learning; adaptive learning refers to a personalized method of teaching that combines online and classroom learning. If Institutions in Africa could adapt this form of learning, they would not have to pause when stituations like strike arises. During the 6months + asuu strike this year I have been a beneficiary of educational technology platforms like baobab which offer learning, mentorship, professional development opportunities tailored to young people in Africa. I managed to stay productive through data analytics internship offered by SideHustle NG, an Edtech startup in nigeria.

I always had keen interest in technology, learning and continuous improvement and these are the major reasons why I am interested in Masters in learning science. This program would improve my communication and leadership skills needed to optimize teaching and learning experience for students in Africa. I intend to increase adoption of E-learning methods by higher institutions, this would be achieved by organizing workshops and seminars that emphasize the advantages of E- learning. I also intend to maximize Baobab Edtech platform to offer 1:1 career mentorship for at least five young professionals in Africa each year.

Immediately After my masters in learning science, I hope to work as an education consultant in Nigeria where my major goal would be to help higher institutions design a balanced online learning curricula which would involve interactive course videos and slides to improve knowledge retention, collaborative Project-based modules to improve engagement and teamwork amongst students.

Scholarship / Scholarship essay for M.A Learning Science [2]

Prompt : Describe how your educational, professional and personal experiences inform your research and creative interests. Elaborate on any aspect of your backgrund that supports your candidacy for the graduate program that you listed as your first choice. (500 -750 words)

NB: each point is separated by paragraphs, kindly help review this essay and comment on structure, flow and relevance of points to essay prompt. And other general comments.

thank you

SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY

When I gained admission into xxxx university in 2015 to study biochemistry, it was a proud moment for me because xxx university ranks as one of the most competitive federal universities to get into in Nigeria. One of the major experiences that enhanced my research and creative interests during my four year program was seminar paper presentation. This course involved a team research and presentation of findings on "frontiers in Biochemistry". It was challenging because I had not done major research before neither had I designed a powerpoint presentation. However, participating in the team presentation made me realize that I learn better through a "Do-It-Yourself" approach of learning by working on projects.

My first professional job interview in 2016 as a Quality analyst at xxx company was a short and memorable one. During the interview I was asked the explain the term "value Addition", this was a term I was familiar with but never fully knew what it entailed. While I worked at the company I understood that to add value I needed to be be creative, innovative and willing to learn. Ever since then my main goal in my professional career and personal life has been to add value to myself, people around me and the whole world at large. From 2018 to January, 2020 I worked as a Business development representative at xxxx company. My key role was to create and implement brand market penetration strategies in my territory to increase product sales. To achieve success in this role, it involved a lot of creative ideas tailored to my territory. However, one of my major achievements on the roles was that I developed a sales activation strategy that increased slow-moving product sales by 25% within three months. I started my current role as a Lab technologist in xxxx university in February, 2020. I made this career switch because I wanted to do more of things I am passionate about like learning, teaching and research. My day-to-day activity is majorly teaching second year pharmacy students pharmaceutical microbiology Lab practicals. As a lab tech. my approach to teaching is usually an interactive session where the students participate actively in the class.

This year, In my quest for professional development I started taking data analytics, data literacy and data-driven decision making courses on Cousera and Datacamp. The courses were structured with short interactive videos which made me understand faster. While taking the course I often imagined if making short videos of my lab practical classes for students to re-watch would increase their understanding. I made the decision of taking these courses because I wanted to know if I can use students' score data in lab practicals to measure the impact of project based learning on knowledge retention.

My education, professional and personal experiences has been a lifelong learning process that has shaped my problem solving, critical thinking and creative skills. I hope to become a better teacher and communicator by improving my teaching experience and students' learning experience through this masters program.