ACE Comms TeamACE IN FOCUS – ACETEL
The Africa Centre of Excellence on Technology Enhanced Learning (ACETEL) was established in February 2019 and is located at the headquarters of the National Open Universityty of Nigeria (NOUN), Jabi, Abuja, Nigeria. The centre is one of 54 supported under the World Bank ACE Impact project, receiving support from the Association of African Universities, and National Universities Commission (NUC), Nigeria. The Centre focuses on the development of human capacity and research in digital solutions that will lead to the utilisation of technology for education and its deployment to other sectors.
The centre hopes to bridge the technical knowledge gap by building capacity in Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), Cyber Security and Digital policies to achieve high levels of digital development on the African continent.
Why is ACETEL special?
ACETEL programmes are designed to build capacity in Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, and Management Information Systems courses at the postgraduate levels leading to the production of highly skilled human resource to drive the adoption and use of ICT solutions. It also offers short courses to bridge technology knowledge gaps.
Its core values are:
Specifically, the ACETEL research focuses on gaps, needs assessment of digital capacity development, solutions, and policy issues in the education and public sectors; effectiveness of green logistics information technology learning tools on students’ academic achievement in STEM-related courses; developing smart digital learning tools for science in Open and Distance Education; impact of Cybercrime on Learners’ Academic Performance and Research Data Integrity; and enhancing postgraduate learners’ research skills using cloud computing learning tools.
In 2021, 41 students gained admission into ACETEL. These students comprised of both national and regional students, 11 females and 30 males students enrolled from The Gambia, Ghana, Cameroon and Uganda.