Experts Advocate Collaboration on Development of Inclusive Learning Solutions 

Experts in the education sector have stressed the need to collaborate and design holistic edtech solutions or products to promote inclusivity in learning.

This was the takeout at the just concluded July edition of Edtech Mondays, organised by the Co-Creation Hub (CCHUB) in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation’s Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in ICT. The engagement session, which was themed ‘Edtech for Diverse Learning Styles and Needs,’ was moderated by the Practice Lead Education, CcHub, and Chinyelu Akpa.

Speaking during a panel session, the Executive Director of Bettelhill School, Mary Akanmu-Bamikefa, explained that it has become imperative for edtech stakeholders to design solutions that would support a wide range of learning preferences. 

Bamikefa noted that learning, particularly for children with disabilities, requires a lot of collaboration between parents, teachers, and learners. She disclosed that it was important to engage children with disabilities with interactive tools. While admitting that there is no one-size-fits-all for all learners, she explained that educators dealing with children with disabilities must deploy all the platforms to ensure inclusive learning.

The founder of One Word Africa Foundation, Oladoyin Idowu, stated that education stakeholders should consider technology when addressing specific challenges associated with learning among kids. According to Idowu, most children with challenges such as dyslexia typically struggle to learn in a traditional classroom environment.

Emphasising the need for edtech solution providers to develop solutions that are not only culturally fit but affordable for learners, she stated that leveraging technology by edtech solution providers will unlock learning for different types of learners- kinesthetic learners, audio learners, and visual learners. 

Vinsighte Limited CEO Toriola Oladeji stated that society has a vital role in delivering quality and inclusive education to persons with visual impairment, hence the need to deploy OCR technology to create solutions for this category of learners.

While disclosing that the product was created based on the founder’s personal experiences, Oladeji explained that the solutions have been designed to ensure an immersive learning experience for visually impaired students.

’’We have more people who are building from the user point, who understand the specific pain points and the challenges of the people we want to design and build for. We would always have solutions that are viable and are meeting the specific learning needs,’’ he said.

Your Safe Space NG founder, Toyin Oduniyi, restated the need for educational stakeholders to collaborate on ideas and funding to develop edtech solutions that are inclusive and holistic in learning.

She highlighted the importance of understanding and accommodating the diverse needs of autistic learners and the role that education technology companies play in designing solutions that are contextually relevant to learners, including those with special learning needs.