OAU matriculates pioneer online distance learning students

THE ongoing digitalisation efforts of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), with a view to taking education out of the classroom recently got a boost when the institution matriculated its pioneer students into its Online Distance Learning programme.       

   The Obafemi Awolowo University’s Center for Distance Learning (OAUCDL) is accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and allows students to receive their lectures online using a customised study tablet, Vigitab.  

   The e-Learning solution is powered by a Learning Management System (VigiLearn) that allows students to receive lectures, submit assignments, relate with peers, participate in group discussions and get graded without being physically within the four walls of a lecture room. 

   The Vigitab is specifically built for Nigeria and allow users to continue to study and receive lectures with limited Internet connection. Also, the package comes with a customised mobile phone, which allows students to call their coursemates and interact with lecturers at no cost.

   Vice Chancellor, Prof. Bamitale Omole, while addressing the over 200 students, said: “You have the singular honour of being the first set of students to be admitted into our e-Learning programme, the first of its type in Nigeria. I congratulate you on being pioneers of the e-Learning revolution in the country. I want to assure you that your distant learning mode of admission does not in any way imply inferiority in status, compared to our conventional students, either in terms of lecture delivery or the certificates you will receive at the end of your programmes. 

   “Our university guards jealously the integrity of its degrees and diplomas whether obtained in the conventional or distance learning mode. Hence your various curricula have gone through the usual high standards of excellence of the university Senate for which Obafemi Awolowo University is well known.”

   The director, Center for Distance Learning, Prof. Bode Asubiojo, noted that the development was the first of its kind in Nigeria. “We have replicated the classroom experience on a tablet device for students. For the first time, students can receive lectures, submit assignments, participate in forums, take quizzes, and even rewind their lectures, all from the comfort of their homes, offices or wherever they may be in Nigeria or abroad.

   “Our primary charge at the center is to provide quality education to the teeming number of Nigerian youths who possess the pre-requisite qualifications for entry to Nigerian universities but are denied admission owing to inadequate facilities on campus and the working class who are desirous of pursuing undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, while still retaining their jobs.”

   Courses currently on offer for the online programme are B.Sc. Accounting and Bachelor of Nursing Science. The center plans to include more courses in the future.