The Edtech Summit and Awards 2020 edition was organized by the Federal Ministry of Education in collaboration with AFRITEX and partnership with AfICTA (Africa ICT Alliance) from 3rd - 4th of March, 2020 @ the Exhibition Pavilion by ICC, Abuja, Nigeria. The theme of Nigeria’s Largest Educational Summit was “Educational Technology and It’s Practical Application”
Educational Technology (EdTech) is Nigeria’s leading annual professional development conference and exhibition, focusing on Technology Integration Strategies, digital tools and resources, and emerging trends for teachers, administrators, and technology staff. This year edition brought together over 700 EdTech stakeholders and decision-makers among which were dignitaries from Private Organization, Public Sector, and Academia.
The 2-day event commenced with on-site registration of participants, followed by the dignitaries’ visit to the exhibition booths (where series of educational technology solutions were displayed) lead by the Director of ICT, Federal Ministry of Communication, Moni Udoh.
The Educational Technology Summit was declared open with a welcome address from Arc Sunny Echono, Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Education. Among the dignitaries at the history-making event was the Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA (The foremost IT Development Agency in Nigeria), Mr. Kashifu Abdullahi.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Kashifu Abdullahi (who was also honoured with a ‘National Award’ at the Summit for developing the Unity Board, an indigenous education technology platform for STEM Education) engaged all the relevant stakeholders to adopt digital technological skills in order to prepare students for the future driven by digital technology.
The DG NITDA further implored students to irrespective of their field of study, acquire digital skills because it is the unavoidable driver to the future which is now. He added “For most of you, your work does not exist now, they are future work which would be driven by digital skills.
In order to unlock their potentials with 21st - Century Skills, students in attendance were taken for a digital classroom where they had an hour of coding experience.
One of the highlights of the event was pitch Sessions where 5 startups got 5minues each to pitch in front of Edtech Stakeholders and a panel of industry experts, early adopters and representatives from venture capitalist/Angel/Investment Community.
Considering the disparity in the pace at which students learn in the classroom, a panel session was set-up to discuss how teaching and learning could be tailored towards the needs of students with learning difficulties/disabilities. The session titled Apps and Adaptive Learning - Transforming engagement in early years and expanding learning Environment beyond the classroom was focused on the impact of online media; adaptive learning on education; and how the introduction and use of machine learning and artificial intelligence can transform the way students learn and develop.
The event came to a close with EdTech Awards & Gala Night.
L-R Kayode Oyeyemi and Samuel Dada in AfICTA Exhibition Booth @ the EdTech Summit 2020
Cross-section view of Students from Public and Private Secondary Schools in Abuja
Side view of participants @ the event.
