Online education under threat

•How poor internet, power supply, digital illiteracy hinder distance learning

From** Fred Ezeh, **Abuja

Vice-Chancellor, Miva Open University, Abuja, Prof. Tayo Arulogun, has lamented that the gains of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) are being eroded by poor digital infrastructure and power supply. He spoke with Daily Sun recently. Excerpts:

Nigeria is increasingly turning to ODL to expand access to higher education. How serious is the digital divide to this ambition?

It is a very serious issue. When you talk about online education, you must understand the realities of the people you are trying to serve. Not every student has access to reliable internet, electricity, a laptop or even basic digital skills. Some students have only their phones. Some have low internet speed. Some study after work or after the power goes out. At Miva, we have also encountered students who had never used a computer before coming into the university. So, if you build an online education system as though every student has unlimited bandwidth, constant electricity and sophisticated devices, you will exclude the very people that open and distance learning was supposed to serve. Our philosophy is simple: wherever you live should not determine how well you learn. That is why we have had to build around the lived realities of our students.

What is the biggest lesson about delivering online education in Nigeria?

The biggest lesson is that you cannot import a model and expect it to work without adapting it to local realities. When we started, we encountered challenges around infrastructure, internet access, digital literacy and technology capacity. Instead of treating those challenges as reasons why online education could not work, we decided to build around them. We looked inward, used Nigerian talent and developed technology suited to our environment. Miva is not an experimental startup. We are a fully licensed university that has graduated its first cohort and is delivering education at scale. Our belief is that technology can help make quality higher education more accessible to Nigerians without asking them to put their lives on hold.

The challenge before Nigeria is not simply to put courses online. It is to ensure that students can actually access, understand and benefit from those courses despite the realities of poor connectivity, electricity challenges, limited devices and varying levels of digital literacy.

That is the challenge we are trying to solve

What does homegrown technology mean for ODL?

At the heart of our technology is what we call Miva Campus, our learning platform built in-house. We do not want students simply to read materials and wait for an examination. Our videos, case studies and course materials are interactive. Students respond, make decisions, engage with scenarios and learn by doing. We also have simulations and practical experiences. In areas such as computing, students can work on real-world problems and build things. Inside Miva Campus is our AI student companion, which we call “Mind”. A student can type to it or speak to it. It can explain concepts, quiz the student, discuss a case study, help find resources and identify areas where the student is falling behind. If the student needs a human being, the system can connect the student to a success adviser.

AI is changing knowledge delivering system fast. Is it useful in solving challenges associated with large-scale online learning?

AI is important and useful but it cannot replace the university or the lecturer. But it can help us understand students better and intervene earlier. Behind our AI system are different engines designed to answer questions that a good teacher would ask: What does this student not understand? Has the student mastered the concept or merely memorised it? Can the student apply it to a real-world problem? Is the student at risk of dropping out? What should we teach differently? We also have what we call the Command Center, an enterprise intelligence system that helps us understand students, cohorts, programmes, performance and other information. The objective is to move from simply producing reports to having intelligence that enables us to act.

Technology alone cannot guarantee quality education. How can ODL institutions ensure students receive the same academic quality expected in conventional universities?

Quality starts before a programme is launched. We do not simply look at what is popular today and introduce it. We ask whether we have the capacity, qualified lecturers, experts, tools and resources to deliver the programme. We also ask what the student should be able to do after graduation and what skills will remain relevant in the next 10 years. We operate within the regulatory framework of the National Universities Commission (NUC) and its Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) But we also use the room available to institutions to innovate. We bring experts from industry and academia into our curriculum review process. The world is changing quickly, particularly in areas such as artificial intelligence, technology, business and corporate strategy. We therefore want people with real-world experience to help us understand what our students need to learn.

What has Miva done to ensure poor connectivity does not prevent students from learning?

We have designed our technology to work in environments where infrastructure is not perfect. Our systems are mobile-optimised, sensitive to bandwidth and support offline learning. We understand that some students may not have a laptop, while others may have intermittent internet access. So our technology has to be accessible through the devices they have. We also recognised that digital literacy itself can be a barrier. Some students have never used a computer before. For such students, we provide digital literacy training. We teach them the basics, including how to use a mouse, operate a computer and browse before they move into the main learning system. The idea is not to blame the student because the infrastructure is inadequate. We have to design the system to accommodate the reality. Electricity is part of the wider infrastructure challenge. A student may be ready to study, but the power supply may not be available. That is why our systems are designed to support students who have to study at different times and under different conditions. Our approach is to reduce the extent to which these external challenges determine whether a student can access learning.

At what point did you realise that imported technology might not adequately address these challenges?

When we started, we used foreign platforms and software. As we grew, we discovered that some of them were not designed for the scale and realities we were dealing with. We therefore had to look inward. Nigeria has the talent to build technology. We decided to use that talent to create systems around our own needs. We have moved beyond the capacity and scalability challenges we initially experienced. Today, we operate a highly available architecture that is distributed and designed to scale automatically as traffic increases. This means that when more students come onto the system, it can expand capacity rather than simply crashing. We have students accessing our platforms from more than 70 countries, so scalability is not something we can take lightly.

Nigeria has a huge youth population, but employers often complain that graduates lack practical skills. Is online education making that problem worse?

It should not. In fact, institutions should deliberately design programmes to address it. For example, in Miva open university, we prepare students for careers, not just degrees. Our Career Advancement Centre starts working with students from their first year. Students receive support with CV writing, interview preparation, communication, career workshops and access to job opportunities. We also expose students to entrepreneurs and industry professionals through masterclasses and our Executive-in-Residence programme. Our goal is that by the time a student graduates, the person should not only have a certificate but should understand how to apply knowledge in the workplace.

What about character development? Can an ODL effectively and adequately instil discipline and character?

Character is very important to us. Education is not only about academic knowledge. We have systems for discipline and sanctions, just like conventional universities. We also provide physical and online interaction and mentorship.

We believe that students should be exposed to the values and expectations of society while they are learning. The fact that someone is studying through an open or online university does not mean the standards of character should be lower.

Are Nigerians abroad beginning to see local online education as an alternative to foreign universities?

We have students in 78 countries and about 1,218 cities, although it is important to clarify that more than 90 per cent of our students are Nigerians living in Nigeria. The students outside Nigeria include Nigerians in countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Qatar and Australia. For those outside Nigeria, affordability and flexibility are important. We are licensed and accredited, and we offer programmes at a cost that is significantly more affordable than studying in many countries abroad. Technology-related programmes are among those attracting students outside Nigeria, while health-related programmes, including public health, also have interest. So, it is a combination of affordability, quality and accessibility.

More younger people are indicating interest in ODL. What is the situation regarding NYSC opportunity for Miva graduates?

It remains an area where policy needs to evolve. There have been statements supporting the participation of open-university graduates in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) but that has not yet fully translated into reality. However, we also need to prepare our graduates for a world where skills and experience matter. That is why we insist on internships and encourage volunteering. If you graduate with a degree and already have practical experience and skills, you have an advantage. Our statistics show that about 70 per cent of our graduates are already employed, and we believe this approach is important.

Is online learning at Miva entirely virtual?

No. It is blended where necessary. There are practical sessions, practicums, laboratories and internships. We recognise that some things cannot simply be reduced to reading material on a screen. We have also made internship an important part of the student experience. Before graduation, students must undertake practical experience. We encourage volunteering as well because we want students to graduate with not only knowledge but experience. We also attach students to mentors and bring industry into the university so that students understand workplace expectations before they graduate

The post Online education under threat appeared first on The Sun Nigeria.