The Acting Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State Prof. Ololade Enikuomehin, has stressed the need for classrooms to be information and communication technology-compliant, in order to meet the needs of lecturers and students, for effective teaching and learning.
He made this observation at the 13th Annual Conference and Workshop of the National Association of Teachers and Researchers in English as a Second Language (NATRESL), held recently in FUNAAB.
Speaking on the relationship between ICTs and the teaching of English language, Professor Enikuomehin stated that, “Since English is a global language, it is expected that students, and more importantly, teachers of English, would have adequate competence in its use.
“Here at FUNAAB, most lecture rooms have multimedia resources for teaching and the University views digital technology as an essential instructional content delivery media for both pedagogical and research purposes. As teachers of English language, these tools must be employed to transform your students’ learning experiences”, he noted.
The Acting VC who was represented by the Dean, College of Food Science and Human Ecology (COLFHEC), Professor Lateef Sanni, described the conference as very timely, in that the provision of digital technologies, has become an indispensable communication tool for students and teachers.
Corroborating the Vice-Chancellor, the Conference Convener and NATRESL President, Prof. Helen Bodunde, declared that NATRESL was premised on the professional development of teachers through research.
According to her, “the association is ready to collaborate or partner with institutions, which are ready to take the bull by the horn, by adding value to the quality of their teachers, as this conference is aimed at changing the educational landscape of Nigeria, for the better.”
The Leader, Blended Research Group, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Prof. Bayo Aborisade, also stressed the need to re-engineer English language teaching modes, while urging teachers and researchers, who majored in the language, to embrace the use of modern technologies.
Representative of the Ag VC and Dean, COLFHEC, Professor Lateef Sanni (Arrowed) with facilitators and participants at the NATRESL programme