The Need for Digital Transformation in the Education Sector in Nigeria

Abstract

Digital technologies are being utilized in higher institutions of learning but there is a gap that is yet to be filled. Today’s University leaders and faculties especially in Nigeria must reconsider higher education in a digital-dominated new world. The benefit of this is so that learning in public higher institutions of learning is not halted when environmental challenges such as that presented by the Corona Virus pandemic occur. When the Corona virus was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, there was a global shutdown worldwide to curtail the spread of the Corona virus and the educational sector was not an exception. It then became apparent that the educational models and traditional approaches to teaching/learning in the educational sector has to be redesigned as soon as possible. This opinion article thus contributes to existing discussions on the application of digital transformation within the context of education in the public sector in Nigeria by adopting a multidisciplinary focus. As the governments around the world imposed lockdowns in their respective nations in a bid to stem the spread of the Corona virus, traditional mode of education which took place in physical settings in institutions of learning, had to change as well in Nigeria. This research reviewed existing literature on digital transformation as a multidisciplinary tool for facilitating learning. The reviewed literature revealed that more needs to be done in the public educational sector if learning is to continue irrespective of environmental disruptions. Significant challenges in integrating mobile learning in higher education institutions within Africa: poor technological infrastructure, lack of access to modern mobile devices, lack of mobile learning pedagogical skills among lecturers, poor attitudes among students and lecturers, and incompatibility of mobile devices with the university online management systems. Policies to guide the implementation of mobile learning were also lacking. Therefore, for sustainable education in Nigeria there is a need for the adoption of digital technological solutions particularly in public higher institutions of learning.