From Maryam Ahmadu-Suka, Kaduna
As part of efforts to inspire innovation, drive growth and shape the future of technology, Dialogue Schools organised a tech expo to showcase innovations designed by students in schools across Kaduna State.
The expo, which featured robotics demos, hardware innovations, coding challenges, Artificial intelligence (AI) and IoT, digital art and animation, tech marketing as well as gaming and virtual reality zone, had in attendance students from the Nigerian Turkish International School and Dambo International School.
Speaking at the expo, Chairman, Dialogue Group, Alhaji Mahdi Shehu, described the expo as encouraging, saying “What the students have displayed is a stepping stone towards exposing children of their own ages to the advancement of technology in the 21st Century.”
He called on the government to invest in technology, adding that “There should be no pretence about it, the earlier they invest in technology, the better, otherwise you will have an empire and a pyramid, and a population of people that are only spectators in the 21st Century. If no child is exposed to technology, you are literally making a potential beggar.”
Principal of the school, Hajiya Sakeema Nasir Dialogue, said the school has, as an issue of policy, introduced ICT and robotics to all classes in order to allow children go beyond learning ICT but to provide hands-on services.
She called on partners and sponsors to come and see what the school has and also key into areas of collaboration.
Muhammad Rufa’i, Head of Information Technology, said the school decided to host an inter-school competition to allow other schools in Kaduna compete amongst themselves and the academy.
Highlighting some of the innovations on display, he said, “One of the innovations is that students have been able to build robots – two wheel and a four wheel drive robot – from scratch. They are embedded with ultra sensors for obstacle avoidance.
“We also have a complete home automation system with voice control, using Alexa cloud. It can be controlled from anywhere in the world as long as you have your mobile phone and internet. Another innovation is the virtual hajj exercise where you can go on a hajj tour if you are unable to get there physically using the VR system and your controllers.”
He encouraged other schools that are not into tech education to key in so that students can take advantage of the vast opportunities provided by technology.
At the end of the competition, Dambo International School emerged the winner.
