By Lekan Otunfodunrin
In the digital age, lecturers have to keep tweaking how to disseminate knowledge to students and make their teaching more interactive and engaging.
Last Monday, I adopted this approach when I took the Higher National Diploma Digital Journalism class at the Department of Mass Communication, Yaba College of Technology at the invitation of a lecturer, Mrs Omolara Olorunyomi.
Since my topic was Digital Journalism Terminologies and Practice, I started by asking one of the students to read my recent Facebook post on my encounter with students of the Nigeria Institute of Journalism (NIJ) in which I wrote about having over 37k followers on X.
Like their NIJ counterparts, the information about my online following surprised the students and it made them realise that they needed to pay full attention to what the old- school-looking, but tech-savvy lecturer wanted to say and the majority did.
To be sure they were ready to practice what would teach them, I asked that apart from taking normal lecture notes, they should be ready to write a report for publication on a website.
Additionally, they should write quotes, take pictures, and record videos we can share on social media handles.
I also had books and jotters given to those who answered some questions I asked and those who asked follow-up questions about the lecture.
Shortly after the lecture, I started getting messages about the content from the students on my WhatsApp number as I requested. Some shared theirs on social media and tagged me, while others followed my handles on all platforms.
This quote from a report by one of the students, Legbe Mary sums up the feedback on the lecture: “The room was filled with excitement, eagerness to learn, and to be equipped with more knowledge through the encounter with Mr Otufodunrin that very day.”
Photo by Ajadi Ezekiel
