Makerere University has confirmed that the first smart classroom that uses robots to record lectures and teach artificial intelligence is underway.
According to Professor Barnabas Nawangwe, the University Vice Chancellor, the new mode of teaching will pilot at the College of Computing and Information Technology Science before spreading out.
He explains that the expensive investment is a brain child of China Tax Payer and Education Technology Companies, International Centre for Higher Education Innovation (ICHEI) and China’s International Institute of Online Education under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco). With support from the government of Uganda.
The initiative will cost $100,000, Shs380m to procure the robots to teach artificial intelligence (AI), record lectures and share them with students online or physically.
AI involves stimulating human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think and act like human beings. AI is also used to play games, operate independent vehicles, process language, and much, much, more.
“It is expensive to run a smart classroom, but the cost shouldn’t deter us. We are going to work with government to get more of these smart classrooms in all our colleges.” Nawangwe states
Prof Tonny Oyana, the College of Computing and Information Science principal, told the Daily Monitor that lecturers using the smart classroom can also broadcast to a phone or computer elsewhere.
Provided the gadgets of the target audience are connected to the Internet, they can tune in and listen to the audio.
“It is like having a radio station in Kampala, but listeners can tune in from any part of the country,” Prof Oyana said, adding that the process of installing a smart classroom at the university was delayed partly due to the Covid-19-induced lockdown having first mooted the idea in 1998.
Several countries have adopted the use of robots in teaching subjects like Biology, Chemistry, English and Literature.