Accra, Aug. 16, GNA- Officials and experts at the Huawei TECH4ALL Education Global Online summit have explored how digital technologies will transform the education systems into a more inclusive and innovative paradigm.
It was also to democratize access to education resources, and build-in systemic resilience to external factors like the pandemic.
Madam Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education for UNESCO, speaking at the said, “Technology can play a critical and catalytic role in transforming education.”
She said, “We need to use technology to ensure connectivity for all; build free, public digital learning content and platforms; and focus on how technology can enhance innovation and change in teaching methodologies.”
The Assistant Director said that underpinned by connectivity, digital skills, digital platforms, and the transformation of the education sector was gathering momentum.
“Technology truly has the power to transform education for everyone,” Mr Kevin Zhang, CMO of ICT Infrastructure for Huawei has said.
“We are doing this in three ways: connecting schools, promoting digital skills, and supporting the STEAM curriculum,” he added.
He said strategies that prioritized blended learning were already in play where schools were no longer just physical venues for learning, with educational approaches shifting to prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s world.
One UNESCO programme that leverages technology and a transformational approach is Technology-enabled Open Schools for All (TeOSS).
The programme was supported by Huawei and developed in close collaboration with Ghana’s Ministry of Education, Ethiopia, and Egypt.
The three-year project aims to benefit students and teachers in the three African nations and set the foundation for innovative education systems that seamlessly connect school and home learning in online and offline scenarios to maximize inclusion.
Mr. John Ntim Fordjour, Deputy Minister of Education of Ghana said, “it is a project we are very much excited about.”
He said the purpose was to provide reliable connectivity for all schools at the pre-tertiary level, because the future educational technology was going to advance the quality of education and even the ways we teach and learn.
In Kenya, connecting schools, boosting digital literacy, and providing teachers and students with digital devices is a key priority.
Successful completion of phase one of the DigiSchool project, for example, saw 13 schools connected, with more than 6,000 students benefiting.
The Ministry of ICT, the Ministry of Education, UNESCO, and Huawei formed a collaborative initiative to provide sustainable Internet connectivity.
Mr Martin Kungania, Deputy Director, Education National Coordinator for Kenya’s Digital Literacy Programme said ensuring no child was left behind was the driving force behind this project.
Experts from WeTechCare and the Bandung Institute of Technology described progress with the France DigiTruck and Huawei ICT Academy, respectively.
In France, 35 per cent of people are unable to fully utilize digital tools due to a range of challenges.
The DigiTruck, a solar-powered mobile classroom converted from a used shipping container, aims to help address this by providing free training in digital skills, targeting unemployed young people and older citizens.
Looking to the future and at how education will evolve, speakers from the National University of Singapore, Pimax Technologies, and Huawei explored how ICT infrastructure and nascent technologies such as AI, VR, and the metaverse will revolutionize the teaching and learning space, reshaping subjects like geography and history with a truly immersive experience that will enable students to virtually travel through time and space.
Source: Ghana News Agency
