LASU Trains Staff on Open Educational Resources

Funmi Ogundare 

The Lagos State University (LASU) recently held a three-day training for selected members of staff on Open Educational Resources (OER), designed to enhance its online resource repository.

The training was organised in partnership with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) at the Senate Chamber, Babatunde Raji Fashola Senate Building. It was declared open by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello.

Addressing the 30 trainees drawn from sections of the university, including academic and non-academic staff, Olatunji-Bello said it has become imperative for the institution to adapt its practices to embrace hybrid teaching methods because of its many advantages, one of which is the opportunity it provides for workers to gain an education. 

Olatunji-Bello added, “Truth be told, given the complexity of today’s globalised economy and its demands on employees, physical learning may be obsolete for many prospective students who desire access to quality education without the constraints of physical learning.”

She said the university had committed huge resources to digitalise her teaching and learning process to actualise the vision of becoming the best in West Africa, adding that the OER training will go a long way in strengthening that drive.

She also revealed that part of the university’s investment is deploying the OER platform.

“Recently, LASU deployed its OER platform, a repository of study materials designed to meet students’ needs,” Olatunji-Bello. “These materials are warehouses with dedicated support services to help students access them on the University website.”

Representative of the partner organisation, the Commonwealth of Learning, Prof Francis Egbohare, during a courtesy visit to the vice-chancellor earlier, stated that LASU is one of three universities in Nigeria where the COL is partnering on the project. 

He revealed that the training would, among other things, help the university to develop a tailored policy on open resources and online education. He was joined by Mr Felix Okechukwu and Mr Felix Okafor from the COL for the three-day training. 

The Director of the Directorate of Information and Communication Technology (DICT), Prof Toyin Enikuomehin, while welcoming the three-person team, thanked the VC for giving speedy approval to the training, noting she had demonstrated uncommon passion towards the development of OER in the university.