VC offers visiting professor appointment to S/African ODL expert

The Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Olufemi Peters, has appointed Prof. Paul Prinsloo of the University of South Africa (UNISA) as a visiting professor to participate in the research and implementation of learning analytics in the institution.

He said this in his closing remark at the just concluded 4-day workshop on institutionalizing learning analytics, which took place at the university’s headquarters in Jabi, Abuja.

The event, which gathered NOUN academic staff, was organised by the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Technology, Innovation and Research.

According to Peters, the workshop was extremely beneficial to NOUN, saying that deliberations, contributions, and findings would be used to improve the university's operations.

The VC reiterated that to achieve his vision of hitting the 1 million student population mark, he will begin the process of implementing the learning analytics framework by 2023.

On her part, the host and DVC TIR, Prof. Monioluwa Olaniyi, who gave the breakdown of the happenings at the workshop, said the event was an eye opener to what they knew, what they needed to know, and what they may never know.

She thanked the Vice-Chancellor, the resource person, Prof. Paul Prinsloo, the chairperson of the conceptual framework committee, Prof. Christine Ofulule and the participants for their efforts in making the workshop a success.

Speaking at the end of the workshop, Prof. Paul Prinsloo commended the Vice-Chancellor of NOUN, stating that NOUN was the first distance learning institution in West Africa to engage in the design and implementation of learning analytics.

He stated that NOUN has the potential of becoming Africa's leading giant in open and distance learning.

In the vote of thanks, the registrar, Mr. Oladipo Ajayi, represented by the deputy registrar, council, Wosilat Aindion, thanked the VC for approving the workshop and for actively participating throughout the 4-day workshop despite his very busy schedule.

"It is a demonstration of the Vice-Chancellor's passion for human capital development to take NOUN to greater heights," she added.

Wosilat extended her profound gratitude to the resource person, saying that his presentations have become eye-openers to new ways of ODL best practices.

She thanked all the participants especially the DVC TIR for putting together such a workshop.