Using what you know about Edtech in Africa and Arizona State Uni, why are you interested in this?

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.

There is an aspect of Edutech that you have not considered presenting in this discussion. Aside from the learning aspect for the student, what about the teaching aspect on the part of the teacher? How, as a teacher will you stand to benefit from edutech and the IOT of things in relation to teaching, the classroom setup, and modern learning technologies? This, as the teacher should be the main focus of your discussion rather than bringing up how there was a strike for 5 months in Nigeria that prevented you from attending school. That is relevant, but not importantly relevant to the discussion. I fail to see how your interest in edutech will help advance the learning front for the students and the teaching front for the teachers. The presentation is lopsided, focusing only on the advantages for the student. There are 2 sides to this discussion that must be shown as the reasons why you are interested in the course. There is no reason for the reviewer to believe that you are truly familiar with the benefits of this masters course in terms of applications because the discussions do not reflect that. There need to be specific aspects of edutech that attracted you to the course for some reason, rather than general considerations as presented here.

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